I commented yesterday about the impending demise of my refrigerator and the fact that I ordered a new one to be delivered on January 2nd. For reasons that are unimportant, I had to cancel the order. Well, I had to try and cancel the order. I ordered it from Sears. They had a relatively nice online ordering system and a good selection of refrigerators on tap.Sears also has a wonderful website for order status. In fact, it says, "Home Delivered Items:
Home delivered orders can be canceled at any time prior to your scheduled delivery date by calling Customer Service at 1-800-732-7747."
Me being the direction follower, I called the number. The long and short of it was, "We're sorry, your order is not in the system yet. You'll have to call the online order department to get an order status at 800-xxx-xxxx".
I called the online order department and a nice lady managed to tell me that she cancelled my order but it could take up to 5 days for my credit card to be credited. "Not a problem," I say, "but can I get an email confirming that it has indeed been cancelled." "Sure," she says, "I'll get that right out to you. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
I never received the email. I checked the order today and it's still "in progress". Then the new fangled little "live chat" window popped up asking if I needed help to click the "chat now" button. I did. It was unpleasant. I've edited out the personal details and bolded the really cool parts. I also didn't repair my old fridge. I just decided to wait and shop around a bit. I was trying to simplify things for the morons:
Shane: Hi, my name is Shane, and it's my pleasure to assist you today as your Personal shopper. May I have your name please?
Gar: Yeah, I called last night to cancel this order. I managed to repair my old fridge. But it still shows like it's "in process" online. Is there a way to get a confirmation that it's been cancelled?
Shane: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
Shane: Thank you for choosing Sears.com. I will be glad to help you today.
Shane: May I have your confirmation/order number please?
Gar: 2002xxxx
Shane: Thank you. I'll be more than happy to assist you today. May I have your name please?
Gar: Gar Theone
Shane: Hi Gar, I'm glad that I had an opportunity to chat with you today.
Shane: If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, I'll be happy to check on this and get back to you.
Gar: Thanks
Shane: You are welcome.
Shane: For verification purposes, may I have the name on the account and the billing address along with the email that was used to place the order?
Gar: Gar Theone 2042 Windy Lane Timbuktoo, TX 75048 simplicity@gar.com
Shane: Thank you Gar.
Shane: I will be right with you.
Shane: Yes, I could pull up the status now.
Gar: So, it has been cancelled?
Shane: I can see that your order is not cancelled yet. I would be very happy to inform you that your order status is still being processed and your Expected Arrival Date was 1.2.2011.
Shane: I would also be glad to provide you the Phone Number of our Shipping/Delivery department at 1-800-732-7747, which will be very helpful for change, setup your delivery time.
Shane: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Gar: Can you cancel it?
Gar: I called 3 800 numbers last night to get someone to cancel it. I was on the phone for 30 minutes. Is all of Sears stupid?
Shane: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
Shane: I am really very sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to inform you that as our Web Application was slow yesterday, and the order is still being processed, we are unable to cancel it.
Shane: However, let me assure you that as the expected Ship date is 1.02.11, you will be able to cancel it while the order status will show "Complete".
Shane: I would suggest you to contact us before 2nd Jan. We will be glad to cancel your order.
Gar: lol. You're joking. Because your web applicaion is slow you can't cancel the order. That's pretty funny.
Gar: In your infinite wisdom you have determined that your web application will "speed up" before January 2nd. Okay. That's wonderful news!
Shane: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused for this, you please contact before 2nd January, when the status will be Complete, we will be able to cancel it or return it back.
Shane: I appreciate your business and appreciate your patience in this process. Thank you Gar.
Shane: I will also be glad to make a note on your order so that we will be able to cancel it soon.
Shane: May I help you in any other way today?
Gar: Oh no. I wouldn't want to pressure your slow order system. It might cause other refrigerators to get erroneously delivered.
Shane: I will be right with you.
I closed the window to write my blog.
Geez, sounds like Sears uses a Ukrainian support center like my ex webhost did.
ReplyDeleteIf it were me I'd call my credit card and tell them Sears billed the card, tried to cancel the order, but are having trouble getting Sears to cancel it and credit back my account.
I was not long here in Texas before the person who caused me to move here ordered something from Sears. She asked me to pick up her order. I did not know what she bought, I just had some piece of paper that showed the order. I was given a big box. When she got back she opened it. It was not what she ordered, which was some sorta lawn tool. Instead Sears gave her a very expensive weed whacker on steroids. Since this was a better thing than what had been ordered, we kept it. You just know taking it back to Sears would have been a humongous time wasting cluster F. Ironically, the thing malfunctioned after a short while. Took it to a Sears service place on Beach Street and they replaced it. No questions asked.
In your current Sears debacle what is likely gonna happen is the order will get canceled, your credit card will be credited. And the fridge you ordered will show up on schedule. When this happens, just keep it. As compensation for all the time wasted by Sears and the aggravation.
You are the second person to tell me about the free fridge idea. Of course, the other person recommended ways to manipulate the system in order to increase the odds of getting a free fridge. I'll have to look into this.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember right, did you not somehow manage to accidentally get yourself mailed a free laptop? A free fridge should be a cakewalk for you.
ReplyDeleteWhy does cakewalk mean "easy" I am now wondering?
Actually, the laptop cost me $70. I tried to buy a camera on eBay and was sent a Dell Laptop instead.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're checking on the cakewalk thing, could you also look into "piece of cake"? As in, this should be a piece of cake. I suspect they are related.