I placed an order this morning via the FAO Schwartz website for two stuffed animals. They were to be Christmas presents for my daughter. I received a confirmation email from FAO Schwartz through which I learned that the items would be delivered between January 3 and January 14. As this would mean my daughter would not have the gifts by Christmas, I attempted to cancel the order via the website. When I was unable to do so, I called customer service and was told that, although the stuffed animals were still at the warehouse and the shipping process had not yet begun (this was now approximately five hours after the order had been confirmed), FAO Schwartz would not be able to cancel the order. I explained that this order was a Christmas gift and that if I had to pay for this order I wouldn't be able to buy my daughter a gift in time for Christmas. The woman was clearly unconcerned and made no effort to help me further. I verified again that the shipping process had not started and that the items could not be guaranteed to deliver for an entire month (January 14), and then, when the woman I was speaking with said that she was sorry but there was nothing more she could do, I asked to speak with a supervisor. What followed was the most frustrating conversation I have ever had with a customer service representative in my life.
The supervisor said that FAO Schwartz Customer Service has no way to directly contact their warehouses, so there was no way that they could definitely cancel an order. I asked if he could give me the number of the warehouse; he said he didn't even have the number. When I asked how he contacted the warehouse he told me that he did it through a "service" that contacted the warehouse for FAO Schwartz, but there was no way for anyone at FAO to confirm that the warehouse actually got the message. I asked for the number of the "service" so that I could contact them directly, he wouldn't give it to me. I asked if he could copy me on the email that he sent to the "service, " he said that FAO Schwartz Customer Service did not have the ability to copy customers on emails. I asked if he could at least send me an email stating that he had contacted the "service" to contact the warehouse to cancel my order, and he said he could not. I finally got a very grudging verbal assurance that my order would be cancelled, but he refused to follow that up with anything in writing. Given the fact that this customer service agent was clear that he was fairly helpless in his ability to assist me in my very simple request, I am still unsure of the status of my order. It was an unbelievable experience; I will NEVER shop at FAO Schwartz or their parent company Toys 'R' Us again.
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