target.com bad experience

[philba]

Well, I've been buying lots of stuff on line for 4 years now and this is the first time I've gotten burned. I guess I was long overdue but want to share my experience. (as soon as they add target.com I'll rate them, way low). What is most suprising is who it was - target (you know, the ubiquitous big box retailer).

I purchased a DVD (LOTR platinum edition) from target.com on Dec 10. Web page said "usually ships in 24 hrs" (sounds like "in stock" to me). Good sign. Confirmation email made no mention of back order status. Then radio silence. I admit I didn't check the status as I was busy but when I looked today (dec 22) I discovered that it has "shipped" with estimated delivery date of Jan 15 - 28. whoa baby! 3 to 5 weeks for ground shipping???? Like I live in seattle, not uzbekistan. Nothing that size takes even a week by ground.

Now my real gripe, the web site claims its shipped so I cant cancel the order. But I dont believe its shipped if it really is going to take 3-5 weeks. And the site does a very good job of burying any kind of human interaction (I did find a support page after 20 minutes of digging). Of course even though its "shipped", a tracking number is not available.

You all can draw your own conclusions but I will never order from target.com again. At best they are indifferent and incompetent, at worst deceitful. It looks like I'm going to have to go find LOTR platinum locally and pay the going rate so my wife can have it as a present for xmas.

whew, I'm starting to feel better.

Phil

[Mike]

I take it you don't have a Target that's close by? I normally would just go there over ordering it over the internet. Especially if it's something like a movie.

[Tazman]

I feel for ya Phil .

I'm not sure of when / if Scott will be adding them to ResellerRatings.com.

There is a reason other than sympathies to my reply though.

First suggestion would be to print out a receipt of your purchase. Since Target is also brick and mortar, take that receipt down to your local Target prepared for war. Ask to speak with one of the store managers. Calmly, but ever so firmly, explain what happened and you want either LOTR's Platnium now or a full refund now . Some points to make is that they have created a HUGE inconveinence for you and tied up your money at the worse possible time of the year. Also make a point of mentioning ResellerRatings. If the response is "it's already shipped", you should tell them that either way, the delivery will be refused and be returned to sender. Let the manager know that it was intended as a Christmas present and the 4-6 weeks is completly unacceptable when it was listed as shipping in 24hrs (in stock) when you purchased it.

I just checked their site and LOTR Platinum is indeed listed as shipping in 4-6 weeks . If I'm looking at the right one, $80 plus shipping - eeek. That ties up a total of about $170 of your money for their FUBAR .

At any rate, it has been my expierence that Target really does value the consumers opinions and will go to great lengths to fix a problem. Give that a shot.

“The notion that most people want black-robed judges, well dressed lawyers and fine paneled courtrooms as the setting to resolve their dispute is not correct. People with problems, like people with pains, want relief, and they want it as quickly and inexpensively as possible.”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger (God I love Google)

If the above doesn't work, you could always go with Alternative dispute resolution and let the management know that you will persue your complaint until you are satisfied that you are compensated for your time and efforts to resolve their mistake - and you will be as public as possible about it in the meantime. While it may only be an $80 item in question, point out that it makes you wonder if the whole Target Corporation's business module is designed to decieve the average consumer and what tactics Target is using to accomplish that. If you were a Mormon and buying LOTR's Platinum for all of your wives - that would be a whole lot of money they just tied up because they couldn't deliver what was promised (I would swap out the Mormon analogy with friends ). No company, even the size of Target wants to get bashed when the problem can be easily resolved.

Finally, a few suggestions when buying online.

Even though you may be at a well known site, before you place the order, look for phone numbers posted at the site and call them. I place 90% of my orders over the phone. Why (no, I'm not worried about the security of the site)? First, when I call a company, I want to know that I'm going to be able to talk with a human who can resolve my problem(s). I don't want to have to leave a message and wait for a return call - my time is too valuable to wait around to play phone tag. Second, I'm sure of the status of the item(s) - instock / back-ordered - and the shipping terms. If something is back-ordered, I'll find it elsewhere on the web.

Another advantage of being able to talk with the company personally is something which you a having a problem with. Since Target is also brick and mortar, you're in luck. I made the mistake of ordering a TV card from Buy.com last year. The whole thing got srewed up from the get go. I paid an extra $15 for 2 day shipping. They srewed up and shipped to my NY address when I made it clear NOT to ship to the billing address but to my FL address. If you check out the site, there aren't any phone numbers (my bad). The result was to find out where it was and call UPS in NY and have them forward it to FL when it arrived in NY. I received the card 2 weeks later and couldn't vent over the phone. Worse, I could've saved $30 if I got off of my a$$ and went to CompUSA. Needless to say, I only order from sites that have someone I can contact. Period.

I'll shut up now. Believe me, I feel for ya. Hopefully you have a Target close by and they resolve it. An $80 burn isn't too bad - at least you didn't order some $2000 of computer parts.

Merry Christmas !

Mike

[philba]

thanks for the feedback.

I got a reply from them. pretty non-responsive to the specific issue of estimated delivery schedule. "Unfortunately, we did not receive your e-mail indicating you wished to cancel your order until this order had already entered the shipping process. " As I stated in my response, I would not have known I wanted to cancel until I got their estimated delivery dates of Jan 15-28.

there are several local targets but the price all in (shipping + tax) was about the same so for convenience sake, I did it online. It took me less time to order than to haul my sorry *ss down there and back.

there are no phone numbers on the target.com site. no email addresses. just a customer support form that is deeply burried. its pretty clear they deisgned the website withthe idea of keeping cost of support low. i.e. make it hard to get support and people will give up. I'm sure it will work as people will give up buying from them. Heh heh.

As to going to the store. I'm thinking about it but I'm pretty sure the B&M and online entities are seperate. I'm not sure I want to force them to take my money, anyway. This was about convenience, not the specific item. Its sort of a moot point by now.

I have already told them (target.com) that I will refuse receipt and dispute CC charges. Their response was to explain that I could return the product and they will gladly issue a refund. I reiterated the "refuse and dispute" doctrine. we'll see what happens.

By the way, I've had good experiences with other B&M big boxes online. Staples gets stuff to me in 5 days (order to delivery), for example. So why are these idiots so bad?

Phil

[dunbar]

Man that is kinda sad, but remember the deliverer and not target is placing a delay on delivery, so I'd say that target was open but overly pessimistic about the shipper being able to get it to you. Busy holiday season, you know.

Communication: target has informed you of the pessimistic delivery, but they should have offered the opportunity to cancel or modify the delivery method. In any case, I do not think target is to blame right now.

I was busy but when I looked today (dec 22) I discovered that it has "shipped" with estimated delivery date of Jan 15 - 28. whoa baby!

Exactly when did the 'shipped' email get sent from targets email account? A week ago? That means 5 or so days after you submitted the order. Yes, that is slow, definitely, but again, the holidays might have buried them.

[n3uxf]

I have seen companies give outrageous shipping estimates like you are mentioning, but it usually only turns out to be roughly a week for shipping. Why is that?
Another point to remember:
This IS the busiest time of the year for mailing/shipping. (if you need the movie, just go out and buy it in the store and return the one they send to you once you get it. Sure, it ties up your $$ for a little bit, but the flip side is that this is easier to deal with than trying to cancel an order, etc...)

Just the two cents from someone at work with another two hours to kill before quitting time...

[philba]

uh, 3 to 5 weeks shipping??? Yes, this is the worst time of year but even so, the back log is always cleared by new years. Why cant they give me a tracking number? (its a reteorical question - they can't cause it hasn't shipped). by the way, no other sites are claiming that kind of delivery timing on US ground. My spot checking shows 5-7 days being quoted right now for known good retailers.

Oh, by the way, the package includes 2 tickets to see TT that expire on Jan 1. I would not be suprised if the package they are sending is different in that it doesn't have the tickets.

dunbar, I never received a "shipped" email. I checked my account yesterday. pretty bad customer relations.