I have not had trouble like this with any company before. I received my trial of IvoryWhite teeth whitening product, but after checking my paperwork that I had printed out from when I ordered the product, I realized that I would not have ample time to try the product out before getting charged the full amount of $78.41. I work for the Post Office, so I brought the package back with me the next work day and endorsed it "Refused" as we due normally with packages being returned and it was shipped back. That evening I contacted the IvoryWhite customer service by email that I was canceling the poduct.
I received a confirmation email from IvoryWhite the following day confirming my cancelation. It also stated to send the product back to a certain address and write a confirmation number on the outside of the box. Since I had already shipped the package back and it was out of my hands, there wasn't any way for me to do this. Besides, I hadn't opened the product anyway, so there wouldn't be any reason to have to ship the package to a different address, right?
Not so, I found out in a very unfortunate way. I was notified that my bank account was about to be overdrawn. I had balanced my checkbook and should have had close to $90 in there. I went online and checked my account. That is when I found a charge for $78.41 from IvoryWhite.
I immediately called the phone number listed next to the charge on my online statement. I spoke to a customer service representitive about the situation, and he only replied that I had not followed the instructions in the email about returning the product, therefore, I would not receive a refund. They would ship me back out the product though. I told him I did not want the refund and that I wanted my money back. He seemed to not comprehend that I had shipped the product back before receiving the "instructions" and that this was also a extremely common practice to do in returning products. I asked to speak to whomever was "above" him. He told me that the person was busy with a customer, but would return my call.
I waited, and no phone call. A week later, no phone call. I called the company back and asked to speak to a supervisor or manager. Once again this person was "busy", but they would call me back. About 15 minutes later, I received the phone call. I spoke with a gentleman, who seemed to not have much of a personality, or any kind of rational thought. He told me the same story about how I was supposed to "follow the instuctions". I explained to him again that this would not have been possible since the package was returned the previous day. He looked up the number on the package and did see that it had indeed been returned. End of story, right? No.
He said that there wasn't any way of them refunding the money to me and that they would ship me out a new product right away. I stressed the fact that I was now financially in trouble due to this unexpected charge and that I did not want this product but that I wanted my money back. They had their product back, they had confirmed my cancellation, but could not refund my money? No matter what I said, he would not budge. Now brought to tears from frustration, I thanked him for all his "help" and hung up the phone.
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