I just had to share this whopper.
On December 16 I ordered five bottles of Torani Italian syrup from an online vendor, as a to-be-belated Christmas present for hubby, who likes his espresso drinks. (Well, OK, there was a bottle of chai syrup in there for me, but I digress.) Got my e-mail confirmation, and my credit card was charged the next day.
Then nothing. No ship notification, no syrup, no nothing.
I e-mailed them on January 13 and 16 to find out what was going on. (The Web site said that most e-mails would be answered within 24 hours. Apparently not mine, though.) On January 19 I called them. Well, I tried to call them. The toll-free number produced a bunch of clicks. I called the regular number, and after a bunch more clicks and rings, I got an answering machine. (This was the number at which they supposedly also took phone orders.) I left a rather irate message. Later that day I sent a slightly more irate fax to the fax number (which surprisingly worked). I also sent a last follow-up e-mail, promising that unless they provided a valid tracking number by 5 pm on Tuesday, I’d be calling my credit card company to remove the charge.
Still nothing on Tuesday. Well, OK, I jumped the gun and called Discover around 4 pm (immediately after getting the answering machine one last time), but I figured that if these doofuses (or scam artists) hadn’t responded by now, they weren’t going to in the next hour. The Discover rep cheerfully agreed and issued me a credit. I hopped back online and found another vendor (via Amazon, but I ordered from them directly) that carried the uncommon flavors I’d ordered (and don’t think I didn’t check out their feedback!). They shipped my order around 10 this morning, with expected delivery next Tuesday. Cool!
Just now I got this e-mail from the first vendor:
snort So he (1) turns his business over to some flake who apparently leaves the business twisting in the wind, (2) is unable to check his e-mail or phone messages from “out of the country,” and (3) expects me to wait another week before he even SHIPS???
Yes, I know there are remote places where e-mail/phone is unavailable. Perhaps he was backpacking in Nepal or something. And the poor sap probably IS scrambling to put his business back together. But I think he reaped that result when he chose his temporary manager (assuming the story is even legit!).
Here’s my response (preceded by a quote of his offer to ship my order by next Tuesday):
I meant it about the communication. I can be (and have been) an understanding customer if you talk to me and keep me informed. And this was syrup, not a life-or-death item. But the deafening silence in response to my increasingly intemperate attempts to contact them was a major customer service no-no.
Sheesh.