If you watched my Crown Brush review, you know that I wasn't happy with my products. At the time of the video (which was last weekend), I had emailed the company on two occasions and also called their customer service twice, leaving messages both times.
After making the video, I realized that they had never responded to any of my attempts, sans a response telling me to contact customer service via telephone. Thus, I sent the following email to them on January 26:
From: Wendy *******
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 8:09 AM
To: sales@crownbrush.com
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
Thank you,
Wendy ******
Well, that apparently lit a fire under their asses as I got a phone call WITHIN ONE HOUR from the company. I could not answer as I was at work (I don't answer my cell at work), and received an email a few minutes after they called.
From: Crown Brush
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
To: "Wendy *******"
Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 10:38 AM
Hello,
We apologize for the inconvenience. We tried calling this morning but were unsuccessful. Please call me or email me a time that I can call you to correct the issues you are having with you order.
Thank you,
Daniel
Seem nice, don't they? I immediately responded and said I would call them on my lunch break. I called at 12:10PM on January 26, and of course, no one picked up. I left my name, order number and not one, but two phone numbers where I could be reached.
The day went by with no response; January 27 went by with still no answer, and on January 28 I sent the following email:
From: Wendy *******
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
To: sales@crownbrush.com
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 8:51 AM
Still have not received a return call from the message I left on Wednesday around 12PM EST. I even emailed you to tell you I would be calling. I will be filing the dispute.
Wendy ******
Yet again, within one hour, I had a phone call. This time I picked up and was asked if they were speaking to "Ali Cosmetics" or something. I said no, and waited. Finally, the customer service person said, "Oh, sorry, is this Wendy?"... Yeah. Real professional, guys. I then told them (again) that I couldn't talk on the phone at work. She offered to call me back at noon, my time. I said fine.
She called back and did something similar again when I picked up (asked for a different person, then got flustered and asked for me). We sat in silence for a good fifteen seconds before I finally said, "SO, I have a problem with your products." I went into pretty good detail about my issues and was met with a "Ummm... hold on..."
She barely covered the phone and chatted to a co-worker, then came back on and said they would resend two of the brushes.
...
Apparently they think that resending a brush that sheds like crazy and a scratchy blush brush is acceptable. To me, it's not. I simply said that, I said that I felt the brushes were poor quality. She put me on hold a good two or three more times, each time asking questions of someone, sounding like she had no idea what was going on. She got back on the line and told me I could send the brushes back *at my own expense* and once received, I would get a refund. It was not specified whether I would receive my shipping back. In an effort to be civil, I told her okay, and asked for the mailing address. Cue more hold time. Good god, she doesn't even know their mailing address? What the hell is up with this company? It was by far the most unprofessional phone call I have ever had. She never tried to discuss the brushes with me AT ALL, just offered a half-hearted refund.
Now my dilemma is whether or not I should send them back or just file the complaint with my bank and bin the brushes. I am concerned that my return will "not be received" even if I put delivery confirmation on it. I really don't feel like getting into a war with this company over whether or not they get my return. I also am pissed that I would have to foot the bill to ship their crappy products back to them. Basically, I am not happy. What would you guys suggest I do?
Thanks in advance, and as always, thanks for reading!
Seem nice, don't they? I immediately responded and said I would call them on my lunch break. I called at 12:10PM on January 26, and of course, no one picked up. I left my name, order number and not one, but two phone numbers where I could be reached.
The day went by with no response; January 27 went by with still no answer, and on January 28 I sent the following email:
From: Wendy *******
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
To: sales@crownbrush.com
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 8:51 AM
Still have not received a return call from the message I left on Wednesday around 12PM EST. I even emailed you to tell you I would be calling. I will be filing the dispute.
Wendy ******
Yet again, within one hour, I had a phone call. This time I picked up and was asked if they were speaking to "Ali Cosmetics" or something. I said no, and waited. Finally, the customer service person said, "Oh, sorry, is this Wendy?"... Yeah. Real professional, guys. I then told them (again) that I couldn't talk on the phone at work. She offered to call me back at noon, my time. I said fine.
She called back and did something similar again when I picked up (asked for a different person, then got flustered and asked for me). We sat in silence for a good fifteen seconds before I finally said, "SO, I have a problem with your products." I went into pretty good detail about my issues and was met with a "Ummm... hold on..."
She barely covered the phone and chatted to a co-worker, then came back on and said they would resend two of the brushes.
...
Apparently they think that resending a brush that sheds like crazy and a scratchy blush brush is acceptable. To me, it's not. I simply said that, I said that I felt the brushes were poor quality. She put me on hold a good two or three more times, each time asking questions of someone, sounding like she had no idea what was going on. She got back on the line and told me I could send the brushes back *at my own expense* and once received, I would get a refund. It was not specified whether I would receive my shipping back. In an effort to be civil, I told her okay, and asked for the mailing address. Cue more hold time. Good god, she doesn't even know their mailing address? What the hell is up with this company? It was by far the most unprofessional phone call I have ever had. She never tried to discuss the brushes with me AT ALL, just offered a half-hearted refund.
Now my dilemma is whether or not I should send them back or just file the complaint with my bank and bin the brushes. I am concerned that my return will "not be received" even if I put delivery confirmation on it. I really don't feel like getting into a war with this company over whether or not they get my return. I also am pissed that I would have to foot the bill to ship their crappy products back to them. Basically, I am not happy. What would you guys suggest I do?
Thanks in advance, and as always, thanks for reading!
Tricky :\ like you say if you send them back at your own expense it could just spiral into "we never recieved it" can you get like guaranteed post? Im in the UK so not sure what your options are regarding that...all failing just go to your CC company I would say :\ im sorry you had such a rubbish time!
ReplyDeleteI would keep all of the emails and request a refund from your credit card company. This doesn't sound like a company that you should trust to give you your refund. They sound unprofessional and asking you to send back the brushes at your expense is an insult.
ReplyDeleteI would speak with your bank about filing a dispute. You're being asked to pay additional monies, for no surety, with a company that's already treated you not-so-well? Meh. If your bank does let you file the dispute, THEN return the brushes via the least expensive option and include a notice saying why you're sending them back.
ReplyDeleteThe person you were speaking to sounds like a simple call-center employee - possibly a college student, or someone else paid minimum wage who may not even work for the company directly. (I've had stints where I had to temp for this or that call center. The term is "mushroom"...as in "kept in the dark and covered in shit".)
@Rach: We have delivery confirmation and guaranteed mail but the cost for guaranteed would be close to $5, and delivery confirmation is never 100% accepted when a dispute is going on. I had a friend sell a $100 item on eBay, sent it w/ delivery confirmation and the person said they didn't get it... Paypal ruled in the buyer's favor even though my friend showed proof of delivery.
ReplyDelete@Dye-A-Graham: (I love your name, haha) Thanks for the input, that's what my gut is telling me to do. I am still really PO'ed at their lackluster and unprofessional response.
@Li-Ann: I don't think she was, I could hear a guy talking in the background that sounded like the guy who left me a voicemail on Wednesday. I also googled the mailing address and it leads back to a very, very small warehouse in a small town. I doubt they even have a customer service "department", it's probably just the same people who package the orders. The number isn't even a 1-800 number, it's a 219 number.
I think I like your advice, haha
Glad you like my name! My maiden name was DYE and my married name is GRAHAM...works out perfectly!
ReplyDeleteI would file a dispute with my bank and mail the items back to them :/ I absolutely hate dealing with customer service like that, ugh! I was getting frustrated just reading about your story >.<
ReplyDeleteDouble check and see what does their return policy says too.
Ugh how horrid! I agree with what was already said, try and get a refund without sending them back and only send the brushes back if you can't. I'd also suggest sending more emails and kicking up as much of a fuss as possible if you do have to send them back :P
ReplyDeletei don't know what the procedure there is, but they are such twats to ask you to send the brushes back at your own expense! and that they dealt with you the way they did! My God! if they are a small company (or whatever) they definetly should be more attentive and proffesional. otherwise they will surely fade away :-S
ReplyDeletei'm so sorry for that :-<
why must YOU send them back at YOUR expense Wendy? I would of been so mad if they said that to me. I think it's unreasonable that they're making you send it back your own cost just because they provide crappy quality brushes.
ReplyDeletein my opinion (may be harsh) i would file a dispte with your bank and get a refund without sending your brushes back. If their customer service is already that shitty, i doubt you can trust them to give you a proper refund!
100% agree with Mandy!! This is horrible. Sorry to hear your frustrations. Good luck & give us a follow up on this :)
ReplyDeleteXoxo,
Ashley
www.blushandbloom.blogspot.com