Today’s post is another call for fairness for consumers. As someone who is a very organized and expertised shopper, I want to say something here to online businesses who oversell their stock, just like the airlines do with over-selling seats.
Wouldn’t it seem simple that when ordering an item from an online store and your order is confirmed that you should expect the delivery of your product? Ya, so did I. Wouldn’t it seem simple that when there are ‘x’ amount of items in stock that as each person orders one, the number available would go down by one in their system? Ya, that’s what I thought. But apparently, that’s not how they do things at TSC, our Canadian home shopping network.
Let me preface this by saying, I practically have a mortgage with this company. I’ve ordered from them for over 20 years, and although I’ve had my share of discrepancies with them over the years, this one just bites!
Over 3 weeks ago, one of my favorite clothing lines came on TSC. I’d found the perfect evening legging to complete an outfit I intended to wear last weekend.But I still never received them. I’d sent 4 intermittent emails to customer support inquiring as to where the hell my pants were – to no avail. Because, as usual, NO REPLY. When I went into my account to check on the status of the order, beside the item number was the word ‘backordered’. Backordered? WTF? As a seasoned shopper on that channel, I know full well the items that go first on airings. The pants I’d ordered were a popular item. I ordered those damned pants on the very first airing to lock in my order – OR SO I THOUGHT.
I placed my order, along with some other items, a few days later I received the other items – no pants! The receipt said ‘pants to follow’. This does happen occasionally that they will send a partial order and follow up a few days later with the balance. But no, not this time. I placed my order and immediately got notification, ‘thank you for shopping TSC your order has been placed.’ After a week had passed and no pants, I got suspicious. After checking my account order status and seeing backordered, I sent customer support an email. In fact over the course of another week I’d sent them 4 emails but AS USUAL they never replied.
Yesterday I started to get really concerned because I was counting on those pants to go with a jacket I’d purchased to wear to next weekend’s family Christmas party. Since I had no email reply, I went onto their Facebook page and messaged through there with my inquiry. The response was about as helpful as anything I’d received so far. So, I knew it was time to place a call.
After the usual 100 button pushing and waiting on hold for half an hour I finally spoke with a rep to ask where the hell my pants were. Yes, I admit, I wasn’t feeling very friendly. I received the typical ‘Oh, so sorry, the pants are sold out’. I lost it. And that’s when my rant began.
I asked her how a giant company like Rogers who owns half of Canada it seems, including our home shopping channel, doesn’t have an ordering system that serves the consumer. How on earth could my pants be sold out when I ordered in first airing and the pants remained on other airings as available for 2 days that followed? The hosts on that show display an ‘items left’ when they feature an item. On day 2 there were still ‘items left’ but somehow my friggin pants are SOLD OUT! The rep kept coming up with lame excuses amid her apologies, telling me that they were probably sold out before the airing. LOL I replied, are you kidding me, those pants were available for 2 days because I kept checking myself as I saw them as I was eyeing some other items.
“You oversold the item, just like the airlines do with seats!” I replied in a huff. How can such a big company run a business like this where people order an item and it’s not counted as sold automatically? How can a giant corporation like Rogers who owns them, have such a lame shipping system? She continued on trying to pacify me, apologizing that the item was no longer available and no more would be coming in stock. I was livid, and asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me there was no point because there were no items left and the item shouldn’t be showing in my cart. Oh really, and wouldn’t it have been nice IF I WAS INFORMED IT WAS OUT OF STOCK? More apologies, again for not receiving an email!
I told her I want to speak to a supervisor because I want to let them know that you can’t treat consumers like this. Eventually, I spoke to the higher up who again apologized profusely and tried to tell me the same excuses the rep did. I set the record straight with her, letting her know this isn’t how to do business, their support is terrible, and stop telling me bullshit stories about stock. She retorted by telling me they send emails out when something is out of stock. I reminded her, just one more incompetent thing on them because I NEVER RECEIVED ANY EMAILS, other than when MY ORDER WAS CONFIRMED!
I’m a seasoned shopper there, I know how it all works.”You guys failed to deliver my product ordered first airing and those stragglers a day or two later who ordered received their pants and I didn’t.” I told her again how bad their stock strategy was and as a courtesy to the public I will be writing an article about this. That was when I got offered a credit on my account. But that was not enough to stop me from sharing this rant!
I am soooooooooo tired of big corporations. I’m tired of taking whatever is dished out from companies because our hands are tied and there’s nothing we can do when business isn’t done properly. No, my complaint didn’t magically make them come up with my pants, but I had hoped to instill some sort message to upper management that may miraculously be passed on to the powers that be. Yes, I got a credit, big deal, that didn’t give me my pants and that doesn’t justify their shit business policy and sorely lacking customer service. Just sayin’.
I know I’m not going to change the world single-handedly. But by speaking up, we have to let these companies know when they’re in the wrong. If nobody speaks up, nothing will ever change! We must keep them accountable!
Have any of you been chumped by bogus protocol with online ordering?
DGKayewriter.com 
Oooh. That is so frustrating, Debby. And no, a credit for the pants doesn’t cut it. They should provide you with a free set of pants and a voucher for equal value at least. They don’t deserve your custom, but unfortunately, sometimes there’s not much choice. Thanks for speaking up. We need to call out bad business practices when we see them.
I hope you found something else to wear with your jacket to the family Christmas party. I’m sure that, whatever you wore, you looked stunning.
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Lol, you are too kind Norah. And thanks for reading. I do pass on these rants, because I do like to spread the word when I encounter injustice to create awareness. All too many times people just take what’s dished onto them. We have to make these people accountable by calling them out to stop these un-business -like practices. Because if nobody says anything – nothing will ever change! 🙂 x
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That’s right, Debby. If no one calls them out, they’ll continue to disregard good customer service.
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Absolutely! That’s why I share these types of occurrences. Hopefully, my rants will inspire others to stand up for themselves and call out the wrongs. 🙂 xx
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Very well said, Norah. The company should have apologised to Debby and given some form of compensation. Maybe if they contacted you straight away saying they didn’t have your pants you would be less angry.
Last week I ordered a nice bag from a large deparmental store here in Australia. They had an online sale so I placed my order online, and elected to ‘Click and collect’ my purchase in my nominated store at 10am the next day. Turns out my store had run out of the bag. Their customer service notified me early in the morning and then posted out the bag to me from another store, free of charge. I liked that.
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Hi Mabel! It seems our shopping channel should take a page from how Australia handles online orders! Thanks for visiting and leaving your thoughts here. ❤
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I’m pleased to hear you were treated well, Mabel. Not all companies in Australia are as helpful though, Debby, but hopefully most are. I had a bad experience with a local company that I thought to support because they were local. The products were delivered a week late (later than some ordered at the same time interstate) and one of the packages (chocolate almonds) was open when it arrived. I thought they’d at least offer some compensation but they didn’t even offer an apology. I won’t be dealing with them again, which is a shame because it was all organic and fair trade chocolate made locally. I think I’ve had good service from most other companies I’ve dealt with but I may not shop online as frequently as you do.
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Thanks for sharing this Norah. Yes, there are bad apples everywhere, let’s face it. And that was just wrong – whether an opened box was sent, or the danged delivery guy broke into the chocolates. I do know that if that happened here with ‘most companies’ the company would replace and take action against the delivery service for compensation if it was found damaged from the delivery end. Either way, they should have replaced and I would have been on the company like a bad rash! Lol 🙂 xx
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Go get em, Debby! This isn’t quite in the same vein, but I feel the same way about general contractors. How many times do they not show up and go missing for days at a time without the courtesy of a phone call? I suspect it’s because they have so much work that they pick and choose what they want to work on. Not every contractor is like that, but a high percentage have no customer service skills.
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Right on Pete! As one who has renovated a few homes, I know this only too well! 🙂
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I was so looking for a HEA ending! Yes, had this sort of problems. I got so mad at Amazon, I’ve switched my buying to Walmart where possible. My husband got so mad at one, asked to speak to the supervisor and then–without talking to husby–the supervisor told the phone person to give husby what he wanted! amazing. Good luck with the wardrobe change!
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That’s what usually happens if one takes a stance and stands up for what is right. Usually, a company doesn’t want to piss of their clients. In my case though, they’d already done the blunder and couldn’t magically come up with and out of stock item for me – WHICH OF COURSE, SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN OUT OF STOCK when I ordered.:)
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I totally agree, sis, they need to be told and I’m fed up with online sizing as well. ❤
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Right on Sis! ❤
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sorry to hear about your order; I can imagine the frustration level. I’m guessing that If the company had just admitted they screwed up it would have made the situation much more bearable.
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That would have helped Jim. but denial seems to be the thing these days, sadly. 🙂
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Well, OK–do NOT mess with Deb! You and my spouse are cut from the same cloth when it comes to dealing with companies that don’t behave.
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Good to know because somebody has to call out the nonsense and make them accountable! 🙂
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Absolutely!
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How did I miss this post?. Something not right in the WP world indeed???
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Lol, something not right with the world these days Sistah! xxx
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You were lucky to get your account credited. We’re still waiting for the refund we were promised on our van, as somehow it’s failed to materialise…
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Wow, after all you went through? Ya, I didn’t see any credit on my account. If I should decide to order from them again, I’ll have to chase them down for that ‘credit’! So annoying!!! 😦 x
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I have been heard/written to say (often) ‘Please manage my expectations and do not, under any circumstances, ever, lie to me!!’
I feel for you and yes, we have to speak up and shop local where we can.
Like Norah, I am sure you rocked whatever you wore, my unicorn buddy (and farted glitter as you went….).
Love, always,
Xxx ❤ Xxxx
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Lollllllllll Jane! You are too cute! Hugs and love to you across the snowy pond! ❤ xoxo
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I knew I shouldn’t have read this right before I sit down to work, because now I’m all fired up and my brain is cycling furiously through the times this has happened to me. You’re right–big companies cannot keep doing this to consumers, but they will. They have us over a barrel and they’re well aware of it. Argh! Now I have to take a deep breath and try to let this go. I hope you find some pants, Debby, and that they’re even better than the ones you didn’t receive.
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Lol Amy, you’re so funny! I’m sorry to set your day off in a growl, lol. But yes, they do have us over a barrel and if nobody calls them out, there will be no chance of ever stopping them. And ha! I did find a similar pant online at our main department store. Sadly, there were none with crystals down the Tuxedo stripe on the legs, but black sequins. It’s something, but still doesn’t hold a candle to my first aspiration LOL 🙂 xx
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Hi Debby!
Another typical and sorry story. Frustrating to say the least. Sorry to hear about it. All these issues, it really makes me want to stop buying anything at all. Which, of course, isn’t possible and it makes us feel even more annoyed that we have to rely on these businesses screwing everybody over.
For every story you tell, I have a counter one. Our dog is on a prescription drug for her itchiness. If she doesn’t have this medicine, she scratches constantly, chews until her skin bleeds (if we are not around), and is uncomfortable. So, ten days before her drug ran out, we placed an order online with a pet pharmacy related to our vet back in Massachusetts. The process should have been easy that way. They could easily confirm the prescription with the vet and the product would be here 3-5 days later, plenty of time. Right? Right…
Long story short… After not receiving a shipping notice for three days, Mark called them during his few hours off. Every single day. First, they hadn’t contacted the vet yet, then there was an “issue” with our shipping address. One of the problems (for us) was that they never contacted us about those “issues”, but Mark had to call and be on hold for half an hour and then explain things for another ten minutes, before there was “progress”. Nobody could promise us it would ship out that day, then there was Thanksgiving. And, our credit card had already been charged for the high expense of the drug, something that’s illegal. The card can only get charged (as in the full amount, not just authorized), once the item ships…
Needless to say, there was a lot of frustration and precious time involved to finally get the drug delivered, on the day the other ones ran out. Thanks to Mark’s perseverance. We will NEVER shop there again.
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Hi Liesbet. Oye! Thanks for sharing your misfortune with us here. Sounds almost like my dilemma in the way that online customer service can’t seem to get their system or acts together. And yes, that is plain wrong – no charging a card until the item is shipped! I can feel your agro, because I know it so well myself. We must keep calling out these people, as I’m sure Mark did. And I always like to inform them I’m a writer and there shoddy service will be going live. It often helps by getting offered a store credit. But although that is nice and still well under the amount of my time and frustration, it doesn’t solve their sorry lack of customer service. I’m glad to hear that Maya finally got her medicine despite the BS! 🙂
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Good for you for speaking up, Debby! I remember last Christmas I found an amazing gift online for a friend and Xmas Day came and went without the gift showing up. The company came through for me resending the package but dang it was frustrating that it had gotten missed. I get what you’re saying about how we need to speak up! It’s not right about your pants. The frustration makes me wonder about online shopping sometimes – but it’s so convenient I still do so, just I don’t buy from some places anymore because of the headaches…
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That’s it exactly Christy. Soon we won’t have any choice but to shop online, but there are some places we know it’s not worth the hassle to shop with. I’d just like to see all these stores getting their act together when it comes to shipping, if this is our new online world, make it work!. Thanks for dropping by ‘Mrs Reyes’. ❤ ❤
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