More Fun with Vendors

In an earlier rant I went off the handle about shipping. This reared its ugly head about a week ago when my wife placed an order for that Canon Powershot A650IS. The one that was supposed to arrive today. But there's more to the story than just shipping and the fact that it didn't arrive today. It goes something like this:

Most camera shops won't ship via the US Postal Service. I've heard the same old wheeze so many times it makes me sick: "The postal service loses stuff!" In the whole time I've been living with a P.O. Box, I recall one parcel being lost. One. That's it. And considering the added cost of using one of the big carriers to get stuff out to where I live, out here in the middle of the Pacific, I still think I'm ahead.

My wife finally found a company that would ship USPS, but at the last minute their web site informed us it wouldn't ship to a P.O. Box. Grrrr! Ok, fine. Send it to work.

The next morning I had an email informing me my order was holding until a sales representative could get clarification on something. ??! I called them up, expecting problems with my credit card, problems with shipping, or something of that sort. "We see you've ordered a camera that doesn't come with a memory card. We are running a special on memory cards, and..." !!! Yes, they held my order so they could try to sell me a memory card. I told them I had a stack of SD cards, and to please push the order through.

I heard nothing from them for a week, so I decided to call and ask what was up. "We show that item is back-ordered for six to eight weeks." !!!!! "And when were you planning on telling me this?!" "I was about to send an email." Yeah... I bet... I told them to keep the order open, and ended the call.

So imagine my surprise when the email they sent informed me my order had been canceled! "Angry" is too mild a word to describe my mood when I saw that. "Livid" is getting closer.

So here's the plea: If you are running a business and someone orders a piece of equipment from you, please keep them informed of the order status. If you know an item is out of stock, please contact the buyer and let them know. And for heaven's sake, if the buyer gives you a direct order regarding their purchase, follow their instructions!

I placed another order for the camera from another vendor, and within ten minutes I had a confirmation e-mail with my order number, order manifest, shipping policy, expected delivery time, and a phone number I can use to contact them. That is what I call customer service!

I'm still looking forward to my new camera, but it'll be a little longer than I was expecting.

Tom