I never thought that I would be emailing you a story about horrendous and shocking customer service. My situation that I am in has gone too far and I need the help of my fellow Internetizens to render aid.
I tend to write long so I'll try and keep this short and to the point:
I work for a screen printing company and I was put in charge of researching to find a new ink jet printer. After much research and price comparisons, I landed on Screenprinters.net (US Screen Printing Institute). They were offering a package deal if you purchased the printer and their software/ink/film all together in 1 bundle. If you go to their website now, you will see that the combo package is IN STOCK, and it was the SAME when I purchased the bundle on Friday, January 25. The credit card amount of around $4,500 went through that exact same day. The invoice that was faxed back to us clearly shows the credit card being processed and that a UPS shipping number would be coming our way in order for us to track our purchase.
1 week goes by, we don't have a tracking number, nor do we have a printer. When we purchased the printer, the terms we agreed to said that once the payment was processed, it would take 7-10 business days for our printer to arrive. I am little anxious so 1 week isn't that big of a deal. The next week rolls by and we still haven't gotten a return email with our UPS tracking number nor have we, again, heard anything about where our printer is. We made several calls to the customer service department where we were harshly greeted by a woman and sternly transfered to a voice mail service after this little conversation I had...
Me: Well, I am trying to reach our CSR on this job Bill, can you please get him?
Her: He's on the phone right now do you want to leave a message?
Me: No, not really because I've already left one on his box and we have an order in with you guys and haven't heard anything back from anyone yet.
Her: Well, I'm not going to interrupt him and make him hang up his call. Do you want his voice mail?
Me: Sure, if that's my only option, then I'll take it.
So, obviously things are starting to sound a little fishy to me and I'm not feeling too confident in our purchase. Especially since it's been 10 days and we have yet to receive a tracking number, or get in touch with the original CSR who sold us on the bundle in the first place... Yet they have already cashed out the $4,500 that we spent. So, week 3 comes and goes, still no printer, no return call back, no tracking number, nada! I go to my boss and ask for some upper level help and so my manager gives them a call. He actually gets passed the mean old lady at the "customer service" desk and actually talks to a customer service manager... This should get us somewhere shouldn't it?
My Manager: One of my employees has called and left messages in reference to PO% and has heard nothing back and I was told that we should have our printer by now and we have nothing. Can you give me some more insight as to what's going on?
Him: Alright, what's your order number and I'll look that up for you.
My Manager: (references order number) it was for the Epson Printer 4880 bundle sold on 1/25/08 by CSR Bill Strange.
Him: Alright, it looks like when the order was placed that we had NONE in stock and we are awaiting stock as we speak. We are scheduled to receive stock next Wednesday (February 20) and once we do we will ship the order out to you immediately.
My Manager: So, the order wasn't in stock, yet you charged the credit card and allowed my employee, who said the website stated that you had stock, to go ahead and purchase it anyway?
Him: Sir, we understand the frustration and don't know why he says he saw that the printer was IN STOCK when it was OUT OF STOCK.
So, after a business meeting with myself and the rest of the staff, we decide to wait and see if the printer actually does arrive. On Friday, February 22, we made another call into Screenprinters.net to find out where our printer was. We couldn't get through to customer service lady, the customer service manager, the ORIGINAL CSR, and in fact when my manager got through one time, he was hung up on. My boss decided to sleep on it during the weekend and see what Monday brought. That week, the week of February the 25th (a whole month since the original order was placed), we all decided that we wanted to cancel our order and get our money back. My manager put in a call to the company, again, he had to wade through countless holds, being passed around, and finally he landed on the Customer Service Manager and he told him that we wanted our money back and that we haven't received anything yet. The manager ACTUALLY HAS THE BALLS to tell my manager that if we wait a week, he can GUARANTEE a printer will be there... That was the last straw. He tells my manager that he doesn't handle refunds and that he'll connect him to the lady who handles the refunds and cancellations. She isn't available!!! My manager has to leave a message... And on March 6th, he receives an email from the Customer Service Manager telling him that our refund and cancellation has been processed and (again) to contact the lady in charge of refunds and cancellations.
It is now March 17th and we have yet to receive our refund. The credit card that it was purchased on hasn't been refunded the money yet either. My boss is currently crafting an email to the owner of Screenprinters.net, Scott Fressner, to see if going all the way to the top would help at all. I write this to you and to Consumerist for help in spreading the word about US Screen. We are never going to use them for anything anymore and officially have been trying to refer people away. They are a big dog in our industry and it'll be hard to convince everyone, but they can't get away with this type of service to people... Especially to ones who know how to use the Internet for help.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
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