Question About Company Ethics
 

For a long time I subscribed to a link that seemed to only sell jelly rolls. I would prefer not to mention the name because I am not here to bash anyone.

The first time I ordered their products I was happy with my purchase. The next time I ordered I was OK with what I got. For about a year they sent me advertising about their sales. Sometimes the sales looked good, but I did not need what what was on sale. Finally not long ago, they sent me a deal I could not pass up. The jelly roll colors were exactly what I needed to make a quilt for a young man who has cancer. I got online and made the order and even found one other jelly roll that would be a good start for another quilt. My order totaled enough not to have to pay shipping charges.

While I was in the process of checking out the last jelly roll disappeared from my cart. OK, I thought maybe someone else bought it before I did and I just needed to go back and add that item to my cart again. Not so, the little sign said "Sold out." Keep in mind I started my order as soon as the sale was announced.

I finally got what I wanted together (without that one that disappeared) and got all my credit card information plugged in and pressed the complete button. Nothing happened. I thought that was strange since I know how ordering online works. I immediately used the customer service email to write and ask what was going on. Two days later (after the sale was over) the customer service lady answered me and of course my order was going to cost about twice as much. I have my emails where I wrote her the same day to ask help to complete the order, but she was not willing to give me the items for the sale price. The malfunction was obviously their falt.

My question: Has that ever happened to anyone on this list before? Is this a trick or a gimmick that the company pulled on me to get the price up?

Never had that happen, but I would hesitate to order from them again. There are many other sites - reputable sites - that sell quilting fabrics - check out some others and see if you can't find bargains just as good.

I would not order from them again. Only get one shot at me.

These types of computer issues always have happened. Often smaller sites have more of these types of issues although I have experienced them on sites such as Travelocity. The bigger issue is the customer service AFTER the problem. This is where the company totally failed.

They lost a customer and probably many more by not working with you to resolve the issue. I somewhat speculate that their people (person?) was tired from dealing with more than one problem but this is really no excuse. So often companies do not properly anticipate the response to a change, like a sale, and have great difficulty dealing with the volumn or problems.

I would just cancel the order - sometimes that is enough to bring them to their senses if they were genuine. If not, you've lost nothing and can shop elsewhere.

it sounds like their server could not handle the volume of traffic.
since we have only one side of the story, i will not speculate about any of the many possible reasons they did/could not resolve the problem to your satisfaction.

since previous transactions went smoothly, and if i expected there'd be future sales of interest to me, i would write them a calm, factual letter. i would let them know what i had liked about dealing with them in the past. then i'd explain in detail what happened and let them know i was considering dropping them as a source in the future.

this approached has worked very well for me. the company in question was sincerely interested in my constructive feedback. everything was resolved to my satisfaction and benefit. they have receive a lot of my custom since, and i have no doubt they will receive plenty more in the future.

Call your credit card company and cancel the order. Period.

This is why I will not order anything that I cannot pay with PayPal. They handle all complaints that customer services do not want to be nice about. Also, if a company is not large enough to take PayPal, I think they are not large enough to be doing business on the internet with the volume of business they may get. I will support a small LQS when I can go into the actual store, but I don't support a small web site as I can't judge anything about them. I'm sorry you got burned. I hope you don't get burned twice. I hope they don't steal your credit card information.

I used to work for a catalog company. This happened ALL the time... They would send out catalogs to different parts of the country @ different times. So, you may have JUST gotten the catalog but another part of the country has had it for 2 weeks. Also my computer would tell me there were XX amount in stock but there could be 20 other people ordering the same thing @ the same time. Not sure that your company was trying to PUT ONE OVER ON YOU! Give them a phone call and talk to a PERSON who can explain it to you. Tell them how disappointed you were that your order could not be filled. They MAY have a substitue or YOUR jelly roll on order.... just a thot!

Sometimes it is just better to use the telephone and call in an order.

That has happened to me at various times because I do a great deal of online shopping. If customer service is still open when that happens to me, I call them rather than send an email. I have always had good results talking to a live person and the issue is invariably resolved in my favor. If customer service is closed, then I cancel the order.

It's true that computer "hiccups" can and do happen, and because you can never catch the computer in the act, it's next to impossible for anyone to figure out what is going on.

Keep in mind, too, that the store is using some e-commerce software that they bought. It's not as if the store owner or staff actually wrote the computer programs.

And techology is COMPLICATED! That e-commerce software was written in (pick a year)... meanwhile the webserver that it's hosted on may have had upgrades and patches to its software... not to mention all the different computers and browsers that shoppers are running, and all are at different patch levels and it's always changing, because there are software updates and anti-virus updates and nothing EVER stays the same for more than ... maybe a second. ;-)

All that said... I agree with sweetana3, that the bigger issue is that the store would not be flexible in view of the fact that you'd experienced a problem. Could be that you were talking to a lower-level customer service person who simply did not have the authority to adjust prices.

question about company ethics
 

this sounds like when I was about to buy gas. sign said 3.23. looked at pump, it said 3.33 so I went inside to inquire. they said I would get a 10 cent discount for cash - no credit card. So I drove to the next station in town and got it for 3.23.

Send this company's emails to the spam folder. They do not deserve your business.