Thursday 17 January 2013

Today I'm an angry consumer

Ok.

I bought a pair of Louboutins off a Texas-based online retailer a few days ago.  Sorry I meant to say I attempted to buy a pair of Louboutins.  I put the shoes in my basket and went to check out.  I entered all my details in and it came up with an error.  "Error number 122.  Please check your information."

No fields were highlighted in red.  All the mandatory fields were populated.  But for the sake of being thorough, I populated text in every single field (mandatory or not).  Same error.  I checked my address a million times.  Same error.  I changed my name slightly.  Same error.  I abandoned that process and started again from scratch.  Same error.  I changed the way my mobile number was displayed.  Same error.  I tried to create an account with them and THEN buy the shoes, but it wouldn't let me create an account.  WTF

Attention stupid online shop - I can only fix an error if you tell me what the problem is and which field this relates to.  After 45 mins of trial and error I gave up and emailed their customer service.  I was told....



Our system seems to have trouble with verifying some Australian address. Do you have a Paypal account? If so, I can send you an invoice to make payment.


Ok fine, it's a problem with their website.  They sent me a PayPal invoice which I paid immediately.  I got that email confirmation from PayPal saying the money had left my account and had gone into their account.

24 hours later, I hadn't received an order confirmation from the store, nor a tracking number so I emailed them again.

Yes- your shoes were gift wrapped and taken to shipping today. They are not yet showing in the FedEx tracking system.


 That's nice.  What about my order confirmation and a tracking number?  So I emailed them again asking for at least a tracking number so I can look it up on the FedEx website in the coming few days.  NO RESPONSE.  I try to log into the store's website, hoping my order is in there with a tracking number.  I actually got an error message this time

Incorrect password entered or the account does not exist.

Well that would make sense that my account doesn't exist but that's because YOUR WEBSITE WOULDN'T LET ME CREATE ONE.  And any hopes I had of the website recognising my email address as the one they used to send me the PayPal invoice were quickly dashed.

So here I am, $600 poorer, with absolutely no way to know whether the shoes I bought actually exist, or are on their way to me.  I mean, I'm sure it's fine and legit.  But when you're an online retailer specialising in luxury designer products, you NEED to have a better website, and better customer service than that.  And it really is a very basic function of any shop to provide an order confirmation/receipt.  Even Supre gives me receipts!  I've purchased from a LOT of online luxury designer retailers and their customer service is always impeccable (well, it has to be, consumers are spending a LOT of money).  I'm bitterly disappointed.

Rant over, thanks for listening.

Have you had any similar experiences?

10 comments:

  1. I sure have! My purchase wasn't as high in dollar value as yours but none the less, still cranky, I paid over $48 (which was more then the item) to track my shipment, I was provided with a shipping number that was not valid on the fedex site, getting slightly worried as it had been over three weeks, I ended up calling them, they were rude and told me that yes it was on it's way, they could see it on their fedex site. Which I could still not see, the order finally arrived 2 days after the phone call. Things shouldn't be this hard!

    Good luck, let us know how you go.

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    Replies
    1. That's so rude! Invalid tracking numbers freak me out. Glad to hear you eventually got it though!

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  2. I am now angry for you.
    Go to paypal and file a dispute. :(

    I will not start on my Manolos from eBay. URGH i'm now waiting for the $ to be returned to my bloody credit card.

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    1. Any update on your MBs? Did you speak to the seller?

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  3. Oh no im so sorry to hear. Its always frustrating when this sort of thing happens! Have you had a look at your Paypal transaction details? Could you possibly open a paypal dispute (or is this only for eBay?) Fingers crossed they arrive!

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    1. After sending my "Not Happy Jan" email to them yesterday, I magically got the FedEx tracking number this morning. My boots should be arriving Monday!

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  4. Yes yes yes - when buying a watch from an online jewellery store that 'apparent'y has a shop in LA. Read some good reviews and thought it all sounded legit - paid - received a receipt but for about a week couldn't get answers either via email or phone as to what was going on.

    Began to panic - partner considered calling the bank to stop the cc payment. Then suddenly an email reply saying it would be sent the following day.

    It took 3 weeks for the watch to arrive, a nail-biting time indeed. However, my partner has bought another watch from them (which he is currently waiting for) - so it wasn't too bad.

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    Replies
    1. 3 week delivery time? That's pretty poor for most online retailers, even if they're overseas. Glad to hear your watch arrived and you even ordered another one!

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  5. I hope you get your money/ shoes back. What a scary ordeal. I am not as brave to fork out that much money online. But am meeting a Gumtree purchaser tonight. Am not sure how that might pan out either. Online selling/buying is scary!

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    Replies
    1. I get super nervous meeting Gumtree/ebay purchasers too for some reason. I know it's just the idea of letting a complete stranger into your house. Good luck!!

      Yep, finally got a tracking number and my shoes should be arriving Monday!

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