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Review 12/13/2007
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On Sept 19, 2007, I placed an order for an expensive printer (nearly $2,700) and sent a check to pay for the order. After the check cleared the bank on Sept 24, I anticipated receiving a tracking number or other status update of my order. On Friday, Oct 12, I called to inquire. The company informed me that they anticipate shipping the printer on Monday and that they would call me with a tracking number that day.
I needed the printer soon, so I called them on Monday, Oct 16, to check again, to be informed by another person that the unit allocated for my order was sold to someone else and they believed it would take another week to find one. After that, it would be another week or two before I received it!
This was completely unacceptable to me. I asked the customer service representative for a refund, of which she said she was unauthorized to issue. However, she put me on hold while she went to speak to her manager. After waiting for 15 minutes, I hung up and called back, asking for customer service, to be informed that all the CSRs had gone to lunch! She left me on hold while she went to lunch!! Luckily, the gentleman on the phone was able to look up my order notes and offered me another printer for only $890 more. No thanks, please send me my money back.
The next day, Oct 16, I called again to check how soon I could expect my money back, as I needed these funds to purchase the printer from another source. The company said it would be about 4 business days from the 17th.
On Oct 23, I called again. Nobody had answers.
On Oct 24, I called to be informed that the check is waiting for signature and should be on its way to me by the end of the week (Oct 26).
A week later, on Nov 1, I called & they said the check was still unsigned.
From there, I left voice mail for accounts payable on Nov 6, Nov 26, Nov 27 & Nov 28. (I was out of town from Nov 8 through the 25.) Nobody could give me answers, accounts payable would not return my phone calls and the CEO was never available either. (When I asked for the supervisor over A/P, they said it was Fred, the CEO.)
Finally, my manager at work was able to get through and speak to someone. Note: he called from a different phone number, so perhaps they were screening my calls? When he threatened to file a complaint of fraud with the Consumer Protection Agencies in the States of California and Texas unless the check was mailed that very day, the check was mailed.
Finally, two months after canceling my order, on Dec 12, I received my money back.
Good points for this company:
Someone most always answers the phone during business hours, even if nobody else is available.
They cash your checks quickly so your order isn't held up for non-payment.
Things that needed improvement in this case:
Keeping their customers informed about their order
Returning customer phone calls
Keeping units allocated properly & not overselling inventory
Proper communication of the facts about an order within the company
Processing the refund in a timely manner
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