Buy.com’s customer service department is staffed by imbeciles

I just sent this letter to the contact email address for a recent buy.com press release:

[elided],

I got your email address from a recent press release about buy.com.  Perhaps you could do me the kindness of passing this message along to someone at buy.com who actually cares about the impression the company makes on its customers, as opposed to the illiterate, incompetent imbeciles who are employed at its customer service department.

I placed an order from buy.com on October 24.

On November 1, I received a shipment from buy.com.  When I opened it, I discovered that it contained someone else’s merchandise, i.e., the shipping label for my order was placed on the wrong box.

I contacted buy.com through their Web site that night, explained the problem, and asked for them to arrange for the incorrect merchandise to be shipped back to them and the correct merchandise to be shipped to me instead.  I had to contact them through their Web site because buy.com provides no way to contact them by telephone.

Almost two days went by before I received an answer from buy.com, and when the answer came, it was (as you can see below) completely and utterly useless, and I responded as such.

Again, it took almost two days before I received an answer, and once again that answer did not actually address the problem I had reported.

While all this was going on, I contacted the intended recipient of the order I received (I got their name and address from the packing slip within the order and was able to find their phone number on the Internet) and told them I had their package.  They, in turn, contacted DBL Distributing, the shipper who was supposed to have sent them the merchandise and sent it to me instead, and told DBL that I had their merchandise.  A representative from DBL contacted me last night, and arranged to (a) mail me a return tag to ship back the incorrect merchandise and (b) ship me the merchandise I was supposed to have received, by second-day air, at no additional expense to me.

After this experience, it is extremely unlikely that I will ever consider purchasing from buy.com again.  Furthermore, I will be posting this letter on my consumer activism blog and urging others to refrain from patronizing buy.com as well.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kamens

——– Original Message ——–

Hello Jonathan Kamens,

Thank you for contacting Buy.com.

This is in reference to your email regarding order #[elided].

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. We work
hard to ensure satisfaction. We look forward to helping you with all
your shopping needs in the future.

As this order did not work out for you, we will be glad to guide you
through our return process. If you have not already received a Return
Merchandise Authorization number (RMA), please check our easy online
return feature by visiting:

https://secure.buy.com/corp/support/guestordersearch.asp

You will find here step-by-step instructions on the return
process. You will be notified of your options concerning the return of
your item. For more information, on our Return Policy, please visit
our website at:

http://www.buy.com/corp/support/returns/default.asp?What=return policy

We thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter. 

Sincerely, 

Alvin
Buy.com Customer Service
www.buy.com
Order #: [elided]

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
https://secure.buy.com/s.asp?r=[elided]&e=jik@k&b=1

If not, click here:
https://secure.buy.com/s.asp?r=[elided]&e=jik@k&b=0

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.

----Original Message----
> From: jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us
> To: support@customerservice.buy.com
> Subject: Re: Shipment was Damaged, Defective, or Wrong [Ref:[elided]]
> Date: 4 November 2007, 9:31 Hrs.
>
> You seem to have misunderstood this problem.  Please read what I wrote
> below again.
>
> Google Checkout did not reject the authorization of my credit card, as
> you claim below.  In fact, Google Checkout accepted my charge, and you
> processed my order, and you sent me a box, and that box arrived at my
> house.
>
> The problem is that YOU SENT ME THE WRONG BOX.  YOU SENT ME SOMEONE
> ELSE'S BOX.  YOU PUT MY SHIPPING LABEL ON THE WRONG BOX.  Get it?
>
> You screwed up, and as a result, I have a box containing over $200 worth
> of somebody else's merchandise which they've already paid for and I
> don't want, and I DON'T have the $40 worth of merchandise that I paid
> for and wanted.
>
> You need to fix this.  NOW.  You need to tell me how I can return the
> incorrect merchandise to you at your expense, and you need to ship me
> the correct merchandise that I actually ordered NOW, AS FAST AS IT CAN
> BE SHIPPED, AT YOUR EXPENSE.
>
> Please solve this problem immediately.
>
>   Jonathan Kamens
>
> On 11/03/2007 06:07 PM, support@customerservice.buy.com wrote:
> > Hello Jonathan Kamens,
> >
> > Thank you for contacting Buy.com.
> >
> > This is in reference to your email regarding order #[elided].
> >
> > We apologize that Google Checkout was unable to process your order.
> >
> > Google Checkout tried to authorize funds from your credit card for
> > payment; however, the authorization for payment failed. As a result, Google
> > asked us to cancel this order. Please verify your credit card information
> > with Google Checkout and place a new order. This should correct the
> > authorization issue. For further information, please contact Google
> > Customer Support at:
> >
> > https://checkout.google.com/support
> >
> > Please note that we are uanble to send the replacement order with
> > overnight shipping as a mode of shipment.
> >
> > We apologize for the delay and for any inconvenience that you may have
> > experienced.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Sarah
> > Buy.com Customer Service
> > www.buy.com
> > Order #: [elided]
> >
> >
> > Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
> >
> > If yes, click here:
> > https://secure.buy.com/s.asp?r=[elided]&e=jik@k&b=1
> >
> > If not, click here:
> > https://secure.buy.com/s.asp?r=[elided]&e=jik@k&b=0
> >
> >
> > To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of
> > our web site.
> >
> > ----Original Message----
> >
> >> From: jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us
> >> To: support@customerservice.buy.com
> >> Subject: Shipment was Damaged, Defective, or Wrong [Ref:[elided]]
> >> Date: 1 November 2007, 21:32 Hrs.
> >>
> >> Name: Jonathan Kamens
> >>
> >> eMail: jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us
> >>
> >> Order #: [elided]
> >>
> >> Question/Comment:
> >> ---------------------------------------------------
> >> You sent me the wrong box.
> >>
> >> I ordered a $40 television antenna.  You sent me someone else's order. It
> >> says it was shipped by "DBL Distributing" to customer number [elided], order
> >> number [elided].  $216.24 worth of batteries, headphones, and HD video
> >> cartridges.
> >>
> >> Of course, I had to open it to discover that it was the wrong order, so I
> >> can't tell UPS to take it back.
> >>
> >> I assume that you're going to send me a return shipping label so I can
> >> return the incorrect merchandise to you.
> >>
> >> I also assume that you're going to overnight the correct order to me so
> >> that the product I ordered isn't delayed any more than absolutely necessary
> >> as a result of your error.
> >>
> >> Please respond promptly.