I placed an order with a certain online comics retailer April 30. It was my first time using this retailer, but the site seemed well-designed and its stock VERY affordable so I ordered a few things.
They immediately deducted the amount of my order, including shipping costs the credit card number I provided, a fact I have verfified with my bank earlier today.
On May 1, I received two email notifications stating 1) my payment had been received and 2) my order was now “processing”.
It has been “processing” since April 30.
This seems unusual to me. That same day I ordered books from two other websites, Amazon.com and Mile High Comics and got those orders the last few days. So I am naturally curious as to why its taking so long to fill this order.
I have emailed this online shop several times about the delay, and requested first an explanation, then later a refund, but they have not responded.
Have I been ripped off?
Who can I complain to?
(I have omitted the name of this shop until I get a sense of how LOUDLY I can complain about this.)
That time frame doesn’t sound too outrageous, but not responding to emails is a troubling sign. I’ve emailed you privately to discuss in greater detail, because I have a hunch I know which store you’re talking about.
Yeah, post the name. I know Selkie has done a lot of online comic ordering lately, and I hear all about her adventures with different e-tailers. Some of them are a lot more organized than others, but it would behoove us all if we knew who to watch out for.
Yeah, I’m stopping the charges. THREE years shopping online and I’ve never had a problem with online orders being filled before, was uncertain how to proceed.
Wow, that’s sweet. I sent that email. I just told them that they were gaining negative publicity from a message board with a lot of potential comic geeks (myself included). It was polite, and I’m really glad it worked.
While I don’t doubt their sincerity, I’d be leery about giving them a second chance. I’ve dealt with vendors who screwed something up and then only got around to fixing it expediently (and apologetically) when they realized that they could probably make a lucrative new customer in the process. In this case, it was one of the big two shipping companies who royally screwed us and made nice when they realized that one of the packages was going to an account that they nearly had, but their rival took. Jerks.
If they didn’t answer your email until someone noted that you were complaining publically, I’d be wary.
Then again, it could have been a system error, but there were the emails (and what kind of crap system doesn’t provide feedback for these sorts of occurances?)…