The Joy of the Holiday Internet Order...
Before I may begin anew I have to touch back on the last post...
So, after a lovely time fighting with Newegg, the credit never appeared in my account. Not a good sign as you might imagine. We got back into contact with them and found out we won't be credited because paypal emailed Newegg to add an hour or so of more time that they would honor the promotion that had run... and we fell into that category. Did anyone tell us we would now be getting the promotion and not to worry when no credit appeared? Of course not!
So, with that fun experience under my belt I pushed forward, knowing one irritating transaction is not the standard for the majority...
And now I order with Avon. Forty dollars worth of crap because I wanted to give a few stocking stuffer like items to bulk up my gift giving (flavored chap-sticks and the like). My grandmother is about to be 81 year's old and she is rather difficult to buy for. At that age, you have most of the material goods you want... and except for a true adoration of Klondike bars there is not a great deal of things that she either runs out of or longs for, and so a few of these Avon goodies could be useful and festive for such a hard person to buy for. I added a few things to my order I would not have gotten originally, but if I spent 40 I would would get free shipping... and in the end why spend money to get shipping if you can spend the same amount and get product instead? So on December 5th I place my order thinking that it would leave plenty of time to get here before we fly out 10 days later... Foolish foolish me.
After seeing my order's status not update for several days I called the customer service center to find out that Avon "can not" cancel your online order, nor change your shipping address, nor alter your order in any conceivable way. The representative was very short and gave a very negative vibe. I ended up calling back in not 5 minutes later to find out if anything could be done, and I talked to a much more pleasant person named Judy. Apparently they had some fiasco in the warehouse and all orders would be shipped by fedex 3 day delivery to make up for it... thus making my order arrive on Friday, the night before I was to leave, provided it was mailed yesterday or today. Mind you they shipped or are shipping this order today as near as I can tell, which is 6 days after I ordered originally. Their website tells me what should have happened is simple. As I ordered after 12:30pm, my items should have been sent out the next day. I am upset but at least this stuff will be getting here on Friday if everything goes right. Judy tells me that I should call tomorrow (which is now today) at 9:30 pm and they should have a tracking number for me. That was my intent, but this morning I received a notice of shipment (where there was NO carrier listed, and NO tracking number) and felt that if they knew enough to tell me my stuff was moving I could call. Ironically, I called and got Judy again, who remembered me. She found a tracking number and some bad news. Somehow, even though all orders were SUPPOSED to be going by 3 day Fedex, mine was going by Fedex SmartPost. This is apparently where Fedex brings your package to your post office, and then your post office brings it to you. So basically, this boils down to the fact that I highly doubt there is any chance at all to get this package before I leave, Avon has useless customer service when it comes to fixing issues with ordering and addresses, and there is no way that I know of to get one single package forwarded.
I am wondering if the people who run the office here could possibly forward it, but I would have to figure out the postage and make sure I could give them enough to cover it. The fun thing is, because of this fiasco I probably have to put a hold on the mail if I want to refuse the package, because anything I do not sign for because I am away can be signed for at the office.
And so, not one to give up easily, I call Fedex SmartPost. Amusingly, you can not easily find them through the Fedex website, so thank you google for your ability to churn back information quickly. The lady there seems a bit distraught and apologetic. She clearly sees that I am seriously stuck in a delightful dilemma. She checks my tracking number on three sites. Yes, THREE different sites. Two say they have gotten NOTHING from Avon, not even dimensions. A third that I have access to says my package is in a sorting center. The nice Fedex woman on the phone is pretty darned sure her other sources are correct. So, where is my package? WHO KNOWS! Avon doesn't. Fedex doesn't. I sure as heck don't.
I feel like screaming.
So, after a lovely time fighting with Newegg, the credit never appeared in my account. Not a good sign as you might imagine. We got back into contact with them and found out we won't be credited because paypal emailed Newegg to add an hour or so of more time that they would honor the promotion that had run... and we fell into that category. Did anyone tell us we would now be getting the promotion and not to worry when no credit appeared? Of course not!
So, with that fun experience under my belt I pushed forward, knowing one irritating transaction is not the standard for the majority...
And now I order with Avon. Forty dollars worth of crap because I wanted to give a few stocking stuffer like items to bulk up my gift giving (flavored chap-sticks and the like). My grandmother is about to be 81 year's old and she is rather difficult to buy for. At that age, you have most of the material goods you want... and except for a true adoration of Klondike bars there is not a great deal of things that she either runs out of or longs for, and so a few of these Avon goodies could be useful and festive for such a hard person to buy for. I added a few things to my order I would not have gotten originally, but if I spent 40 I would would get free shipping... and in the end why spend money to get shipping if you can spend the same amount and get product instead? So on December 5th I place my order thinking that it would leave plenty of time to get here before we fly out 10 days later... Foolish foolish me.
After seeing my order's status not update for several days I called the customer service center to find out that Avon "can not" cancel your online order, nor change your shipping address, nor alter your order in any conceivable way. The representative was very short and gave a very negative vibe. I ended up calling back in not 5 minutes later to find out if anything could be done, and I talked to a much more pleasant person named Judy. Apparently they had some fiasco in the warehouse and all orders would be shipped by fedex 3 day delivery to make up for it... thus making my order arrive on Friday, the night before I was to leave, provided it was mailed yesterday or today. Mind you they shipped or are shipping this order today as near as I can tell, which is 6 days after I ordered originally. Their website tells me what should have happened is simple. As I ordered after 12:30pm, my items should have been sent out the next day. I am upset but at least this stuff will be getting here on Friday if everything goes right. Judy tells me that I should call tomorrow (which is now today) at 9:30 pm and they should have a tracking number for me. That was my intent, but this morning I received a notice of shipment (where there was NO carrier listed, and NO tracking number) and felt that if they knew enough to tell me my stuff was moving I could call. Ironically, I called and got Judy again, who remembered me. She found a tracking number and some bad news. Somehow, even though all orders were SUPPOSED to be going by 3 day Fedex, mine was going by Fedex SmartPost. This is apparently where Fedex brings your package to your post office, and then your post office brings it to you. So basically, this boils down to the fact that I highly doubt there is any chance at all to get this package before I leave, Avon has useless customer service when it comes to fixing issues with ordering and addresses, and there is no way that I know of to get one single package forwarded.
I am wondering if the people who run the office here could possibly forward it, but I would have to figure out the postage and make sure I could give them enough to cover it. The fun thing is, because of this fiasco I probably have to put a hold on the mail if I want to refuse the package, because anything I do not sign for because I am away can be signed for at the office.
And so, not one to give up easily, I call Fedex SmartPost. Amusingly, you can not easily find them through the Fedex website, so thank you google for your ability to churn back information quickly. The lady there seems a bit distraught and apologetic. She clearly sees that I am seriously stuck in a delightful dilemma. She checks my tracking number on three sites. Yes, THREE different sites. Two say they have gotten NOTHING from Avon, not even dimensions. A third that I have access to says my package is in a sorting center. The nice Fedex woman on the phone is pretty darned sure her other sources are correct. So, where is my package? WHO KNOWS! Avon doesn't. Fedex doesn't. I sure as heck don't.
I feel like screaming.