Thursday, March 01, 2007

customer service

I somehow feel like my rants about customer service on this blog make me seem like I'm high maintenance. after you read this, let me know what you think....
at the end of january, I bought some lavender essential oil from a site similar to ebay, called ioffer. I was sent a message saying that the seller would contact me shortly with payment details.
a couple days go by, and no message from the seller. I wrote to them asking how I could pay for this.
no message.
a couple days ago (about a month later!), I get a message from them saying they're sorry and they lost my order. to make up for it, they'll give me free shipping. ok, good deal. as far as I'm concerned, they have fully redeemed themselves. make a payment through PayPal.
I read the email again and realize that it says the free shipping is only good for the oil in a plastic container, not the pretty amber colored glass that was pictured (and promised!). so that seems kinda crappy. "sorry we lost your order, here's free shipping to make up for it. by the way, that free shipping? it means we downgraded your order."
standard shipping was $5. $5! I would've paid it, happily, even after the losing my order thing. what's the price difference between the bottles? I'm guessing a buck or two. so I email them and tell them I thought it was kind of crappy they did that. and you know what they did? returned my payment and sent me a nasty email about how they didn't have to give me free shipping and if I was going to complain, too bad. I don't get my stuff.
so I sent an email back that says:
"Wow. Your customer service has been really amazing. I try to buy something, you take a month to respond. I complain, you cancel the order. That's mature."
and I get a response that says:

"I made an offer to to pay for shipping on a "HDPE" container I did not have to do that - YOU accepted that offer, then then YOU complained it was not in glass and felt you where not getting what you paid for. The listing clearly states Buyer will PAY FOR shipping at the calculated rate. I could not help that the new setup did not generate an email.
I went into Paypal to accept payment and found that you do not have a confirmed shipping address. Just another nasty feeling coming my way. I felt it would be in both our interests to just walk away. Sorry it wasted BOTH of our time but had to go with my gut feeling."
gut feeling? about how if she took my payment my package might not arrive at my unconfirmed address? are you kidding?
so I sent back an email that said:
"Well, God forbid someone move. Really.
There's no "have to" about customer service. It's merely something you do so that you retain customers. This is possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever encountered."
I know that's kinda bitchy, but come on. cancelling my order? after you screwed up in the first place?
no one buy anything from 'Fragrances for Less' on ebay or ioffer or anywhere else.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You are not crazy - That person was *way* out of line and really overly defensive.

I have had extremely good service from this company:
www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com
They make 100s of essential oil blends, and you can search by scent note. The ordering process is easy, and they are upfront about how long order turnaround time will take (about a month, as the oils are freshly mixed.) I ordered a six-imp sampler pack from them, and when I opened the package, they'd thrown in two free imps of related scents. Everything is nicely packaged in glass (even the wee little imps,) and if a scent doesn't work out for you there is an online community of BPAL enthusiasts who are happy to purchase or trade for unwanted scents. I love them so much. (In fact, I am currently wearing "Belle Epoque" and I smell delicious, if I do say so myself.)

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a jackass. After a freakin MONTH the least they could do is give you a discount on the thing you ACTUALLY ORDERED! And then they complain? Whatever. It didn't even happen to me and now I'm all pissed. I want to send them and email and tell them they're douchebags (i won't though).