I placed an order with Newbury Comics online on the 17th of December. I paid extra for the ""expedited"" shipping which claims that it will take an estimated 2-3 business days, rather than the regular shipping which takes 2-7 days. Knowing that it might be a little more than 3 days was fine with me since I gave myself some cushion for Christmas (Xmas would be the 6th business day, which I imagined would be the very last day that it would arrive.)
After a couple of days I did not receive a shipping notification, so I emailed customer service. I received a reply with a tracking number, as well as a notification that some orders have experienced delays up to THREE weeks, and that I would have to wait as long as that until 1/08/10! This led to a series of emails which came to no conclusion but that I would ""just have to wait,"" at which point I said No, no no, and no. Three weeks for an EXPEDITED packaged that is supposed to take three DAYS? No. I immediately used my tracking # at USPS only to discover USPS did not have my package at all! I called back to USPS three times and got the initial Supervisor's Supervisor, who told me the package was never accepted from Newbury Comics; they did not have my package at any facility from which it could have shipped out of Mass. to California (where my mother and sister were eagerly awaiting their Christmas package). I immediately went online to Newbury Comics only to discover there is no phone number available at which time I called their Harvard Sq. location to ask for a number. I was given their head office in Brighton, and told to call and hit 0 for an operator. He told me I would be transferred to a person, unfortunately I reached a voicemail machine. Disappointed, I called back to the head office and pressed # for their directory at which time I was connected with a customer service representative. She asked for my order number and told me she had no more information for me than she ""thinks"" USPS got my package. Not good. I asked to speak to her supervisor and she informed me that he would not be able to tell me anything else. After insisting for several minutes that I would still like to speak with him, she finally put me on the phone with a guy named Matt. I have never, and I repeat NEVER, been so disrespected and dismissed. He was loud, rude, spoke over my concerns continuously with a dismissive, ""you will have to wait six business days,"" and even HUNG UP ON ME. I repeat, the supervisor of customer service at Newbury Comics HUNG UP on me. I paid extra for expedited shipping for a reason, and when I asked for a shipping refund he informed me that he would not give me any refund at all. The only thing they did was ""reship"" the order which I doubt has even happened, and now my present will not be here in time for Christmas. I have called and left a message with the VP of merchandising, Valerie Forgione, however I am not optimistic that she will be able to help in any way. I am SICK of them! I paid EXTRA for expedited shipping for a reason, told it might be up to THREE weeks, and then refused when I requested a refund on shipping!! This is by far the WORST experience I have ever had with customer service ANYWHERE (and credit card companies and computer techs are pretty bad). I will NEVER ever purchase anything from them again, and I will be pursuing any type of action possible!!
Pros: Cute stuff
Cons: Service is absolutely appalling!!
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