My 9 year old daughter has been begging for Bendaroos for months. When she gave me her Christmas list, they were on there, too. After reading a review on one website that stated they had tried them and found them fun, I figured for $20 plus shipping, I'd order them for my daughter for Christmas.
So, today, I went to the Bendaroos website. I filled in my information and requested a quantity of 1 Bendaroo kit which sells for $19.99 plus $7.99 shipping. I hit the order button and it then proceeded through several more screens, attempting to sell me more of the same product. I only wanted the one kit so I clicked the NO option at the bottom of each screen where it asked it I wanted to accept the offer and add the product. After the last one, my order confirmation popped up (there is no last screen where you can make sure everything is right before submitting) and it reflected that I had ordered one set at $19.99 plus an additional set at $19.99 and showed them charging me $15.98 shipping for a total of $55.96, double what I actually ordered, wanted, and expected.
I immediately hit the customer service button. There was no email address but there was a telephone number. It was not toll free which was annoying in itself. But, I grabbed my cell phone and called. I got automated answering which put me on hold. Then, an actual person came on and put me on hold again. Finally, she came back on the line and I told her what happened. She informed me that there was nothing she could do at that time as the computer doesn't update the orders for them until they leave at 5:30 P.M. Each night. She told me I needed to call back the next morning between 9 A.M. And 10 A.M. And they would adjust my order. But, if I didn't call at that time, orders started shipping at 10:30 A.M. (though the site says 4-6 weeks) and if my order shipped there was nothing they could do.
At this point, I started getting annoyed. I told her that it was a bit much to expect customers to be able to arrange their lives to make a phone call in such a small window of time for something that wasn't even their fault. She said there was nothing else they could do. They are all computerized and have no control over how it updates. I told her if they are computerized, they should be able to note something in the system and fix it once the orders show up. She stated they cannot do that.
In my opinion, this is nothing more than a scam. You order, they try to get you to add items to your order and when you don't, they just automatically increase it for you. Then, they limit the time you have to fix it and tell you sorry, you're out of luck. And, not only do they double your order, they double the shipping, too, as if it costs $15 to mail a few packets of string. If I can't get this issue rectified with the company, I intend to dispute the order with my credit card company. At this point, they can cancel the entire order. I don't care to do business with this sort of company at all.
Word to the wise... Just steer clear of Bendaroos. Find something else your kids will like. It's not worth the hassle to deal with this one.
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