I am writing to share with you the awful customer service experience I recently encountered with Walmart.
On January 29 I ordered a full size kids bed frame from walmart.com. I am currently in the middle of moving and the expected arrival date (2/10) of this item was highly intentional and would prevent my son from having to sleep on the floor of our new home. After ordering, I tried tracking this item several times during the waiting period, but never saw any movement after the first shipment status. Today, because of this, I sent an email expressing my concern to which I received an automated response not nearly answering my question. A few hours later, I received a series of emails stating that my order had been “lost in transit”; followed by an email with a gift card refund adjustment (on a card which I had thrown away after using it on my purchase) and another email confirming the cancellation of my order and stating what my return credit would be. First of all, I did not ask to cancel this order and expected that if my item was “lost in transit” then it would just be RE-ordered and sent urgently to me.instead, the email stated that I would now have to go back to walmart.com and start my order from scratch!
I attempted to contact customer service using the phone number provided in the return email. For fifteen minutes I went around and around with a computerized, automated system which did not offer an option that fit my circumstance. I tried pushing every button possible in order to get a living, breathing human being on the line but finally gave up in frustration (actually I was hung up on by the machine). After searching online I eventually came across a valid customer service number (not found on walmart.com), which in turn led me to an agent. For the next forty-five minutes I explained my situation, and pleaded for a solution that fit my immediate needs. I explained to the agent that my son was now sleeping on the floor and that I did not want to cancel my order, but rather get the bed ASAP. Unfortunately, the agent stated that I had to order the bed all over again and would have to pay for the faster shipping option if I wanted to receive it sooner rather than later.
Being a professional myself, I understand that there are policies and procedures for handling these types of situations, but the fact that a customer would have to RE-ORDER an item and then pay MORE in order to receive it ANOTHER whole week after it was supposed to have arrived in the first place is ridiculous! Finally, the agent offered to pay for the expedited shipping option, but refused to Rush deliver the bed to me without my paying for the extra delivery (which meant 6 more days of sleeping on the floor for my son as opposed to 3). I even offered to pick up the bed from a local store. Being such a large corporation, one would think that the extra $10 (the shipping difference) wouldn’t be a good reason to lose a loyal customer, but it must have been pretty important because I also spoke with a supervisor who refused my plea as well. I told the supervisor I felt like I was getting very poor compensation for a mistake which was made solely by Walmart. He then told me it was “the best anyone would do” and that he would not pass my call along any further.
Ultimately, I re-ordered the bed with the expedited shipping because it was the one I wanted in the first place. Once the bed finally arrived, the box appeared as if it had already been opened and re-taped. I assumed this meant it had been a return which was not the problem. When I opened the box, many of the pieces were scattered and unwrapped. I dug my way to the bottom, piece by piece, searching for the instructions. They were nowhere to be found! I decided to have a go at constructing the bed without them, but soon discovered the reason why the last customer returned the bed, broken headboard leg. I called Walmart.com to see if they could easily email me the instructions and send a new piece, but no such luck. After having a long conversation regarding the agent’s hometown and views on church life, followed by being placed on hold several times by the incompetent agent who was obviously overworked (told me several times he was on his 12th hour and “needed a nap”), I came to the conclusion that once again, I would not be helped. The agent then took my information and had the guts to ask me if he had answered all of my questions to my satisfaction!
After calling a local store to find out if they could help me, I was told that the bed was discontinued and that getting a part from Walmart would be next to impossible. I asked the manager the name of the manufacturer of the bed so I could find the information for myself. I then google’d the manufacturer, called them, ordered the part, and was emailed the instruction manual all in less time than I had initially spent on hold waiting for Walmart.com to pick up the line. While I am not convinced that this letter will ever reach anyone powerful enough to ensure a resolution of this matter. I still felt the need to share how horribly displeased I am with the service (or lack thereof) that I received from Walmart.com. Needless to say, I will not be spending another dime with this company in the future.
0 comments