"05/09/2008
I was in the market for a large mixing paddle and Wares Direct seemed to have the best price for the item, which including shipping and handling. While reviewing their site I also picked up a 4 quart measuring cup. I placed my order and it was verified the same day. At this time both items were supposedly in stock and the order would be shipped out within a day or two. (So far so good)

In less than one week I received my 4 quart measuring cup, but my mixing paddle wasn’t in the box. After looking over the packing list I noticed that the Mixing Paddle was on B.O., which I’m assuming means back order. This is very upsetting because the packing list was printed on 05/09/2008 which is one day after my “in stock” item was ordered. They should have informed me that the item I was waiting for was on back order and it wouldn’t be arriving with my shipment.

05/15/2008
On this date I called Wares Direct (This is a plus to have a phone number to call when they don’t respond 1/2 the time to e-mails) and asked about the status on my back ordered item and why I wasn’t notified that the item wasn’t in stock when I purchased it? The woman on the phone told me that an e-mail should have been sent out stating that the mixing paddle was on back order. I told her I didn’t receive that e-mail, but did receive an e-mail stating that my order was processed (which included the fact that both items were in stock) so there is no way the e-mail was blocked when I received the other e-mails about processing my order.

She said the item was back ordered until the end of the month. I told her this is very upsetting because I needed the mixing paddle last week when my order arrived. I told her I can’t wait that long and if Wares Direct’s inventory was accurate and Wares Direct didn’t mislead customers that items are being shipped because they are stated as being in stock I wouldn’t have placed my order with Wares Direct in the first place. I told her to cancel my order because I will have to order it from somewhere else and pay extra for an overnight delivery!

05/19/2008
I received an e-mail from Wares Direct (Cathy) that they are processing my order because it arrived in stock. I let her know that my order was canceled a week ago so she should stop the order and not to charge my card. I asked her why I even received this e-mail because my order was canceled a week ago. She didn’t have a good answer for that. (Later I reviewed my credit card statement and on 05/10/2008 they charged the full amount to my card when 1/2 the order wasn’t even shipped out!)

She e-mailed me back saying that they have received my request to cancel the back ordered item and will forward my request to the accounting department for a refund. And that I would hear from them soon.

05/27/2008
I e-mailed Cathy again for status on the refund to my card because the accounting department didn’t contact me or reverse the credit card charges.

05/30/2008
I called Wares Direct and spoke with Kim to get my credit for my item that was never shipped out. I told her how upset I was about the whole thing and that it’s misleading to charge someone and pretend an item is in stock when you really don’t have it. She said she would forward that on to the returns department and I would receive a credit within a week for my item. I asked about the shipping of the item and she said I wouldn’t get that back! (Like that makes any sense, charge me for an item that isn’t in stock, credit me almost a month later, and don’t refund my shipping or for that matter even offer a shipping credit for lousy misleading service!)

I will never buy from Wares Direct again.
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