Complaint / Review
Ecost.com
Do not buy from ecost! - Poor service i.E. Shipping problem

I bought an iPod as a Christmas gift on Dec. 19th and paid for 2nd Day Air to ensure delivery by Christmas (as the eCost website prompted me to do.)

I received a shipping notice on Dec. 20th. When I did not receive the item by the evening of the 22nd, I checked the shipping status with UPS. It was still listed as "Billing Information Received". I called UPS to ask if they had received the item from eCost. They had not received the item from eCost to ship yet.

I called eCost early the morning of the 23rd and asked them to cancel the order. I explained that I needed the item that day (the 23rd), as we were leaving town the next day. I explained how I lived up to my end of the transaction by paying for the item immediately with an expectation that they would then send the item to arrive by Christmas (the reason I paid for 2nd day air.) The customer service rep first replied "all sales are final." After I further explained that a sale was not completed because I did not have the item in possession, he said he would file a "cancellation request" and that since the item had not shipped yet, it should not be an issue. I went and bought another iPod that day.

On Dec. 27, we return home. Later that day, my wife finds a package on our door step from eCost. I called customer service and explained that I had requested to cancel the item and was surprised to receive it and that I wanted to return the iPod for a refund. They gave me the standard "all sales are final" line. I said that I understood, but that I had requested to cancel the order before it had shipped because they had not delivered in a timely manner. I was told they would file a Return Authorization request.

I called back several times to check on the status of my return request. I kept being told to check back later, and that no one in the RA department or in management was available to talk. I called again today Jan. 4th, a week after the initial RA request was made, and asked about the status of the return authorization. I was told an email was sent with the RA request on Dec. 30th. I never received the e-mail and asked if they could resend it.

The e-mail reply I get simply repeats, "all sales are final."

I am at a loss how a company advertises "World Class Customer Service" and will not process a simple return request when they failed to deliver the item in a timely manner and then failed to cancel the order when that request was made.

Save yourself the time and headache, DO NOT BUY FROM eCOST!