Where do I start? I wish I would have known about this site before I had the horrific encounter with ABC Distributing. I was first introduced to this God-forsaken company by my co-worker who ranted and raved about how cheap (or I mean to say how inexpensive) their merchandise is. I went on to their website, created my own account and ordered a month before Christmas. I've ordered many a times over the Web with legitimate companies and had no complaints until ABC came into the picture. When a company says their merchandise is in stock, they mean it. But not this company. Everything I ordered said it was in stock, would ship out and that I would be billed through an invoice included with my merchandise. That should've been the first red flag. How is a REAL business going to trust that you'll pay upon receipt. Isn't it the other way around in the REAL business world?
Needless to say, I proceeded with my order and a couple days later, checked on my account online. My order was on hold for whatever reason and that I needed to contact them. I, too, like everyone else, was placed on hold for 45 minutes before I could reach an operator. I'm glad someone posted their toll free number, because I spent my own cell phone minutes to hold for these idiots. The guy then tells me that I have gone over my account limit of $100 and would need to prepay the rest. I asked him why didn't your website indicate that in the first place? Of course, no answer. I offered to give him a credit card over the phone, he said he could only do a check by phone... But that I can go online and make my payment by check when I'm ready. I immediately went home, got my check book and made a FULL payment online. I wanted to make sure I paid for all my merchandise. The next morning I get into work and there's a fax from ABC stating that almost half of my order was cancelled due to limited stock. Well, isn't that just convenient??? I made a full payment which my bank couldn't stop payment on for these people to turn around and say that half of my order was cancelled?!?!
I get on my cell phone once again, this time just ENRAGED! I held for 20 minutes before I got some rude-@$ (forgive my language) lady who did nothing but put me on hold every 5 seconds. I asked her why doesn't your website reflect the availability of merchandise especially since I prepaid my entire order? Of course, she couldn't give me a sufficient enough answer. I asked to speak to a manager... I thanked her for her time, but I needed to speak to someone higher up. I was put on hold continuosly, then she comes back just minutes before their call center closes and says that the manager is still on the other line and doesn't want me to hold and asked for a call back number. Oh no, I said. I've waited this long, I'll continue holding. Somehow, I got suckered into believing that the manager is working overtime that night due to the holidays and will be expecting my call. I repeated the direct number of the manager I was given to call, and the operator confirmed it. As soon as I got off the phone, I called the number, and lo and behold... It was a WRONG number. You can imagine how I was feeling at this point.
So, I went onto the BBB (Better Business Bureau) website and found a list of alternate numbers for ABC Distributing. I called each one on their list and got someone in their Collections Dept. Anyway, that's not the end of it. My account online says that my merchandise is still in processing of shipment even thought it gave a Fedex tracking number. I called Fedex and was informed that they don't have my packages and that it's still sitting in ABC's warehouse. That very next morning, I call and demand to speak to a manager. I wasn't going to explain a thing to anyone until I got a manager on the line. The first manager's number I was given, I left a very detailed message to call me back and of course, was never called. Then I get some manager named Cerro Llerena who doesn't have the decency to let me talk, but is talking above me. What happened to being the manager and customer being first? It definitely doesn't exist within this company. I told him that I wanted my entire order cancelled, and refund my money as quickly as their company withdrew it from my account. He said that procedure is that it has to ship the merchandise and that I would have to refuse the package. He later changes his story and says that I'll have to accept the packages and to call him and he'll have Fedex come and pick them up. When we did finally get the packages... (two weeks) after Christmas... And four weeks after they originally promised the packages I called up this Cerro guy and he says that I'll have to wait until he mails the Fedex labels to me. So what am I doing at the same time you ask??? I contacted the BBB that first day and reported this so-called company. So then I get an email from a "Customer Relations Specialist" who HAS to respond because of the complaint I've made with the BBB. She was probably the closest I've ever gotten in dealing with this company as far as being professional is concerned.
Needless to say, the nightmare is still not over. The last I heard was that their Accounting office in Chicago had cut our refund check on Jan. 27th. We'll see how long it takes to get our money back. I even asked the lady, how they can advertise with the Christian "fish" logo and yet practice their business as they do. And get this... She says that it's purely coincidental that their logo is associated with Christians but they're not Christian owned. Yeah... I can tell.
So, my advice to anyone out there who's contemplating ordering or doing business with ABC distributing... Don't do it. Like I said earlier, I wish I had known about this website before I even dealt with that... Company. (to put it nicely)
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