my order from harry and david

[myveryown_nemesis]

Dear Mary,

Thank you for ordering from Harry and David - we appreciate your business.

Your order has been received and is being processed. You can view its status at any time.
If you need to get in touch with us about your order, click here or call us anytime at 1-877-322-1200.

	Mary Lastname 212 Any Street     ANYWHERE ST 11111-1111   EMAIL:  jalilifer@yahoo.com PHONE:  ORDER NUMBER:  1002399299 ORDER RECEIVED:  2007-12-17 PAYMENT:  $50.04 (AMERICAN EXPRESS)

SHIP TO:	GREETING:

John and JoanLastname 246 Another Street     Another Town, ST 22222-2222   Merry Christmas! with love, Mary, John, Lili, Jenny & Jack

ITEM # DESCRIPTION ARRIVAL DATE AND METHOD PRICE QTY TOTAL 55Z Merry Mix-Up® Box 3 DAY EXPRESS Christmas $29.95 1 $29.95 SUBTOTAL: $29.95

ORDER DETAILS
	[Regular Price Subtotal]: $29.95 Your Price Subtotal: $29.95 Standard Shipping: $8.99 Expedited Shipping: $9.99 Fuel Surcharge: $0.13 Total Delivery and Processing Charges: $19.11 Sales Tax: $0.98 TOTAL: $50.04

So yesterday, I sent the following:

Please be advised that the below purchase (placed on December 17) has not been processed.  Please cancel this order.  It was ordered as a Christmas present for my convalescing mother-in-law.  I am greatly disappointed that I was not notified of the incomplete status of this order before Christmas.  I do not intend to make any future orders through Harry & David  due to this error on your part.

Sincerely,

***

An hour after that, I received the typical automated message saying that my request had been received, and to expect a response in 24 hours.

This morning, I received the following:

Please accept our apologies. Unfortunately, your order is in the process of being shipped and we are unable to make any changes.

We're sorry we couldn't be of more assistance and hope to have your understanding.

Best Wishes,

Michael C.
Harry and David

Shipped?  Now?  Two days after Christmas, when I placed the order on the 17 and paid for expedited shipping????

So I sent the following, after deleting several choice words:

I do not find this situation acceptable.  Upon reviewing my credit bard bill a second time, I see that you did process payment (payment was processed on the same date that it was ordered...I was looking at 12-18 onward the first time I checked my bill).  Since I made the payment with the understanding that the package would arrive before Christmas, I think that the very least you can do is to refund what I paid for expedited shipment.

I am still very disappointed by this experience.

.................................................................................

The burning question....will I get back my money for expedited shipping?  I will never use Harry and David in the future again.  The only reason why did I use them, was because MIL and FIL sent us a Harry and David package. 

I'm absolutely flummoxed by the fact that they dropped the ball on processing and shipping in a timely manner and didn't even offer to credit my account back the shipping costs.

Comments

[dana3.livejournal.com]

Just challenge it with AmEx on the grounds of non-delivery. Cancel the payment. It's amazing how quickly you can get their attention when you screw up their cash flow ...

[victrola58.livejournal.com]

If you no longer want the merchandise, I believe you can refuse the package. In other words return to sender for a refund. If you want the merchandise I would definitely fight with them on it. As is stated above I would involve Amex too.

That just sucks - I would get on the phone and talk to a "live" person.

[elf]

I third that--call Amex, and contest the payment; tell them you did not receive the goods you ordered. (They'll start the process of refund by sending you some forms to fill out.) Keep it simple--ordered 3day express on the 17th; haven't gotten stuff yet; company claims it can't cancel & refund the order even though it wasn't delivered.

They should be fine with this; it's a normal transaction for them.

Make sure to state you refuse all future charges from H&D. (They may not have a way to register that, which should be fine. Tell 'em to put a note in your account info about it, so that if you have future hassles with them, there's a record that you don't want to do business with them.)

*THEN* call Harry & David and tell them you'll be refusing their package when it arrives, as you ordered it 3-day express, and they did not deliver it as advertised.

Call, don't email. Insist on talking to a person, not leaving a message on a machine. Ask--as politely as you can--how they expect to remain in the gift business if they don't provide Christmas presents on time?

Insist that you will not be paying for the item because it was ordered under specific conditions--3day delivery, to be received before xmas--and since it was not available under those conditions, you have no interest in it. Also state that since they are not ethical enough to contact people when they can't provide what they advertise, you will not be ordering from them in the future, and you will warn their friends that H&D uses false advertisements to get payments for services they can't or won't provide.

If/when package arrives, mark it REFUSED - RETURN TO SENDER and let the post office take it back.

Update

[jalilifer.livejournal.com]

Harry and David contacted me, and they are refunding the cost of shipping. They've already sent the package, and it's being sent to MIL and FIL and not directly to me.

If the credit doesn't appear promptly, I will then contact AmEx, MIL & FIL, and Harry & David directly (instead of via e-mail).

Since it's already on its way, if I get the shipping refund, I'll be okay with that. I won't use H&D in the future, but then I won't have to involve MIL & FIL, who have had more than enough to deal with lately.

MIL, by the way, is back home, and was doing well until Christmas Day, when she started to develop a reaction to her antibiotic (hives). She had an appointment yesterday, but DH hasn't spoken to her yet. We should hear how she is doing tonight.