On 08/15/08 I placed an order for cufflinks online with MensGifts4Less.com. I requested two-day shipping to expedite the order as they were to be a gift for my husband for our 25th wedding anniversary and I wanted to make sure I got them early.
On 08/19/08, I noticed through my online banking that my account had been debited by MensGift4Less for the cost of my order.
On 08/19/08 at 11:39 A.M. PST I received an e-mail from Balram in Customer Service at this company that they would not be able to ship my order in time, and asking if I still wanted the item or if I wanted a refund, and asking that I reply ASAP. Since these were specialty cufflinks that I knew my husband would want, I thought may if they were a day or two late that would be okay. So, I replied to the e-mail on 08/19/08 at 11:41 A.M. PST asking when they would be able to ship. I never received a reply.
On 08/20/08 at 2:00 P.M. I went to their website to order tracking and my order still showed as "new." So, I sent another e-mail asking when they would be able to ship. Still no reply. So, on 08/20/08 at 3:00 P.M., I called and spoke to Adrianna. I explained the situation, told her I still wanted the cufflinks if they could ship within a day or two. She said she couldn't understand why the order still showed as "new, " but she would check with the warehouse and call me back. I never received a call.
On 08/21/08 at 9:00 A.M. I called again and spoke with Adrianna, reminding her she was supposed to check with the warehouse and call me back. After some stammering, she said she did not receive an answer back from the warehouse the previous day, which is why she did not call; but she had spoken with them that morning (08/21/08) and the order would ship that day. I told her since they had not met the 2-day shipping that I had paid for, and since they had been so negligent in responding to me, I felt they should ship the item overnight at their expense.initially she said no, they could not do that. I asked who her supervisor was, she said Nick. I asked to speak to him.initially she put me on hold, then she came back and said he was not available. I asked when he would be available, she had no idea, but she said she would have him call me when he came in. I told her if I did not hear from him within a few hours, I would call her back, she agreed.
On 08/21/08 at 12:00 noon, as I still had not heard from Nick, I called Adrianna back. She said Nick still was not in, but she had spoken to him and the order would ship that day, overnight. I asked for the tracking number, she said she did not have it at the time. I asked when their cutoff time was for overnight shipping.initially she said she did not know. I asked her to call the warehouse and find out, then she said she thought it was "3:00 or by the end of the day, " but that I would receive an e-mail with the tracking number as soon as it shipped.
08/21/08 at 4:45 P.M., I had not received an e-mail with the tracking number, and the order tracking info on their website for some reason could not be accessed. When I called, the call went directly into voicemail.
On 08/22/08 at 8:56 A.M., I called and spoke to Balram. I asked for Nick, he said Nick was not in and asked me to call back in one hour. I told Balram my sad sorry and indicated that he was the one who initially sent me the e-mail saying there would be a delay in shipping, and asked if he could tell me what was going on. He said he would transfer me, and, you guessed it, I got transferred to voicemail.
08/22/08 at 2:00 P.M., I called back and the phone rang 22 times before I eventually hung up. No one ever answered.
08/22/08 at 2:30 P.M., I called again, still no answer, and again, the order tracking on the website was down.
08/22/08 at 3:40 p. M, same as above.
08/25/08 at 11:40 A.M., I called and got Balram again. I told him I wanted to speak to Nick and I did not want to be transferred to voicemail.By now, I am extremely angry, and I let Nick know that I was (but respectfully). Of course, I acted like he had no idea what was going on, but he did remember Adrianna mentioning something to him. He also said he could see in their computer where I had called everyday. I asked could he explain why no one ever called me back. He could not. He then said it appeared the warehouse had never responded to them. I asked, well, couldn't someone have called me and at least said that; but if the warehouse never responded, why did Adrianna say on 08/21/08 that the order would ship that day by overnight shipping.initially he said, she did not tell me that, she said, she was placing the order again. I told him, I'm not stupid. I'm the one who was on the phone and I know what she told me, I made a note of it. They he said he could not explain. He said he would check with the warehouse again, and call me back. I told him I had heard that story several times already and no one ever does, but that I was giving him exactly one hour to respond.
I also told him I work for an attorney and I had already shared my story with him. My boss suggested I make one final attempt to resolve the matter and if I still got the runaround they would intervene on my behalf. I told Nick if I did not hear from him within one hour, I would turn the matter over to my boss and contact all of the local media in the Paramount, CA area to tell them what crooks MensGifts4Less.com is.
Nick could not understand why I was so upset. He said they had never had a problem like this before. I told him I knew that was true because I had located this Ripoff website online and I noticed a report for a similar situation with their sister company Costumes4Less. He said he had no idea what I was talking about. Nevertheless, he would check with the warehouse.
On 08/25/08 at 12:50 P.M., I received an e-mail from Nick stating he "still had not gotten a postive reply from the warehouse as to whether the item has been shipped or not." If the order shipped by the end of the day, I would receive an e-mail with the tracking number, if not he would issue a refund by the end of that day. Needless to say, I received no tracking number or advice of a refund that day.
On 08/26/08 at 9:20 A.M. I called Nick again. He claimed the warehouse was all prepared to ship on 08/26/08, but he told them just to cancel the order and had had issued a refund "a couple of hours ago, " and I should have received an e-mail detailing the refund. I advised him as usual, I had received nothing. He said, "I don't know why the refund confirmation didn't go through, but I will forward you a copy of the email." I told him I was at my computer at that moment and to go ahead and forward. He said he would have to wait until he hung up first.
After I reiterated what I thought about their company be unscrupulous crooks, he wrote in an email, " I will not tolerate such personal attacks. Our coporation is well established since 1992. Although we have had some customer service issues over the years, we have never ever taken anybody's money or intentionally lied to any one!'Typically, ' (emphasis added) we go out of our way and issue refund there is an element of doubt! Of course, you are entitled to your opinion. But I hope that you will look at all facts before you formulate your opinion."
The facts tell me:
1. I placed an order, they received payment.
2. I did not receive my merchandise.
3. I sent 2 e-mails and made 8 phone calls and received no replies.
4. I had to call the supervisor twice, and I believe it was only after he found I worked for an attorney and threatened legal action and to expose them to the media that my refund was issued.
That is how I formed my opinion that MensGifts4Less.com is an unscrupulous, crooked company. Not everyone has access to an attorney or would be as persistent as I was.
I eventually found the same cufflinks at another company for $5 cheaper and the shipping was also $5 less. My husband will get his anniversary gift, albeit two weeks late.
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