Get it together ross-simons.com!!!

[GinnyS]

Ok...long story....but this is what I posted in the ross-simons thread on the big deals board, it was too late for me stop!! I realized it was a vent/whine after I posted it....lol These people need to get their act together...here's what happened to me:

Well, they said my Road to California king quilt set had shipped too...I clicked on the UPS tracking number and it was invalid. So I waited a week, and nothing. So I emailed customer service...they responded the next day, saying that they didn't even see the order. So I emailed them back, with a copy of the order status page, saying that my quilt had shipped on 7/25/03. My credit card was charged. They emailed me back saying:

"In reference to the California quilt on your order number I0257962 unfortunately the merchandise was discontinued and we were not able to fill that part of the order.We have credited your account for that item and apologize for the confusion. Thank you for choosing Ross-Simons.

Miranda Johnson
Ross-Simons
Customer Service

So I emailed them back saying:

Well, isn't that nice. When was somebody going to tell me? As far as I could tell the order had shipped, complete with shipping date on the order status. If the product had not shipped, my credit card should not have been charged at all.

Another thing, I placed the order for that quilt on the phone, with a live customer service representative(This quilt was replacing one that was out of stock on my original order). If the product was not available then she should have made that known to me at the time of the order, not let me think that I was actually going to get the product that was ordered. This is the first time I've ordered from ross-simons.com, and 2 of the 3 products I ordered were cancelled, one of them without even notifying me and charging my credit card for a product that was out of stock, and giving me a ship date for a product that was never shipped!

I think if you are going to have a sale, you should make sure you actually have the inventory. And, if the product is showing as available on your website, then it should, in fact, be available. It's not good business practice to operate otherwise.

The first red flag went up when I had a shipping date, and an invalid UPS tracking number. So I emailed customer service for a valid tracking number, a week after the ship date showing in my order status. My response was that you could not even find the order, only the record of the first 2 quilts I ordered. So I have to paste you my order status for you to see it. Then I'm told, almost 2 weeks later, my product is out of stock? AFTER my card has been charged, and AFTER I've been waiting a week and a half for my SHIPPED item to arrive? This has to be the poorest online shopping experience I've ever had, and although I did order from you again last night (Let's hope I actually receive it!), I will not be ordering again. Not when you have to wonder, after you've successfully ordered a product, if you'll actually ever see it.

This little fiasco causes a huge inconvenience for me, I guess I have to go out and buy a quilt set locally and try to explain to my gift recipient what happened with my original order, and she won't be getting the original quilt that she wanted.

I'd appreciate a response to this email, I sure hope this isn't how you run your business in general, and that this sale just got out of your control.

Ginny

Now...I don't usually get snippy like this, but the 3 things that are wrong with picture are: 1. I placed this order over the phone, I can understand not being able to keep track of inventory on line, but a real person should have been able to tell they were out of stock. 2. I was given a ship date, if the product didn't ship, I should not have been given a ship date. 3. My credit card was charged. If the item didn't ship, my card should not have been charged!

You would think that a big company like this would be able to prevent things like this from happening! Aaaaargh! I'm so mad!

Ginny

[suziebee20]

Hmmmm... So they charged your card, told you it shipped, gave you a phony tracking number and it turns out it was out of stock? That's bull! What kind of company would do that?? I'm not familer with them, are they an online buisness or a big chain company? Either way, that is very BAD buisness, and I'm sorry they screwed you like that!

[GeThang]

I agree, that is bad stuff. Phony tracking number? Something isn't right there, of course. To be honest, I have never heard of this company and they obviously have bad customer service if that is what it is. Might be someone sitting in their living room throwing out phony tracking numbers and collecting from credit cards. :eek: Keep a close eye on these buggers and hopefully they do like they said and credit your card. Good luck :)

[FatWallit]

Ross Simons is a BIG company, they distribute catalogs here all the time (and they are expensive)

I had the same thing happen to me, I was given an invalid tracking number. Seems that they automatically assign tracking numbers to orders that have yet to be shipped.

[Quaker_Parrots]

Planet feedback (http://www.planetfeedback.com/homepage/0,2585,,00.html)

you need to let other people know

[Carlie]

and maybe a note to the bbb will help.

[GinnyS]

This is the response I got to the email posted above:

We do apologize for the inconvenience, the clearance items were listed on our website to liquidate our inventory and due to the hugh response to the sale and the high volume of orders we sold out of some items before we had time to update our website and inventory. Again we do apologize for the inconvenience and hope to serve you better in the future. Thank you for choosing Ross-Simons.

"hope to serve you better in the future"...FAT CHANCE!!
"due to the hugh response to the sale"...She can't even spell HUGE!
"we sold out of some items before we had time to update our website and inventory."...A wise man once said "Your poor planning is not my problem!"

Again they speak of not being able to keep the website updated...well, I ordered from a real person, on the phone! Yeah, I'm PO'd that my order was out of stock, but I'm really concerned that they accessed my debit card, when they had no reason to. They have yet to remove that charge, BTW. This whole thing stinks or poor business ethic. They made an error on every level of this transaction...the availability of the order, the shipping, the billing...and since the item wasn't available, there should never have been a shipping or a billing issue, the process should not have continued beyond placing the order.

I have to wonder what would have happened had I not emailed them originally. Sometimes I forget I've ordered things, until they come in the mail. If I forgot about this, would they have realized their error and credited me? Makes ya wonder!

Thanks for you replies, Fatwallit, what did you do to resolve the situation? I don't know if I want to go to Planet Feedback, I've already told ross-simons what I think, what more can I do?

Ginny

[GinnyS]

Ok...I realize you apologize, but you have yet to address any of my concerns. An error was made on every level of this transaction:

1. The availability of the order(It wasn't available, although a live rep took the order from me, and failed to mention to me that the product was out of stock. If your own customer service reps can't figure out if a product is out of stock, then there is a bigger problem than my issue!)

2. The shipping (If the item was not available then why do I have a ship date, and a tracking number, although the number is invalid..it shouldn't exist at all!)

3. The billing (My debit card was accessed and charged, for a non-existent order! This is the most frightening error..any major business that I have purchased from online has NEVER charged my card until the order has shipped! That is standard policy across the board.)

Since the item wasn't available, there should never have been a shipping or a billing issue, the process should not have continued beyond placing the order, which should not have been able to be placed in the first place, if the product was out of stock!

I would like for you to forward this correspondence to your supervisor. I would like to hear from somebody who has the authority to do something about this, so that I feel like I can trust this company. I won't be able to do that until I know something is being done about these issues. Especially the card being charged, it's scary to know that once you have my credit card information, you can do what you want with it. I feel that my card should not have accessed, since there was no transaction taking place, since the product I ordered was out of stock. I know these problems are beyond your control, and you are just a contact person for me to vent to. Please forward this (And all correspondence below) to a supervisor, who can more properly address these issues.

Thank you,

Ginny

It sickens me that they accessed my debit card...that is my personal checking account. Pretty scary!

Ginny

[iluvmybaby]

Call the BBB and notify your credit card company/debit card company bank, they can not charge you for your item unless it has been shipped, it is fraud if they do. And LYING about a tracking number is mail fraud also.

[FatWallit]

Thats agreat, CALM reply! It took about 3 days for the tracking number to even be valid, they said they ship from another warehouse blah blah

You know once they cancelled one of my orders a LONG while back (that I used a code on) citing that it was OOS. Funny how the website was still showing that it wasnt.

RS Also seems to charge my card before it ships. I bought those silver frames that were $6.95 shipped about this time at night, and by the morning they had charged me, and it never shipped till 3 days later!

Perhaps its one of those crappy pre-authorizations..?