Twinks Gets Fit...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Challenges at the online checkout counter

Brady and I received two gift cards for Macy's between wedding gifts and showers. Awesome, right? Yeees, but using them was quite the experience. This was the strangest online purchase I've ever made.

It began about 3 weeks ago. I happily placed an order for a very oceany-nautical looking "well-decorated" bedding set by Martha Stewart for our guest bedroom. (My first Martha purchase EVER.) I paid with the two gift cards and about $9 on the debit card. About 4 days later, I get an email saying it's backordered and they have no idea when they'll get it in. I can wait with no guarantee they'll get it anytime soon or cancel. I cancel. They tell me the gift cards have been credited back. Only problem is that I have no idea what's happened to the cards. I used them up, I figure they got tossed. I contact Customer Service and ask if I can just place the order through them since obviously they have the gift card numbers and just exchange the merchandise. (The comforter set I picked instead was the same price.) They tell me they have to send me another gift card. Okaaaaay, then I check the shipping confirmation for the card. They used my old address for the shipping address (I had the new one down for shipping, the old down for billing originally) and since it's going Fedex, I won't get it. I email them since the phone number is nowhere to be found on their website. Two days later, they tell me they updated the address and it will be forwarded to me. Great, right?

So I receive the new gift card. I jump on Macy's.com, pick out yet another bedding set, go through the checkout process, go to enter the new gift card number. (They've now combined the two gift cards into one.) The balance shows zero. $0.00. Nada. I immediately think I just picked up the wrong gift card (I found the other two in the meantime.) Nope, it's the right one. I call Customer Service after having to Google for it. They show it does have a balance. I ask if I can just place the order over the phone. They say no, put me on death hold, and my phone drops the call. (Our cell phone service is horrible in the house. Guess we're in the dreaded "dead zone" Verizon talks about.)

The next day, I get an order confirmation email for yet another replacement gift card. With the wrong address. Again. I call Customer Service and summarize the situation and explain that all's I want to do is place my order through them and be done with it. I don't need yet another gift card to mess with and have not work. She puts me on hold. She comes back. She says she can do that, then puts me on hold to see if I have any saved shopping bags before I can say anything. I'm listening to Christmas music for approximately 8 minutes. When she gets back on the phone, she asks about how many items were in the shopping bag and says she couldn't find it. I tell her I can just pull up the item ID #s online. There's only 2 things I'm order after all. Let's not get crazy here. So I give her the first. She asks if it's this 30 piece bedding set for $469. Yeeeah, no. She finally picks the right one, I give her the second. Is this for the Ralph Lauren luggage? Also, nooooo. It's for a pillow. Okay, now we're set. She gives me the total, says she is going to place the order using the gift card number and her supervisor is going to get the security code for the card and I'll be all set. I got off the phone imagining my lovely bedding set being all packaged up for its journey out West. All is well...

Nope. I get another email shipping confirmation two days later for a replacement gift card. I grumble under my breath and just let it go.

Well yesterday the gift card finally arrived and I immediately checked the balance. It's correct. Thank. Goodness. Online I go, pick out yet another bedding set (given the opportunity, I'll change my mind about decor 20 times) and put it and the same pillow into my shopping bag, go through the checkout, and done! FINALLY! Well I haven't gotten a shipping confirmation yet so nothing's a done deal apparently, but let's hope so.

Here's the bedding set we ended up getting for the guest room. It comes with everything pretty much--comforter, pillowcases, sheets, shams, decorative pillows, bedskirt, window valances. It takes the guesswork out of it I suppose! Now we just need to get the room painted, pick out some pictures to hang in there and we'll be all set!
I think we're painting the walls a creamy beige to keep it neutral, perhaps with a chair rail dividing line, and then maybe black and white art and photos on the walls.

No comments:

Post a Comment