Century 21 Electronics Rude and Deceptive Behavior Internet

In early December, I looked online to buy my girlfriend a Canon Rebel XTi camera. While Century 21 Electronics was not the least expensive site, their products were priced great and they had a 5 star rating. I ordered a fairly expensive package and paid for express shipping to ensure I would have it well in advance for Christmas.

A day later I got an email confirming my order and it stated that the order would be processed within two days and then shipped. Fast forward to December 20th, more than a week later - I had still not received the package yet, so I was concerned. I called Century 21 Electronics...

During the 20+ minutes that I waited to talk to a real person, I heard the standard recording about how Century 21 Electronics wants happy customers, how they want you to respond to their survey, how they aim to please, etc, etc, ad nausem... Finally, I got to talk to a real person!

The person seemed to have a grumpy attitude from the beginning. I explained my situation and he asked for my order number. After punching it into his computer, he said that the order I made is on back order. I explained that they never notified me of this and his response was "Oh." I asked him for options and he said there were none. I told him that I wanted to talk to a supervisor who could better help me. He said there was nothing I could do and hung up!

I decided to call back hoping I could talk to a different person. After all, everyone is entitled to a bad day. After waiting another 20+ minutes I get connected to the same guy. I explain to him that we got "disconnected" and that I would like to talk to someone of higher authority. After waiting another 10 minutes, I got to talk to another person. This guy was more rude...

He was not customer oriented at all. In fact, he couldn't seem to understand why I was upset that I wasn't notified my order was put on back order. I explained that the I made the order early enough to ensure Christmas delivery and he said one shopping day is just like any other and didn't seem to understand why I would be upset. I asking him for what options I had and he said none...

I did have an option and decided to exercise it. I told him to cancel my order. He became more rude and raised his voice saying, "FINE, your order is CANCELLED!" At this point, I couldn't handle it any more, I made a rude comment myself and hung up.

Unfortunately, I will have to monitor my credit card and credit report on a more regular basis to ensure these rude people don't take retaliatory measures again me. I would not put it past these people based on their bahaviors to me.

Moral of the story: If a website has 5 stars next to a company, it doesn't mean anything.

Mark
Chandler, Arizona
U.S.A.