Time for a post based on a personal experience of service failure! I recently attempted to purchase a item from a well know web site in Australia. After placing the order, and having the funds come out of my credit card I sat back and waited for the item to be delivered within the "generally" 2 days shipping time frame. After a week I contacted the company and after asking a number of times when my item would be shipped the only answer I could get was that it "should" be sent in the next week.
The second contact a few days later with the company I was told it "was probably already shipped and on its way". Further more if I waited 2 days I could track the delivery via the tracking facility. My questioning regarding waiting the 2 days should mean the item had already been delivered by the time I could track it did not seem to register with the customer service agent!
Now I am up to contact number 3, two and a half weeks after the order, asking where my item is, only to be told they have no stock! What, hang on, after 2 weeks and 2 contacts they finally work out they have no stock! Oh, and the item is still for sale on their web site, despite them having no stock, and no way of fulfilling the orders.
So, I ask for my money back. No problem I am told, please wait a week for a cheque (they wont refund to my credit card). A week later a cheque arrives, unsigned! A Email arrives on the same day telling me they forgot to sign the cheque (um, this is a real company apparently). At this point, after 6 weeks I am still waiting for a refund!
I dont think their was any intention by this company to just take my money and make it very hard to get back, I actually think it is just plain and simple incompetence from service staff (in fact, I have an Email from one staff member telling me that yes, it is incompetence!).
The whole situation could have been handled much better, with just some effort by the customer service agents to find out what was going on, and resolve the issue, rather then just providing a standard answer. A quick, early, actual refund would have been quite acceptable, and I would have tried to purchase from them again, but this complete service failure means I will never go near them again!
