I placed an online order for an in stock big screen TV on Dec 6th. My credit card was immediately charged and the confirmation email replied that the product has been shipped for delivery on Dec 21st. Not sure why it takes 2 weeks to deliver something that is in stock, but I was ok with that. Little did I know this was a sign of things to come.
On Dec 16th, I called their service department and they confirmed everything is on schedule for delivery on the 21st. I took a day off work that day to wait for the shipment.
Dec 21st, 6:00PM: TV has not yet arrived, called FS and they told me to be patient because deliveries can last to 9:00 PM. I don’t know of any shipping company who delivers at that time of the evening, but I took that info at face value.
Dec 21st, 9:00PM: Still no TV, I called FS back. The customer service rep, apologized and said that he will put this order on “escalation”. It would take 24 to 48 hours to find out what happened to this shipment because the shipping company is outside of FS’s control. By then, I was fuming, but he said there was nothing that can be done because the “Escalation” department has already gone home. There’s been no phone call or contact from FS or the shipping company indicating that this shipment would be delayed.
Dec 22nd 9:00AM: Called FS back. Same story, they need 48 hours to figure out what is going on. At that point I told them if they can’t tell me when I will receive my TV, I will cancel the order. The answer was “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t have the authority to cancel the order, that will have to be done by the “Escalation” department, they’ll need up to 48 hours to investigate your problem.”
By then, I was really fuming. They’ve had my money for 2 weeks and they still can’t tell me when I will receive the goods. I called back 2 more times during the day hoping to get someone who can help me and both times, I get the same apologetic answer. I talked to a supervisor the 2nd time, still the same thing. His last statement was that there is nothing he can do, he is following company policy.
Dec 23rd 9:00AM: Called FS. Same story, they need 48 hours to investigate. However, this time after complaining enough on the phone and asking if I need to take this to small claims court, I was put through to a supervisor or manager. Finally, here was someone who sounded like he has some authority and would actually investigate the situation and will call me back.
He actually did try calling me back about 2 hours later! He explained that the shipping company is backlogged and the product will be shipped and that I will be contacted before the delivery date. However, he could not tell me or even give me an estimate of the delivery date. At that point I requested again to cancel my order and have my money refunded. He was not able to do that, apparently he does not have that authority and that I need to wait for the shipping company to bring it back to the warehouse first.
Dec 23rd, 3:15PM: Called FS again, the rep assured me that someone will contact me through email as soon as possible.
Dec 24th: After screaming a FS call centre rep, she admitted that the product is on back order and is now able to give me a refund. They lied to me all along while keeping my money.
Obviously the company policy is to take your money as quick as possible, then if there are problems, they’ll hang on to your money and take their sweet time to investigate. There are very similar complaints elsewhere. Check RedFlagDeals.ca and Complaints.com
Anyways, as of now, a refund has been promised, but just like their previous promises, I’m not holding my breath. Stay tuned.
BUYER BEWARE!
ahhhh…you learn quickly grasshopper. Same with rebates and other ‘give us cash now, get it back later’ tactics. Depending on when they are able to withdraw the funds they can sometimes hold customers $$$ for months while cheques areprocessed, authorized, cut, blah, blah, blah…
Why? I think we know why. A savvy finance guy figured out that companies can put cash into short-term accounts that provide small, yet highly profitably interest payments. Basically, the money gets back to the customer, in most cases, but the large corporation profits from holding it, maybe a quarter point. Not a lot you say? Think about how much money they are constantly processing!!
Left by Agizzle on December 27th, 2009