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Not sure if this is the right place for this one, so Mods feel free to move it if necessary.
Okay, back in July I ordered an item online. Specifically the "subscription gift" for a magazine series plus a binder for said magazines. The reason I was buying this instead of getting it free for subscribing was due to the fact that they don't offer direct subscriptions to Irish customers (they're an English company) and none of my local suppliers offer subscription services. Not gonna comment on that little annoyance.
[/Tedious Background Info]
I paid for this using a prepaid credit card (3V for those familiar with the system. Love these guys 'cause I can buy online without unknowingly bankrupting myself) and all was well and good. Sat back to wait for delivery, within 28 days as promised by the website. 28 days later (and no rage-virus infected people to be seen
) no delivery.
"Hmm", I think to myself, "perhaps they meant 28 business days, despite not stating it. I'll wait until then." And wait I did, for I am a patient puppy.
You can see where this is headed, I bet.
Last week (the end of the business day deadline), still no packagey goodness, or contact from the company save for the original auto-generated confirmation e-mail I got back after placing the order.
"Surely something is amiss", I told myself. "There's definately something amiss", I replied, "and don't call me Shirley." So off I go to send their Customer Service department an e-mail detailing my problem and requesting a status update. All very polite. For added helpfulness I include a copy of the confirmation e-mail verbatim.
Fast forward to last Monday evening. I receive a reply to the very polite e-mail I sent stating there was a problem with my order. Effectively, the reply stated "There appears to be a problem with your order. Please call us at <phone number>. I sigh to myself, for what is the point of a customer service e-mail address if they simply tell you to phone them?
Tuesday morning (to ensure they would be open) I called, and proceeded to wait. A 10 minute wait (actually timed, no SC time involved, I swear) punctuated by repeated insistances that my call was important to them later, I got to speak to a live rep. I open with something along the lines of "Hello, I'm in Ireland and placed an order in July (bear in mind at this point it is September) and have yet to recieve it. I got an email telling me there was a problem with the order and to call here." The reply was "Okay, can I get your postcode please?" All I could say was "I don't have one. I'm in Ireland. We don't use postcodes." Annoying but forgivable. I don't expect the average British citizen to know every detail of Irish knowledge, just that they tried to rule us but after a while we got bored of that and kicked them out
Once we get past the whole figuring out who I am mystery, we turn to 'The Case of the Lost Order'. She can't find my order anywhere. Oh wait, she found something. According to the system, I only ordered the binder. Not the whole enchillada, just the binder.
What's that? The confirmation email which states clearly that you ordered everything? That's generated automatically. And what? I don't understand the question sir, so I'll ignore it. Next question. If you ordered the binder, why hasn't it been delivered yet? I don't know let me check. It might just be out of stock. Hmmm.... no, not out of stock. Well, I don't know then. It might just take a while to be delivered. That sometimes happens with deliveries to Ireland, but I've never seen it take this long.
At this point, I just cancelled the whole order entirely. I remained polite at all times during the conversation and I don't blame the rep. She was nothing but helpful and polite during the whole thing. She didn't take my order, she wasn't responsible for putting it together or sending it out. But, quite frankly, the whole experience has soured my opinion of the company in general. They're not new, they've been doing this magazine shtick for a while and have several going at the moment. But suffice to say that once this particular magazine series is done, I think I'll wash my hands of these guys.
TL;DR: Didn't get what I ordered and paid for, no-one could tell me why.
Okay, back in July I ordered an item online. Specifically the "subscription gift" for a magazine series plus a binder for said magazines. The reason I was buying this instead of getting it free for subscribing was due to the fact that they don't offer direct subscriptions to Irish customers (they're an English company) and none of my local suppliers offer subscription services. Not gonna comment on that little annoyance.
[/Tedious Background Info]
I paid for this using a prepaid credit card (3V for those familiar with the system. Love these guys 'cause I can buy online without unknowingly bankrupting myself) and all was well and good. Sat back to wait for delivery, within 28 days as promised by the website. 28 days later (and no rage-virus infected people to be seen
) no delivery. "Hmm", I think to myself, "perhaps they meant 28 business days, despite not stating it. I'll wait until then." And wait I did, for I am a patient puppy.
You can see where this is headed, I bet.
Last week (the end of the business day deadline), still no packagey goodness, or contact from the company save for the original auto-generated confirmation e-mail I got back after placing the order.
"Surely something is amiss", I told myself. "There's definately something amiss", I replied, "and don't call me Shirley." So off I go to send their Customer Service department an e-mail detailing my problem and requesting a status update. All very polite. For added helpfulness I include a copy of the confirmation e-mail verbatim.
Fast forward to last Monday evening. I receive a reply to the very polite e-mail I sent stating there was a problem with my order. Effectively, the reply stated "There appears to be a problem with your order. Please call us at <phone number>. I sigh to myself, for what is the point of a customer service e-mail address if they simply tell you to phone them?
Tuesday morning (to ensure they would be open) I called, and proceeded to wait. A 10 minute wait (actually timed, no SC time involved, I swear) punctuated by repeated insistances that my call was important to them later, I got to speak to a live rep. I open with something along the lines of "Hello, I'm in Ireland and placed an order in July (bear in mind at this point it is September) and have yet to recieve it. I got an email telling me there was a problem with the order and to call here." The reply was "Okay, can I get your postcode please?" All I could say was "I don't have one. I'm in Ireland. We don't use postcodes." Annoying but forgivable. I don't expect the average British citizen to know every detail of Irish knowledge, just that they tried to rule us but after a while we got bored of that and kicked them out
Once we get past the whole figuring out who I am mystery, we turn to 'The Case of the Lost Order'. She can't find my order anywhere. Oh wait, she found something. According to the system, I only ordered the binder. Not the whole enchillada, just the binder.
What's that? The confirmation email which states clearly that you ordered everything? That's generated automatically. And what? I don't understand the question sir, so I'll ignore it. Next question. If you ordered the binder, why hasn't it been delivered yet? I don't know let me check. It might just be out of stock. Hmmm.... no, not out of stock. Well, I don't know then. It might just take a while to be delivered. That sometimes happens with deliveries to Ireland, but I've never seen it take this long.
At this point, I just cancelled the whole order entirely. I remained polite at all times during the conversation and I don't blame the rep. She was nothing but helpful and polite during the whole thing. She didn't take my order, she wasn't responsible for putting it together or sending it out. But, quite frankly, the whole experience has soured my opinion of the company in general. They're not new, they've been doing this magazine shtick for a while and have several going at the moment. But suffice to say that once this particular magazine series is done, I think I'll wash my hands of these guys.
TL;DR: Didn't get what I ordered and paid for, no-one could tell me why.