Emery Cat Board
Misleading price in advertisement, no confirmation of charges on website

I never order anything I see in those awful TV commercials, but I needed a new scratching post for my cats and I figured the advertised $19.95 s/h for two of the product couldn't possibly include many extra charges.

I went to the website and clicked "Order Now". The first screen has you input your contact and credit card information. I assumed, like every website I've ever ordered anything from, that I wouldn't be charged until I actually confirmed my order. The website then seemed to ask if I wanted one or if I wanted the buy one get one free offer. At least that's what I understood. Unfortunately it was actually asking me if I wanted to order, and pay for, two of them, and receive two more for "free" on top of that. Why anyone would need more than one of these things, let alone four, is beyond me. The website also tried to hock a bunch of other crap at me, but I was forunate enough to decline all of the other offers except for a deshedding brush which I thought was free but now I'm starting to wonder if I actually paid extra for it.

Without confirming anything from me, my card was charged $39.95 for the first set of two boards, plus deshedding brush, then an additional $39.95 for the second set of two boards and a brush, then a "Processing / Handling fee" of $31.80 for a total of $106.70. This is what is shown on the receipt emailed to me. However, when I checked my credit card statement, I was actually charged $120.58. I have no idea where the extra ~$15.00 came from. The company is based in the same province as me, as evidenced by the address on the receipt, so it couldn't be an issue of exchange rate.

After receiving the receipt email with the charge of $106.70 listed, I immediately called their customer service number. I was told that, since I just placed the order, they could not help me since it had not "processed" yet. They said I should call back the next day to have the order cancelled before it shipped, and that they would reimburse me fully. It seemed reasonable, so I hung up and called back the next day. What they failed to mention on the phone was that they would be shipping it out first thing in the morning.By the time I called on my lunch break, it was already in the mail. I was then told that if I shipped it back I would not be reimbursed the shipping fee of $31.80. They were also wording things confusingly and I couldn't tell if they were trying to say I would also have to pay an additional $31.80 to ship it back. Either way, I didn't want to pay them anything and have nothing to show for it, so I kept the things.

The actual product is very cheaply made. The plastic on one of them is warped (although I'm sure I could have returned it and got a new one for a nice fee). The feather toy thing just sits in a hole and falls out as soon as you touch it. My cats won't even bother with the thing. The small plastic brushes that I may or may not have paid for sucked, and the metal bristles were all falling off and bent out of shape.

This was my first experience buying anything from a TV commercial and it will be the last.

Company: Emery Cat Board
Country: USA
Site: emerycat.ca

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