Mercantila ,Inversion Table Superstore, Mercantila - Fraudulent Business Practices San Francisco California

I have also had a poor experience with Mercantila. I ordered an inversion table from their "Inversion Table Superstore" site in November 2008. I received an email confirmation of my order as well as a shipping notification with a Fed Ex tracking number and an expected date of delivery. Of course, no order was received on this date, however they did charge my credit card.

When the order didn't arrive as expected, I checked the Fed Ex website and found that the order had not been shipped. (apparently a tracking number can be generated without an order actually shipping). At this point I got a little suspicious and decided to call Mercantila. Imagine my surprise, no one answers their telephone - callers get a recorded message that instructs them to hold for the next available representative. Despite several long waits, I was not able to speak with anyone. The only way that you can contact them is via the email link on their website. I left several messages requesting that a representative contact me about my order. I also requested that my order be cancelled as well as confirmation of this. I did finally receive an email confirming that my order was cancelled, but I did not receive a refund on my credit card. The email stated that they had "tried" several times to issue a credit but that it wouldn't "go through". I spoke with my credit card company and they indicated that this was not something that would happen.

To make a long story short, I ended up filing a dispute with my credit card company, who issued a credit to my account because Mercantila also failed to respond to their inquiries about the dispute. I am very thankful that I used my credit card and not PayPal or the "Bill Me Later" option that is available on the Mercantila website.

I have heard from a represntative at the Better Business Bureau that this company is now under investigation by the California Attorney General's office because of the number of complaints that have been filed against them.

Unhappy customer
Downeast, Maine
U.S.A.