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Hi All,
I'm a long-long-time lurker on the site and actually posted once or twice on some old incarnations of the board (the Mr. Slugger era
) While I have tons of customer stories to share, this personal one has me so dumbfounded I have to share it first. I apologize for the length up front...
My husband and I got married in July. As part of our photography package we had 100 free prints coming to us, so we decided to use the bulk of them as Christmas gifts. The website for the photography company said that orders placed by 12/13/ were guaranteed for Christmas delivery. I ordered our prints over Thanksgiving weekend.
On 12/9 I received an email stating that we had requested "digital services" and that was a $15 fee per picture. I had no idea what they were talking about. After playing phone tag for a full day, I finally got clarification...I had forgotten that there were a few prints in my cart that were just for hubby and I and one of them I had requested to be color spotted (whole photo black & white with one flower in color). I agreed to pay the fee and did so on 12/14. Once I paid I confirmed with the rep l I had been working with that my photos would be here for Christmas as they were gifts. She said I'd be fine.
Well as of Tuesday, 12/21 I still hadn't received an email that they had shipped, so I called first thing that morning. My only option was to leave a message. I left the message and also emailed the rep I had worked with previoulsy. She responded to my email stating that she'd forwarded my message to customer service. Wednesday, 12/22 I had no responses at all to either the call or the email so I called again, this time getting a live person. That's when the whole thing really went south.
After the rep clarified my name and order number she asked me if I had recieved the email about digital service. I stated that I had and had paid the fee. She asked if I had been informed that digital serivces add 2 to 3 weeks to the order time
. I stated that I had not and started to say, "If I had it would have totally changed my answer to the question." but I never got to finish my sentence as she cut me off after two words. She said that she never said I was told she asked me if I had been. I responded that I realized that and was simply answering her question. At that point she said there was nothing she could do, the situation was as it was, and couldn't be rushed.
At that point I asked for a supervisor. She transferred me over to one, and while he was much more polite, his message was the same. He stated over and over that I requested the digital service and that takes longer. And my response was that I wasn't informed that the lead time increased on this or I would have said no (or requested that photo be pulled from the order and put on a stand-alone order). Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
He even went so far as to tell me that even if they did print the photos that day and get them out the door he couldn't guarantee that UPS would deliver in time. I stayed very calm (strangely so, actually) and used the dreaded phrase, "This is unacceptable." I finally convinced him to put the digital service photo on a stand-alone order and print/ship the rest. I got an email yesterday morning that they shipped and according to UPS they're out for delivery today.
The thing that irritates me the most about this whole thing is that at no point did anyone say sorry or even attempt to come up with a solution. I understand that there was a miscommunication and I don't for a minute think it was on purpose. But holy crap, at least pretend you care! They totally put the blame on me and made me come up with my own solution
I'm a long-long-time lurker on the site and actually posted once or twice on some old incarnations of the board (the Mr. Slugger era
) While I have tons of customer stories to share, this personal one has me so dumbfounded I have to share it first. I apologize for the length up front...My husband and I got married in July. As part of our photography package we had 100 free prints coming to us, so we decided to use the bulk of them as Christmas gifts. The website for the photography company said that orders placed by 12/13/ were guaranteed for Christmas delivery. I ordered our prints over Thanksgiving weekend.
On 12/9 I received an email stating that we had requested "digital services" and that was a $15 fee per picture. I had no idea what they were talking about. After playing phone tag for a full day, I finally got clarification...I had forgotten that there were a few prints in my cart that were just for hubby and I and one of them I had requested to be color spotted (whole photo black & white with one flower in color). I agreed to pay the fee and did so on 12/14. Once I paid I confirmed with the rep l I had been working with that my photos would be here for Christmas as they were gifts. She said I'd be fine.
Well as of Tuesday, 12/21 I still hadn't received an email that they had shipped, so I called first thing that morning. My only option was to leave a message. I left the message and also emailed the rep I had worked with previoulsy. She responded to my email stating that she'd forwarded my message to customer service. Wednesday, 12/22 I had no responses at all to either the call or the email so I called again, this time getting a live person. That's when the whole thing really went south.
After the rep clarified my name and order number she asked me if I had recieved the email about digital service. I stated that I had and had paid the fee. She asked if I had been informed that digital serivces add 2 to 3 weeks to the order time
. I stated that I had not and started to say, "If I had it would have totally changed my answer to the question." but I never got to finish my sentence as she cut me off after two words. She said that she never said I was told she asked me if I had been. I responded that I realized that and was simply answering her question. At that point she said there was nothing she could do, the situation was as it was, and couldn't be rushed.At that point I asked for a supervisor. She transferred me over to one, and while he was much more polite, his message was the same. He stated over and over that I requested the digital service and that takes longer. And my response was that I wasn't informed that the lead time increased on this or I would have said no (or requested that photo be pulled from the order and put on a stand-alone order). Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
He even went so far as to tell me that even if they did print the photos that day and get them out the door he couldn't guarantee that UPS would deliver in time. I stayed very calm (strangely so, actually) and used the dreaded phrase, "This is unacceptable." I finally convinced him to put the digital service photo on a stand-alone order and print/ship the rest. I got an email yesterday morning that they shipped and according to UPS they're out for delivery today.
The thing that irritates me the most about this whole thing is that at no point did anyone say sorry or even attempt to come up with a solution. I understand that there was a miscommunication and I don't for a minute think it was on purpose. But holy crap, at least pretend you care! They totally put the blame on me and made me come up with my own solution
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