Let's Say.............updated
 

Let's say you ordered 3 stamps in the $10 range from a company that advertised here on SCS. Lets say you added a couple other small things to justify the $12.00 Shipping and Handling.
Lets say......your order got here very quickly. But its the WRONG order. In the package is one HM stamp I ordered, another stamp I didn't order and a bottle of Staz-on cleaner I didn't order.
So lets say you email the company and they email you back and say " Please keep the house mouse
face painters that you ordered and return the rest to us. I will refund you
the shipping amount of sending it back as soon as it arrives. I think what
happened is that your order must have been mixed up with someone elses. I'm
sure I'll be hearing from someone else soon regarding receiving the wrong
order as well. The other items on your list have sold out except for the
brads".

So they put through my order without notifying that the majority of it was sold out? I ended up paying over $12 shipping for basically ONE stamp? (Don't get me wrong, its a cute stamp.........just not THAT cute). And now they want me to PAY to return the wrong items mailed to me.

Maybe I'm being oversensitive......but I am definitely not happy with the customer service from this company. :(
Any suggestions?

Ick, I think you should tell them you ordered the 'extra' stuff to justify the $12 shipping so you would like to return it all for a complete refund + the return postage.

Tell them that you will gladly send back the items once you receive a pre-paid mailing label - since it was their mix up and not yours. Also tell them that you want the shipped cost refunded to reflect the correct amount for what you actually received. If they won't do this, you can report them to Ebay (if that's where you purchased it) or to the better business bureau. If they won't help you any further, don't send anything back and make sure that eveyone you know doesn't order from them!

It wasn't eBay........it was a company that had a banner ad here the first of the week.

wow, I would tell them to send you a postage paid mailer for all of it, sent it all back. if you want a good place to buy HM stamps, let me know, this place does great on my order EVERY time, and the prices are superb!

Just tell them to cancel your order, credit your card with the full amount and send a postage paid envelope for you to send back the wrong order. If the other things weren't sold out and they would just send you the correct order, then that would be good customer service. But to be out of stock...tell them bluntly like it is...YOU messed up and I have to pay for it? No more business from me! (I can't stand it when companies don't update their websites and let you know something is out of stock before you order it!...I think they do it on purpose hoping you'll just buy something else instead of canceling) THey could have at least OFFERED something else in exchange.

This is my draft email to the company.....

Please send me a postage paid mailer to return ALL of the items I received today and please refund my VISA order. I would NOT have spent over $12 on shipping for basically one stamp, which is what my order basically is if the other items are sold out as you indicate. There was no packing receipt in the box and I suggest you use something along that line to prevent errors like this from happening again. I was pleased to do business with a Canadian company that was advertising on Splitcoaststampers, but I'm so disappointed in the way my order was mishandled and frankly, the lack of customer service.


Any suggestions before I click send?

sounds good to me

I had a similar issue some years ago with a video company. They sent one item I ordered and another I did not. I called to notify them of the error and they were equally unhelpful. I don't remember the exact specifics, but someone made me aware of a regulation that basically said any item you receive unsolicited through the mail can be kept as a gift if you so choose, especially if you have notified the vendor of an error.

Depending on the price of the additional items, the vendor may just tell you to keep them if you like rather than deal with the expense of shipping and restocking. If not, I would expect the vendor to send you a pre-paid envelope and credit you the entire amount you paid for shipping the first time as a gesture of good will for not having notified you of the inavailability of the additional items you ordered and you having to deal with the hassle of the return. IF they want future business, that is.

Please tell me is isn't Hanna Stamps!! I just ordered from them today and am eagerly awaiting my arrival! Is this a reliable company?
~Lynn~

I have ordered from Hanna stamps and they are awesome. My order was perfect and they even wrapped the stamps in super girly pretty tissue paper. Plus Hanna stamps is not a Canadian company like the OP was stating. My dealings with Hanna Stamps have been great!

First, I applaud you for not naming the company, since it all may be resolved to your satisfaction eventually.

That said, what a bunch of nonsense! Very poor customer service. I'd respond and just tell them what you told us. Explain that you want a refund on the original shipping that you paid, and that you will be happy to return the other merchandise when they send you a prepaid label to do so.

Good luck!

Honestly, good customer service would have given you the entire shipment for free, with maybe the exception of the item you ordered. There are so many businesses out there to work with and when you have a good one you are going to stick with it, and those that do poor service will go out of business and that is why. When SU has messed up my order they let me keep the stuff they sent on error and they ship out the correct items without extra charges. I actually think that by law (and this might be per state) they can not make you send it back to them b/c you did not ask for it and they sent it to you.

No I am sure it is not, Kristy is wonderful and would have fixed it. She mailed me the wrong set (and beautifully wrapped it) and then resent me the right one and told me to keep the other one. So now I have two different sets! Now that is good customer service and I will definately do business with her again.

Ladies, thanks for putting my fears to rest! Kristy does seem to be a wonderful person to do business with -- I had a question about my order and she replied to my email pronto! My only regret is I had to order via "snail mail" (money order), so it's going to seem like forever to receive my lovely stamps!

Nursechrissy, I hope your dilemma is resolved soon and without too much hassle!
~Lynn~

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and support. And no......it wasn't Hanna Stamps. I emailed the company about an hour ago. No response yet.

I finally got a response after I sent a PM to a member of her Design Team who had posted on another thread about the shipping rates from this company, so I assumed she did more than just design for this company. The response is:

Hi Christine: As I said in my earlier email. I apologize for the
confusion. I'm sure that you understand that sometimes mistakes happen due
to human error. This was not a deliberate mistake to try to make you angry.
You are welcome to send the entire order back to us and we will refund the
complete order amount along with shipping both ways. We will not be issuing
a refund until the items are recieved back. Again, I apologize for this
error and confusion and would ask that in the future you please do not
contact my design team members as they have not control over, and neither
are they responsible for the business transactions or errors that
occasionally happen with (business name deleted by me) as with any other business.
Thanks so much,



Package is wrapped and ready to go back. I'll be monitoring my VISA online to ensure the original amount charged is refunded as well the cost of the postage to return it(which apparently I'm expected to pay for first before being reimbursed). I wasn't angry( more disappointed) yesterday with the customer service......today is a different story.

wow, unless you erased the previous apology, I sure didn't see it - if I treated a customer this way at my store, I would be in hot water. This place isn't a place I would want to do business with more than once...I would still want a prepaid shipping envelope so that you didn't have to spend YOUR money correcting their error, intentional or not...sorry this happened to you.

Sorry to hear about what happened to you.. I too would be very upset over having to front the bill when it was their fault.. plus after a nasty email response as posted above, I would be bad mouthing their company all over the web.. I believe in letting others know when a company isn't worth ordering from and it sounds like this one should be near the top of the list.

Pam

Well, if I were a design team member I would want to know how fellow SCSers were being treated by the company I was representing with my name and hard work. That isn't likely to happen since I've never submitted for a design team, but poor customer service reflects on everyone who is associated with a company.

So sorry you are dealing with this Chrissy!

Wow, that stinks. I would be sending everything certified. Or at least signature requested.

Wow...I hope all works out well and you get your refund soon.. I too have been trying to get a refund from a company I bought some Prismacolor pencils from and never recieved them and this was July of 2007. I hope you have better luck then me. At this point I would of taken anything they sent my way!!! :)

The whole thing is kind of sucky, but not the end of the earth. While you really shouldn't be obligated to return the other items, I don't think the end result is totally unreasonable- an inconvenience to you, yes, but at the end of it all you will be fully refunded. I'm not saying you're not justified in being upset or choosing to not do business with them again- those are personal feelings and opinions that can only come from you. I just think that we all need to be a little bit more lenient when dealing with small business owners.

One of the things I have come to really enjoy about stamping/scrapping is how I have the opportunity to interact with so many small businesses. I live in a very urban suburban area and the small business owner is virtually nonexistent here. Something to keep in mind when dealing with said small businesses is that they don't always have the capital to absorb these extra costs nor the manpower to react quickly to things like stock changes (or even be able to keep sufficient stock to avoid these types of things.

The little guy is being not so slowly driven to extinction by capitalism. While competition benefits the consumer in many ways, we (in my opinion) lose out big time by having less and less opportunities to engage in business with mom & pop shops over large corporations. I think therefore a little leniency needs to be given when dealing with smaller companies.

I have had imperfect business transactions when dealing with smaller companies, but in the end I was always satisfied if by nothing else knowing that I gave my business to someone who personally worked for it. I hope to continue to be able to give my business to small companies, even when they make the occasional mistake. Hopefully I am not the only one.

Well that was much longer than planned; I hope I didn't knock anyone over jumping on soapbox. :rolleyes:

Wow! Sorry to hear the rude response you received back from the company. I understand human error....but they should reimburse you for the time it took you to mail everything back too! I know even little errands in my Tahoe cost me a fortune in gas now days!!

Why can't you say the name of the company. I would want others to know not to shop there.

Gets kind of tricky regards Terms of Service. The company may have no representative here to speak on their behalf, thus it may end up being entirely unfair to them. That could in turn put SCS in a compromising position. A link to the TOS is at the bottom of every page.

If you want to know the name of the company you can just PM the original poster.

LOVE Hanna STamps-wonderful company!

It sounds like you are getting resolution. I am glad that communication with the company representative is working out. I've found that, usually, once you are able to connect with the right people, it does work itself out.

Just an FYI - not every banner that you see in our forums is purchased directly through the SCS advertising program. We do have some out-sourced advertising, like google, and it can be difficult to tell the difference. If you ever have a question, you can reach us in advertising by PMing me directly, or by clicking the advertise link at the bottom of every page. We'll do our best to get you connected to the right folks, pronto.

Customer Service
 

I am leaving PandaGirl's entire eloquent post in defense of small business owners.

But can you imagine the loyalty if the OP got a letter along these lines....

Dear OP,

Imagine our embarassment when (beloved design team member) forwarded your email. We, and the few family members who work here at "reallywantyourbusiness.com" strive for perfection in fulfilling all of our orders, but obviously in your case we missed the boat. We apologize for sending you a wrong order.

Our presence on SplitCoast has been an embarrassment of riches, as we did not adequately predict demand and have since run out of the other items you ordered.

I wish that we were able to send you a label for postage paid mailing, but that is one thing we have not been able to coordinate for our non-Canadian customers. We tried some test packages with our design team and US post offices could not handle prepaid Canadian postage and prewritten customs forms. I am sure you are just as frustrated as we are, but we will be happy to refund your complete order plus shipping both ways, once we receive your return.


Again, I am so sorry your first experience with "wewantyourbusiness.com" was not a happy one, and we hope you will give us another chance to make things right.

Sincerely...

(I would also have my design team member, send an email saying thanks for giving them a chance to work this out.)

That would make *me* as well as the original poster, say "that is what is so nice about supporting small businesses, that extra human touch.

Betsy
(not involved at all..but you get my dollar's worth anyway)

Resolution? Not a happy one........but yes, the situation will come to a close tomorrow when I mail the wrong items back to them and then await my Visa refund. I have learned so much about stamping and papercrafting since joining SCS in Nov 2007 and have made some great online friends as well, so a banner that I clicked on here(and I'm pretty certain it isn't an outsourced one) certainly doesn't reflect back on SCS. It reflects directly back to the company.

Your letter would have been a perfect apology, especially if they wanted repeat business. My husband and I own a small business and the bottom line is our customer has to be happy or at the very least satisfied. I think that most small companies are usually great to work with because they want repeat business and word of mouth advertising. This one lost an opportunity, imo.

Betsy............Your "letter" made me smile. I wouldn't call it "your dollars worth............but more like $2 (a twoonie) here in Canada. :mrgreen: A letter like that would have been well received by me. I think I'm a reasonable person and have done alot(too much) buying from the internet....... from individuals on eBay, to small companies and large corporations so I think I have an idea of what reasonable customer service is. Heck......I'm a nurse and customer service of sorts is vitally important in my job and I get complimented on my caring and compassion. BTW.......I live in the same country as the company we've been discussing, so the postage issue isn't really an issue.

ummmmmmmmmm Debra? Do you and your hubby sell stamps? :mrgreen:

Just a reminder (although it sounds like the OPs issue will be resolved) - if you use a credit card for your purchases you can dispute charges. It probably varies by card but here is the info from the card I use for online purchases:
Special Rule for Credit Card Purchases
If you have a problem with the quality of goods or services that you purchased with a credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may not have to pay the remaining amount due on the goods or services. You have this protection only when the purchase price is more than $50 and the purchase is made in your home state or within 100 miles of your mailing address. (If we own or operate the merchant, or if we mailed you the advertisement for the property or serviced, all purchases are covered regardless of amount or location of purchase.)

There is also a disputed item clause that could possibly apply.

ndeelou. I completely agree with you. This store has lost a customer and probably several more through word of mouth. Vinegar is bitter, honey is sweet.

chrissy- well I know the issue will be resolved but honestly 1. not really to your satisfaction and 2. definately NOT with good communication. I think that letter like that is unacceptable for any business. I have always been someone reluctant/hesitant to buy without it in my hand and it seems like these days customer service is getting worse and worse. I bought from an online sbing store on 12/29 and I am still waiting on my order. They gave me a tracking number and told me it shipped on 1/2/08: the tracking number never worked so I contacted them on 1/10 to ask about it and they told me they would resend the items- still, today is the 17th and I don't have the items and they are only like 4 states away (I got a package from CA across the US in 2 days this week- that is amazing!) I have another package that they say shipped from CA on 1/7 and it is still not here- it is crazy! And no one (and I know that some do) wants to be responsible, lets blame it on the post office, the time of year, the weather- whatever.................. I have resolved that if you are not going to treat me nice.......... then I am NOT going to buy from you and I AM going to share my experience with others.

So- even though you may not want to mention the provider in a post- you could share with friends and those who ask. (wink)

these kinds of stories are why i am so leery of doing business on line... i have only done it a few times.


i have to agree... word of mouth can make or break a business.

and i have a BIG mouth!

Don't be leery of doing business online.........just be aware like you would with any brick and mortar store. I've done hundreds of online transactions....from major retailers, to eBay sellers to scs'ers on the b/s/t forum and have had no issues that compare to this.
There are some great companies out there that give great customer service.......there was a post about Cornish Hill the last few days and the great customer service from them. I've even just ordered my first Bella's. :-D

Just a final note.............my payment for the items and the amount to return ship has just been refunded via paypal. No message with the payment, but there wasn't really anything more to be said at this point that would change "my opinion" of the customer service.

Thanks to everyone for their support and their PM's. :)

Christine

Must have a reader!! even though no name was ever mentioned, they must know who they are and acted accordingly. That is good to hear. Pam