How dare you charge me!! (long)

[BeenThereDoneThat]

<intro> OK, I realize different businesses - even within the same general industry - sometimes do things a bit differently. But in this case I think our policy is pretty standard...plus, most companies like to get paid for their merchandise... </intro>

SC: I am very upset with your company! We ordered a sofa and it arrived damaged, we were allowed to keep it until the new one came in {note: these were special order sofas which typically take 45-60 days to deliver}. The delivery agent called me and said they were delivering the new sofa on Thursday and picking up the old one. I looked at my card statement and you have charged me for ONE AND A HALF SOFAS!! I haven't even GOTTEN the new one yet!!!!1!11!11!

Me: Ok, so you still have the original sofa...we billed you for the 50% deposit when you ordered it, as is our policy and one you knew about...then when we shipped that sofa we charged for the remainder. When you called to say it was damaged we refunded your prebill...

SC: Yeah, and then you charged me AGAIN for the NEW sofa which I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN YET and you still haven't credited me for the rest of the first one!!!1!!!11!1!eleventy!!one!

Me: ...Except for the deposit prebills on custom items, we charge when the items ship, not when they deliver. We canceled the prebill on your second sofa when you ordered it so you didn't have to pay a deposit again, but when we shipped the second sofa out we then had to charge the full amount.

SC: And what about my credit for the rest of the damaged one????????!?!?!?

Me: You still have the damaged one. When we receive it back, we'll refund you the remainder.

(SC thinks about it for a second with her tiny little brain, then starts grumbling...meanwhile I'm humming a tune in my head and starting to dance to it...)

SC: Well, that's just not right at all. That doesn't make any sense. I haven't even been able to USE this sofa, it's damaged!!! {note: why didn't she ask us to come pick it up right away then? She could have gotten her credit!} It's not MY FAULT the original was damaged, it's yours and you should not be charging me for YOUR mistake!!

Me: I'm sorry, SC, but it is our policy to charge when items ship, not when they deliver, and we credit when we receive an item back.

(cue another minute or so of "that's not right" and "that's unacceptable" muttering...then I hear a man in the background, presumably her husband/the man whose name is on the order, and next thing you know he's on the phone...)

Man: OK, so you will credit us when the damaged sofa is returned, right?

Me: Yes, we will.

Man: And you'll send us a GOOD sofa this time, right?

Me: We better...we should have done that in the first place!

Man: All right then...we're OK.

Me: Can I help you with anything else tonight?

Man: *chuckles a bit* What do you think?

Me: Well, you'd have to tell me...but thank you for shopping at High End Home Store and have a great night.

Wow, we really are terrible people...imagine "forcing" this poor woman to keep a damaged sofa and only refunding the deposit initially - instead of letting her keep it for free until she MIGHT decide to return it - and then on top of that to have the unmitigated gall to charge her when we ship the new sofa...not when she ORDERED it, mind you, not even the deposit the second time, but when it SHIPPED. Dear Lord, she must have had to wait at least a few DAYS if not a WHOLE ENTIRE WEEK to get the new one out to her. Oh, the agony...

What an idiot. I really did have a good laugh over that one when it was done. I was proud of myself too, I wasn't the least bit nervous about telling her what she didn't want to hear, nor did I let her ruffle my feathers in the slightest. Do I feel like it would be really nice if we (a) didn't send customers bad stuff and (b) replaced it immediately with a brand new item that magically appeared and did so without any additional monies being charged? Sure...but policy is policy, and sucky attitude is sucky. I don't make the rules, I just try to help you figure out what's going on, whether you like it or not.

[Kristev]

Yes, you're real monsters up there.

[bainsidhe]

I understand the policy, but I'd expect to be told about the policy before my card was charged for the 2nd sofa, especially since a high-end sofa is quite expensive. And chances are you did tell about the charge, she just freaked out and wouldn't see reason.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I understand the policy, but I'd expect to be told about the policy before my card was charged for the 2nd sofa, especially since a high-end sofa is quite expensive. And chances are you did tell about the charge, she just freaked out and wouldn't see reason.

That, and our policy is all over the website and in our catalogs...yeah, I know SCs don't read, and I do like to tell people such things in advance if they order over the phone through me, but a lot of people order over the web...and the brick and mortar stores are useless. *sigh*

[barainga]

So, if the sofa was not able to be used why would they want to keep it until the new one arrived?

I mean, certainly there is something else they can sit on.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

So, if the sofa was not able to be used why would they want to keep it until the new one arrived?

I mean, certainly there is something else they can sit on.

I can think of a lot of things... My only guess is that they didn't to deal with two separate delivery/pickup dates, since usually we will pick up a return and deliver a new item at the same time. However, I don't know why they thought we'd credit them before we got the bad one back...or why they didn't call sooner to ask about the credit. And if they'd asked, they'd have been assured that they wouldn't pay a penny more for a separate pickup and delivery had they wanted us to come get the old sofa first. Not sure if they were told that by the agent who handled their first call or not, but we're pretty good about discussing these issues with them, even if they don't ask.

[PepperElf]

So, if the sofa was not able to be used why would they want to keep it until the new one arrived?

I mean, certainly there is something else they can sit on.

this. obviously they were using it and she just wanted to make a fuss about not being able to use it to add to the dramarama

[Sapphire Silk]

this. obviously they were using it and she just wanted to make a fuss about not being able to use it to add to the dramarama

I get this impression as well from the husband's behavior.