I ordered my products on October 26th, 2009. I paid for priority 2-3 day shipping, and anticipated the arrival of my nicotine free smokeless cigarette (seems stupid, but it's the psychological holding the sucker that I miss, lol..not the nicotine).
The first week passed.
I emailed the company on November 2nd, 2009, and was promptly told that some of my ordered products were on back order, which was not mentioned when I completed my order. I frowned a bit, but said okay and sat back and waited.
The second week passed.
I called the company on November 9th, 2009 and requested a refund. I was told that a refund could not be issued; that they would get the product at the latest on Wednesday, November 11th 2009, and would ship it immediately. When I asked if they would overnight it to repay me for the inconvenience I was not only told no, but that they had no way of knowing when it would arrive to me; it depended on where I lived. I ground my teeth, as surely they have oh, RECORDS, for that type of thing. They agreed to throw in a extra product..valued at less than the shipping I paid, might I add, and then I sat back to wait once more.
Today is November 16th, 2009. As I wearily picked up the phone for yet another update that was sure to piss me off, I did my utmost to be polite to the first person I talked to. Only to be told that the products that were absolutely, positively going to be here on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 were still on back order. Apparently, China got sick of these a**holes too, and decided to make THEM wait as well as me.
They were so awfully thankful for my patience. This was nice, as it told me the politeness factor I was hoping for had been achieved.
Until I asked for a refund.
Then much hemming and hawing ensued. I believe I uttered the word intolerable, and the nice Indian lady (and she really WAS nice) couldn't take it anymore.
She transferred me to a "supervisor."
I went through the situation much as written above, with dates, names of products promised and not delivered, my order number, and every other bit of pertinent information which I thought would help me in my quest to gain my refund.
The supervisor was not down with that.
She started the same spiel I'd heard earlier, but in a very condescending manner.
I'm pretty used to condescension from supervisors, customer service associates, cashiers, and other "service" oriented people.
That wasn't what pissed me off.
It pissed me off when she started telling me that it was a small company, who's accountant only came in on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
It pissed me off when she told me that I would not, then, receive my refund for around a week, maybe two, because "I don't know how your bank does things."
It pissed me off when she asked for eight numbers in my credit card to make sure it was me, never mind that all this information was in her possession; she had been too busy lecturing me on how hard it was to be a small business to note this, I guess.
I was not kind...and I don't regret turning into a harpy from h*ll.
I'm a b*tch..as all women are. It's just to what degree others bring it out in us.
This lady was bringing it out in the worst way.
So I let her know that she'd not offered to refund my money; that she had given me unnecessarily long explanations for bullsh*t that I, as a fellow businesswoman found to be bogus.
Not sure about you, but when I issue refunds from my small business which handles online orders (will not mention my biz, not soliciting here), if you have an issue, you get it RESOLVED...the same day you bring up a complaint.
You leave happy, not wanting to tear off the "supervisor's" head and sh*t down her neck after inhaling a vat of yummy chocolate flavored ex-lax.
You do not get arguments about how the product will come, it will come...it will come.
I am not Kevin Costner, and this is most assuredly not my "Field of Dreams"
You do not hear rampant speculation in the mind of someone who appears to be a few sandwiches shy of a picnic telling you in excruciating detail (for ten minutes, you can't MAKE this sh*t up) how their accountant must submit this and that to the bank to attain your refund.
In a normal world, you call, you complain, you have reason for this.
The customer service people see your reason for this.
They say, okay, you should have that refund within a few days at MOST.
They do not engage you in how wrong you are to ask for a refund.
They do their job.
They move onto the next person.
And while many of the good companies representatives and supervisors alike deal with a**holes.
They are not THEMSELVES a**holes.
CellPhoneLords.com could learn a great deal more about customer service.
And a WHOLE lot less about being a**holes..
They know how to do it with style.
CellPhoneLords.com