On December 5 I purchased what was described as a complete tv series on dvd through eBay from lasercorner. When I received the item it was simply the first 18 episodes of a 70 episode series. Quite irate, I immediately called lasercorner's customer service and was promised a full refund of the purchase price, shipping & handling charges, and the cost of shipping the item back to lasercorner. Wary of their business ethic already, I demanded these promises in writing through email before I returned the item and was obliged. After receiving the confirmation email, I returned the item (including the return paperwork and my receipt for the price of shipping it back to them) to lasercorner via the USPS shortly before Christmas 2005. As I have a large family with small children, I became distracted by the holidays and soon forgot about lasercorner.
In May I was cleaning out my email and came across the communication from lasercorner. I had never received the refund. After checking eBay I learned that lasercorner was no longer an ebay member. I then contacted lasercorner via email inquiring as to where my money had gone. After several emails back and forth in which I detailed my situation (their recordkeeping is apparently horrible) I was told that they would check their records to determine if the item had been received by lasercorner. This was on June 5.
When I had neither received my refund nor any other communication from lasercorner by July 23 I sent another email requesting a status report on my claim. I received an email back on July 24 explaining that lasercorner had received my item back in January and I would receive my refund ASAP. They did not explain WHY my refund was not issued when they received my item.
After some thought as to the competency of the staff at lasercorner, I sent another email on July 31 reminding the customer service representative that it had been stated in writing that I would receive a refund for the item, the shipping & handling, and the cost of return shipping. Their response via email on August 2 was that they would check with accounting as they don't personally handle the refunds. I responded the same day that if they were conferring with the accounting department I would like to know what method of payment they would employ for my refund (paypal or check). The response on August 3 was that I would receive my refund via paypal.
When I had not received my refund by August 7 I again sent an email requesting a status report on my claim as well as an acknowledgement of the formula for the ammount to be refunded (purchase price original shipping & handling return shipping =total refund ammount).in their responding email on August 9 lasercorner asked me the ammount I was requesting. Flustered by the fact that THEY did not know the ammount, I checked my records and responded that the purchase price ($36.25) the original shipping & handling ($11.50) the return shipping ($3.50) equaled a total refund ammount of $51.25. Anticipating further incompetence, I then reminded them that both shipping charges were included because the item had been incorrectly listed and incorrectly described in the eBay listing which resulted in my purchase.
On August 10 I received a response questioning the discrepancy in the original eBay listing! I could not believe lasercorner's audacity. I responded to this by forwarding them the original complaint made by me through eBay. After checking their website for a customer service phone number, I also explained that I would be calling the customer service representative I'd been dealing with directly within 10 minutes of sending the email as my patience had reached it's absolute limit.
Ten minutes later I called and spoke to the representative. Through her very distinctive voice I was nearly enraged to recognize her as the person I'd spoken to in December who had originally stated verbally that I would receive my full refund! She then proceeded to argue with me about my refund and her ability to ensure its completion despite her verbal and written statements to the contrary. At this point I questioned her usefulness as a customer service representative, her professional ethics, and her memory as she claimed she had not been the one to speak with me in December. I demanded a supervisor and was told she didn't HAVE one, though she admitted that she did NOT own the company, etc. I refused to further discuss the matter and explained that she would have the refund in my paypal account by Monday (August 14) or I would see her and her nonexistant supervisor in small claims court.
Shortly thereafter, I located more claims against lasercorner by other customers online through this website and others. As a result, I sent another email explaining that I had located these other customers and, if my refund was not issued by the aforementioned deadline, would be conferring with them on the possibility of a relatively large class action suit against lasercorner as well as any possible criminal prosecution for their extremely lax business ethics. I suggested she contact the supervisor she claimed not to have and apprise him of the situation before it could escalate to a level that would require his presence for court proceedings.
Less than 2 hours after sending that email I received a response confirming my address for a refund check in the ammount I had requested to be mailed the same day. Now, I have only to wait and see if I actually receive said check or if I really will be forced to take these idiots to court.
Moral of the story? DO NOT do business with lasercorner for any reason!
PS - Two other listings for lasercorner are available on this website. One is listed for lasercorner.com and the other for lasercornerdvd.com, but both are for the same company.
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