I thought internet shopping was supposed to be easy!

madmalteaser

I am absolutely fuming.

On the 30th April I ordered a ballgown from Debenhams Online. This was an order I wasn't taking lightly, it was costing me over £100 to buy for a ball I'd been invited to on the 14th June. According to the website I would receive my order within 3-5 working days.

On the 3rd I got an email from them telling me that my order had been despatched. On the 16th I rang them asking where it was. I was told that because I didn't have one of their usual couriers in my area they were using a different courier service - Lynx. They told me that they couldn't do anything for a few more days. They couldn't give me a tracking number so I could track the parcel myself and they were unable to track it.

A couple of days later, after several phone calls, I was told that a second dress had been ordered for me and should be with me by the 3rd June. I was also refunded the postage and packaging (£3.95!!!) as a "goodwill" gesture.

Around 25th May I got a letter from Parcelnet - I presume owners or company that runs Lynx - telling me that my original order had been delivered on the 13th May! It had been signed by someone who's name I have never heard of or recognised before. And I knew for a fact that it could not have been delivered to my address as both my OH and I had both been at work that day between 6am and 7pm.

Currently, as far as I'm aware, I'm still being charged for this original order because someone has signed for it. On this basis I got in touch with my credit card company (as I paid by credit card - yes, boohiss I know!) and they have started a dispute claim for me.

And here we get to my point. Today is the 3rd of June. I still haven't received the second order. So I ring up Customer Services again and am told that I need to wait til the 7th June! I'm also told that the order is still pending and that the parcel hasn't even been picked up by the couriers yet. So why is it that when I tried to cancel the whole order on the 28th was I told that the order had already been processed?

I am so annoyed about the whole thing. I've been fobbed off and given excuses at each turn and as a consequence I will no longer be going to the ball on the 14th June because I haven't got a dress. It also means I've lost the money spent on tickets for the event because I know they won't be reimbursed.

In my anger I have written several letters - one to the Managing Director of Debenhams, one to the Chief Executive and one to Trading Standards. So, have I left anyone out? And is there anything else I can do about this whole blasted situation? :mad:

mdbarber

Have to admit from what i hear debenhams are appalling on deliveries it took nearly 3 months for our new tv cabinet to arrive.
As for making your mind up not to go to the ball, why? it's still early days so don't lose faith.
Wait till the 7th and if dress is still no show, phone and see if credit card company can refund then investigate so you can go into town and buy another dress

nellytheelephant

Grr, that's poor! If I were you I'd just try and get my original money back and try to get to the shops! I'm sure you'll be able to find something lovely!! x

vicshippers

Don't tar all internet shopping with the same brush, it seems like you have had an unlikely combination of poor shipping company and poor service from Debenhams (not all internet companies are like that!!!).

Trading standards are definitely the right people to speak to, personally I would also get in touch with the delivery company that delivered to this mystery person. They should be able to get the driver to say where he delivered it. I would play innocent and be sickly sweet to them ('I really didn't want to have to get the police involved but I have paid for this item and I don't have it, you don't want the police at your depot and I don't want to call them really - but what choice am I left with?' type of thing).

Hope you get it all sorted!

madmalteaser

Mdbarber - I had a lot of trouble finding that dress - ballgowns don't seem very easy to find at this time of year. I'm a shift worker, unfortunately there is no way I can find another ballgown in 7 days within my budget. Unfortunately I don't have a spare couple of hundred quid to get a specially made one!

Having the dress turn up today would have been cutting it fine as it was as I somehow have to find shoes and decent undies to go with it and, as I said before, my shifts make that very difficult.

And it infuriates me that this dress was supposed to have been delivered 3-5 days from when I ordered it. If they'd done as they'd promised I would have got all the bits I needed ages ago and would simply be looking forward to going to a black tie event!

madmalteaser

nellytheelephant wrote: »

Grr, that's poor! If I were you I'd just try and get my original money back and try to get to the shops! I'm sure you'll be able to find something lovely!! x

Ha yeah, chance'd be a fine thing! They've already said they won't reimburse me until the matter has been fully investigated. I doubt that'll happen in the next 11 days! And I simply don't have any more money to throw at buying another new dress!

Like I said to Mdbarber as well, I really struggled to find that dress. Time of year dictates that it's mainly prom dresses on sale within my budget, not ballgowns! It's so infuriating!

nellytheelephant

Ach, I can imagine! I had to find a dress for a wedding last month, and that was bad enough! Dread to imagine what a ball gown would be like.

You could just try keep phoning them up over and over until they do something!! x

pinkdrink

Such a shame i really feel for you on this one. I had similar problems with debenhams and have vowed NEVER to shop there again as long as I live (so far i've kept my vow!). I was given a voucher for my birthday and was able to use it online. They sent the wrong size and that's when all my troubles began...what a sga, and they never apologised once! I was told the item i had paid for in my size was out of stock but i was welcome to check with my local store. I asked them to do it as it was there mistake i think that was the least they could do but they said no. Anyway, i phoned my local store who had my size in stock but they wouldn't allow me to bring the wrong sized one i had delivered in exchange. I had to PAY for the cardigan again if i wanted it!!!! I had to phone to arrange collection of the wrong item and they never turned up! Had to call again (getting VERY irate by this point and still never got an apology!) to re-arrange collection. 2 weeks later i still have not been refunded and had to call. Then they told me they never received it so i wasn't getting a refund. Luckily I had a signed slip from the courier showing it was collected from me and had to photocopy it and send it to them as proof! After 6 weeks i finally got a refund, no apology, no "goodwill" gesture, no compensation. Enough is enough. Debenhams wins my award for the WORST customer service EVER! (I'm not even sure i feel better after that rant lol!!!).
Good luck with getting them to respond madmalteaser - i hope they have the decency to at the very least apologise, it will be more than i got!!!

madmalteaser

Hey pinkdrink, whilst that is one hell of a horrible situation you were, it's also good to know that it's not just me these things happen to. I was starting to get paranoid after having problems with several parcels and orders!

I rang Debenhams again yesterday - 7th June deadline!! - and the first girl I spoke to was useless. She said she couldn't see the order on the screen even though I'd rung the same number repeatedly and everyone else had always been able to see it. She gave me another telephone number. I hung up the phone but didn't even bother ringing it, I just rang the original number straight back and went through to someone else who had a clue what they were doing.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Apparently, as of yesterday Friday, they have issued a refund by cheque. Why they can't just put it straight back on my credit card, I don't know. And I like the fact that I had to ring them to find out that a) the second order had never even been sent and b) I was getting a refund. At no point has anyone attempted to call me or get in touch, even when I've requested a call back. I've had to do all the chasing around. I've a good mind to tot up my phone bill when it arrives and send them a request to pay for all the phone calls I've had to make to them! I wouldn't mind normally but when it's been 0870 and 0845 numbers and I've been repeatedly put on hold for several minutes at a time, well it all adds up!

You're right, the rant doesn't make you feel better, does it? It only seems to make me angrier! :mad: