Reaffirmation. Warning: Dull Story
I ordered a book through half.com that I'm supposed to read before classes at Southwestern start. I ordered it about three and a half weeks ago. They don't like you to contact the seller about the product not arriving until three weeks have passed, since they give almost a full week to ship it, and then allow up to two weeks for media mail delivery. However, it almost never takes that long. So, a few days ago, when it was coming up close to the "maybe they lost your book" deadline, I sent a message anyway, asking when the book had been shipped.
He said it had been picked up by his spam filter and he never received notice of the sale, but that he would send it in the morning.
I was fairly irritated. No apology, no offer to make amends, no offer to refund it if I preferred that, nothing. So I asked if there was anyway he could send it priority instead of media, since two weeks would give me a few days to read the book and since it had been his mistake.
No, he said. It's short, you'll have plenty of time.
Which made me livid. How does he know I'll have time? How does he know I wasn't planning to get the book by now so I could leave town and travel? Incidentally, I've been considering a short trip right before school starts--nothing huge, maybe a drive up to Mammoth, but still--jerk.
I reminded him that I was well within my rights to ask for a refund, and that if he could attempt to make any sort of amends, even a dollar or two refund, that would be very appreciated.
He said I was wasting too much time over a few dollars, and that if I wanted to request a refund, I should go for it. He'd check in the morning and either send the book or refund it.
Which made me even angrier because the entire reason I use half.com is because I care about saving a few dollars. How dare he try to make me feel bad about spending 5 minutes writing a couple emails after he screwed up.
I considered canceling the order. But I realized that ordering another book from a different seller made it even less likely to get it on time, and I wasn't willing to pay $25 more for a bookstore book for pride's sake. So I sent out one last plea before going to bed.
If it's so short, I said, then it's probably light. It'll probably be less than a dollar more to send it priority, and half.com overcharges for shipping costs on lighter books as it is. I just don't understand why you're being so rude after inconveniencing me.
I got the book today. Send priority, with a note saying, "Sorry for the delay."
He probably just didn't want me to leave nasty feedback on his profile. Which worked. But I'm going to pretend like maybe, instead, he saw the light and decided to be a nice person.
Or maybe it was one of those books that's so light that it was actually cheaper to send priority.
He said it had been picked up by his spam filter and he never received notice of the sale, but that he would send it in the morning.
I was fairly irritated. No apology, no offer to make amends, no offer to refund it if I preferred that, nothing. So I asked if there was anyway he could send it priority instead of media, since two weeks would give me a few days to read the book and since it had been his mistake.
No, he said. It's short, you'll have plenty of time.
Which made me livid. How does he know I'll have time? How does he know I wasn't planning to get the book by now so I could leave town and travel? Incidentally, I've been considering a short trip right before school starts--nothing huge, maybe a drive up to Mammoth, but still--jerk.
I reminded him that I was well within my rights to ask for a refund, and that if he could attempt to make any sort of amends, even a dollar or two refund, that would be very appreciated.
He said I was wasting too much time over a few dollars, and that if I wanted to request a refund, I should go for it. He'd check in the morning and either send the book or refund it.
Which made me even angrier because the entire reason I use half.com is because I care about saving a few dollars. How dare he try to make me feel bad about spending 5 minutes writing a couple emails after he screwed up.
I considered canceling the order. But I realized that ordering another book from a different seller made it even less likely to get it on time, and I wasn't willing to pay $25 more for a bookstore book for pride's sake. So I sent out one last plea before going to bed.
If it's so short, I said, then it's probably light. It'll probably be less than a dollar more to send it priority, and half.com overcharges for shipping costs on lighter books as it is. I just don't understand why you're being so rude after inconveniencing me.
I got the book today. Send priority, with a note saying, "Sorry for the delay."
He probably just didn't want me to leave nasty feedback on his profile. Which worked. But I'm going to pretend like maybe, instead, he saw the light and decided to be a nice person.
Or maybe it was one of those books that's so light that it was actually cheaper to send priority.