Bad Customer Service!

swampwitch

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I guess this is going to be pretty rant-y, sorry. Please feel free to join in.

Home Depot: I ordered rubber stair treads for 12 stairs outside. They come in a 2-pack, so I ordered 6 Qty. I've received only 3 of them, although my account shows "order complete." I am having a very tough time with customer service, who are trying to tell me I've received 6. I have 6 treads, yes, but not the 6 pairs that I paid for.

Amazon: The desk lamp for my husband's office arrived with the shade dented all over. It is also completely different than the shade advertised. The vendor insists it is the same shade, although I have sent photos of the advertised shade next to a photo of the one we received, and they are not only different colors but a completely different design. He says they look the same to him!

A representative at the manufacturer says he sees the difference between the shades, but can't tell me which one they produce. Both the vendor and the manufacturer are supposed to be sending me replacements, but that was 4 weeks ago and I have nothing. I just contacted both of them again today.

Window treatments: We ordered black-out roller shades in the bedroom, from a reputable local company. The sales rep came and we matched the color to the walls. They were supposed to take 2-3 weeks, so after 4 weeks I contacted the sales person. Three days later, he emailed me back saying the shades were in, and he came and installed them. Before he left, I went to see them and he had pushed them all the way up, which I thought was werid. I pulled them down and immediately asw they are the wrong color!

It looks like the sales person had two swatches stuck together, and he read the color of the wrong one. He seemed scattered when he was here but said he's been doing this for 25 years, so I believed the color he read off of the swatch. After a back and forth battle with the company - that was not fun - they said they will replace them with the correct color in 2-3 weeks. It's been almost 4 weeks. Ugh why do I have to keep chasing down people to make them do their jobs?

Thanks for reading this far! Have you also had bad customer service experiences lately? Or better yet, any good ones?
 
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Kat0121

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I guess this is going to be pretty rant-y, sorry. Please feel free to join in.

Home Depot: I ordered rubber stair treads for 12 stairs outside. They come in a 2-pack, so I ordered 6 Qty. I've received only 3 of them, although my account shows "order complete." I am having a very tough time with customer service, who are trying to tell me I've received 6. I have 6 treads, yes, but not the 6 pairs that I paid for.

Amazon: The desk lamp for my husband's office arrived with the shade dented all over. It is also completely different than the shade advertised. The vendor insists it is the same shade, although I have sent photos of the advertised shade next to a photo of the one we received, and they are not only different colors but a completely different design. He says they look like the same shade to him!

A representative at the manufacturer says he sees the difference between the shades, but can't tell me which one they produce. Both the vendor and the manufacturer are supposed to be sending me replacements, but that was 4 weeks ago and I have nothing. I just contacted both of them again today.

Window treatments: We ordered black-out roller shades in the bedroom, from a reputable local company. The sales rep came and we matched the color to the walls. They were supposed to take 2-3 weeks, so after 4 weeks I contacted the sales person. Three days later, he emailed me back saying the shades were in, and he came and installed them. Before he left, I went to see them and he had pushed them all the way up, which I thought was werid. I pulled them down and immediately asw they are the wrong color!

It looks like the sales person had two swatches stuck together, and he read the color of the wrong one. He seemed scattered when he was here but said he's been doing this for 25 years, so I believed the color he read off of the swatch. After a back and forth battle with the company, they said they will replace them with the correct color in 2-3 weeks. It's been almost 4 weeks. Ugh why do I have to keep chasing down people to make them do their jobs?

Thanks for reading this far! Have you also had bad customer service experiences lately? Or better yet, any good ones?
Wow. You've had a string of bad luck with that.

Home Depot- I'd be in that store discussing this with a manager and no one else. I'd bring in my receipt, what they sent me and show it to him/her. If he/she is unable/unwilling to help, I'd be on the phone with corporate. 

Amazon- Was the desk lamp sold by a vendor but fulfilled by Amazon? If it wasn't, have you contacted Amazon? The person that sold you the lamp is using their site so they in a roundabout way are representing Amazon and making them look bad. They do not like this. I would contact them ASAP if you have not. They may intervene on your behalf or give you a refund because they want your business. If the initial rep is unable to help you, ask for a supervisor but those reps are given a lot of leeway. 

Window treatments- They did not give you what you ordered. Another 2-3 weeks is unacceptable. 4 is even worse. Is this a local company? I'd be in talking to the owner and would firmly but politely let them know that I expect to receive something for my trouble in the form of a partial refund. They sent out a rep with "25 years experience" and they still couldn't get it right. If they are unwilling to bend, I'd let them know in no uncertain terms that not only would I never buy anything from them again, I'd advise others to do the same and would be posting a review of their services online. If it is not a local company, I'd be on the phone with the highest ranking company officer I could get and let them know what happened. If they were unwilling to do anything, the next step would be a complaint with the BBB. THAT will get their attention.

We as consumers need to stand up to companies that treat us badly. They need us more than we need them and a lot of companies seem to have lost sight of this. This is why I do the majority of my online shopping from Amazon (sold by or fulfilled by them ONLY), Kohl's (their return policy and customer service is VERY good) and Bath & Body Works who have a 100% satisfaction guarantee or you bring it back no questions asked.

I got a B&BW candle and a Wallflowers plug as a secret santa gift last Christmas. I didn't like the candle so I just never used it. About a month ago, I went to replace the fragrance bottle in the Wallflowers plug in and the plastic part that holds the bottle snapped off. I saw on their site that they had this guarantee. No idea why I never knew this before. I LOVE that store. Anyway, I brought both back. They let me pick out another candle and let me pick out a new plug.They didn't bat an eyelash that the things I was bringing back were almost a year old. They took them, wrapped up the new stuff and away I went. 
 
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swampwitch

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I just go grey, lol.

Here are the lamp shades - can you see the difference? The vendor said one has plastic on it, but otherwise they are the same! (???)


Left: black triangle trees, black trim. Right: brown trim, green trees spaced apart.

(This lamp is kind of a joke for my husband since he's had to pick up garbage after our local black bear gets into the bin.)
 
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Kat0121

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(This lamp is kind of a joke for my husband since he's had to pick up garbage after our local black bear gets into the bin.)
Not me. I work too hard for my money to get bad customer service. I have zero tolerance for it just like they have zero tolerance for stealing. It's the same thing, just the other way. 


Is he serious? Can he really NOT see that the trees on those lampshades are not even close to being the same? That is a nice lamp though. I love bears. They are a very close second to cats as being my favorite animals in the world. Especially black bears. 
 
 

Kat0121

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Left: black triangle trees, black trim. Right: brown trim, green trees spaced apart.

(This lamp is kind of a joke for my husband since he's had to pick up garbage after our local black bear gets into the bin.)
Another thought about the lamp. Amazon charges people to sell though their site. They get a percentage of the sale price. Since they made money off the sale of this lamp, doesn't that technically make them the seller, too? 
 
 

plan

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Had a bad experience with Home Depot once and wrote a complaint via their website. Someone reached out to me ASAP, was very apologetic, promised it wouldn't happen again, and asked me if they could help.

Coincidentally it was when I was there looking for materials to build a cat perch. I tried to get two employees to help me. One dude was playing with his smart phone and was clearly not happy being "bothered" by a customer with  a question. He was just rude and not helpful, and clearly wanted to get rid of me. The other guy just grunted and shook his head when I asked him a question. Not yes or no, not "Sorry, I can't help you with that," just a grunt, then he went back to what he was doing.

So yeah..try the official feedback channel via their website, you should get a response from corporate very quickly.

Usually I don't complain about this stuff, but it drives me nuts when I am in a store trying to give them money, and they won't even take the minute or two to point me in the right direction or confirm if they have what I'm looking for.
 

ruthyb

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Bad customer service indeed,you have paid money and expect to get what you pay for,stick to your guns Hun and I hope you sort it out x
 

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None of this is fair. None of it. But it's what's been happening because people no longer do their jobs efficiently. It's really frustrating for consumers to have to be on their toes to make sure that sales people aren't taking advantage of them. 

Remember our Lowes episode with the dishwasher? I haven't forgotten about it.We still shop there, because they're really the only home improvement store in town. But when we got our floor for the bedroom, we made the trip to a Home Depot and gave them our money instead of Lowes.
 

betsygee

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None of this is fair. None of it. But it's what's been happening because people no longer do their jobs efficiently. It's really frustrating for consumers to have to be on their toes to make sure that sales people aren't taking advantage of them. 
I completely agree.
  It seems I spend more and more time making sure that other people are doing their jobs right.  It can get very frustrating.
 

denice

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I know this is kind of going out in left field here but people don't have any connection to the company they work for and the company has no connection with workers.  At one time people tended to work for the same company most of their working lives and they were taken care of by the company.  The benefits were good including a pension so people stayed.  With all the off shoring that has gutted blue collar jobs and is now doing the same with white collar jobs there is a race to the bottom and no one has any  loyalty anymore .  
 

Mamanyt1953

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I know this is kind of going out in left field here but people don't have any connection to the company they work for and the company has no connection with workers.  At one time people tended to work for the same company most of their working lives and they were taken care of by the company.  The benefits were good including a pension so people stayed.  With all the off shoring that has gutted blue collar jobs and is now doing the same with white collar jobs there is a race to the bottom and no one has any  loyalty anymore .  
Not left field at all.  Let's look what happened to Sears.  They went public with stocks, and the profit margin for shareholders became the MOST important thing in the business.  In order to cut down on costs and increase profits, as the old, full-time employees with benefits who considered Sears a career were replaced by part-timers whe just put in their hours for a paycheck.  Result?  People began shopping from the catalogs (remember those?  You could order ANYTHING!).  The stores were empty.  Sears' response?  Step up customer service?  Oh, no...they discontinued the catalogs.  And now, Sears is owned by K-Mart.

We all have our customer service horror stories.  My pettest peeve is Victoria's Secret.  Now, I'm a plus size, and was disappointing when they discontinued their plus catalog, but not outraged.  If it wasn't profitable, it wasn't.  The outrage came when I went into a store at the local mall to buy a wedding shower gift.  The salesclerk asked me in a very snooty voice if she could help me, I told her I was looking for a nighty or a teddy.  She coolly looked me up and down, and said, in a frosty voice, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we have anything in your size."  I told her I'd shop for my shower gifts elsewhere in the future.  I fired off a letter to corporate after several phone calls failed to produce a manager, but never got even a "OOPS" in reply.
 
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swampwitch

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I know this is kind of going out in left field here but people don't have any connection to the company they work for and the company has no connection with workers.  At one time people tended to work for the same company most of their working lives and they were taken care of by the company.  The benefits were good including a pension so people stayed.  With all the off shoring that has gutted blue collar jobs and is now doing the same with white collar jobs there is a race to the bottom and no one has any  loyalty anymore .  
So true, there's very little accountability any more. 

I've found I have to always keep track of who I talked to when I call, and the date and time. It's kind of amazing how having that information makes such an impact!

If you are calling or emailing about a problem, and you say, "On November 22 at 10:15 am I spoke with 'Sarah' in your customer service department" you have clout and will get results. Much better than, "I talked to someone last week."
 
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Kat0121

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So true, there's very little accountability any more. 

I've found I have to always keep track of who I talked to when I call, and the date and time. It's kind of amazing how having that information makes such an impact!

If you are calling or emailing about a problem, and you say, "On November 22 at 10:15 am I spoke with 'Sarah' in your customer service department" you have clout and will get results. Much better than, "I talked to someone last week."
It's for that reason that if I have an issue with Amazon, I do the online chat. They offer to email you a transcript if you want. Then you have it in writing
 
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swampwitch

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Window treatment guy never showed up! He called about 2 hours after he was supposed to be here, and said he'll call Saturday morning to reschedule, "When I have my calendar in front of me," but he never called. I picked that company in part, because they are members of the BBB, looks like that might come in handy. I try to support local businesses, but times like this I wish I'd gone to Costco.

Also, he doesn't have his calendar with him, really?
 
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Mamanyt1953

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Window treatment guy never showed up! He called about 2 hours after he was supposed to be here, and said he'll call Saturday morning to reschedule, "When I have my calendar in front of me," but he never called. I picked that company in part, because they are members of the BBB, looks like that might come in handy. I try to support local businesses, but times like this I wish I'd gone to Costco.

Also, he doesn't have his calendar with him, really?
Now is when you call him back and tell him that you would truly hate to go to the BBB concerning this matter, but if the job isn't completed within (insert your idea of a reasonable time here) you will certainly be forced to do so.  Might jog him along a bit.  Also, several TV stations have consumer advocates who will actually run stories on offending businesses.  Check your area for one.  That can be a really valid threat.
 
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swampwitch

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Thanks again for all the encouragement! Everything is wrapped up now. 


As mentioned already, the rest of the stair treads showed up, and the blinds guy finally came and put up the right color shades.

The lampshade was a continuing hassle, with the company telling me the shade is "on the truck" week after week. So, last week I filed a claim with Amazon's "A to Z Guarantee" and last night found out I've received a full refund, including shipping and handling (which was almost double the cost of the lamp). I don't even have to return the lamp. We still haves a dented shade, but at least I don't feel ripped off any more.

The seller is either 12 years old, or just acts like it. He was really mad when I filed the claim. He immediately wrote me, "I've just taken your lampshade off of the truck because you filed a claim!" He also said, "You've really done it now!"  and  other weird comments. Then he wrote that the lampshade arrived in perfect condition and doesn't need to be replaced. A couple of messages later he said it had been damaged in shipping, but was fine when they sent it. Seriously, take a stand! Amazon reads all the comments. He told me he will send a refund when I return the lamp and shade - yeah right.

I had nothing to lose by filing the claim. His last message to me was, "We'll just see what Amazon decides." I guess reading his correspondence made the decision easy for Amazon… I'm really impressed with their guarantee.
 
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