BEWARE: CompuVest tries to cheat on shipping
Written: Dec 10 '05
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RE: Compuvest Corp, Renton, WA (compuvest.com)
I had been a happy CompuVest customer for some time, usually ordering several hundred dollars worth of merchandise at a time. Most recently, I had a $430+ order delayed when a salesperson failed to provide correct availability and shipment info. I waited for several days while they futzed around trying to cobble my order together. After close to a week, I had to split the order in two, getting them to ship half of the items right away with the remaining items they were still awaiting whenever they might arrive (that date was slipping every time I talked to them). This meant I had to pay separate shipping for each shipment; it was supposed to cost me a total of about $9 more, but I agreed to this because I had machines down and couldn't wait any longer for them to stop diddling around with the parts I needed.
When they were finally ready to ship the last items, they tried to charge me $11 more to ship those three remaining items (a subset of the original order) than they were going to charge for the complete order of 16 items! The shipping total was supposed to be $24 for everything in the original, complete order. After splitting it in two, the shipping charges were $9 (which I agreed to pay when I asked for split shipment) plus another $34 for the second shipment, for a total of $43. The contents of the two split shipments was identical to the contents of the original shipment, but I was being tagged with an additional $10 surcharge on the second shipment (their web-based shipping calculator actually said that based on its contents, that second shipment should have cost $23, but $1 isn't significant . . . $10 is, especially when they stick it in your face as they were about to do).
When I pointed out this discrepancy to the salesdrone (who had been a part of the delayed order fiasco and who I believe is also the "customer satisfaction manager"), he started whining about how _their_own_ web-based calculator _on_their_own_site_ actually causes them to lose money because it is inaccurate (like that was somehow my fault . . . someone cue the tearful violin music) and that they weren't going to honor that shipping price for my order (even though the order had originally been placed online). He also said that "you're not going to find a cheaper shipping price anywhere", as though that gave him the opportunity to slam me with an extra, unannounced surcharge and that I should gladly accept it. Apparently, he mistook my gracious patience in the face of their incompetent bumbling for desperation. As it turned out, I re-ordered those items (slightly better quality) from a different supplier and saved just under $50 from what CompuVest was trying to charge me (I can save an additional $30, for a total of $80, if I receive the promised rebates!). So thanks, guys, for chasing me away and forcing me to find a much better deal! Another post-script: a week after this happened, the CompuVest online shipping calculator still calculates and shows the shipping charges that salesdrone said were incorrect. Nice to see they're right on the ball with those speedy corrections! What a crock . . .
(In case someone from CompuVest who isn't brain-dead might read this, you should either correct _your_own_ online shipping calculator (if it is indeed wrong, which I doubt) or stop whining about it. I am quite certain that you're legally obligated to charge customers based only on the information they receive when the order is placed and not on some fraudulent post-order B.S. made up by the salesdrones who screwed up the order in the first place. You might also consider teaching your "customer service manager" that this is not the way to treat customers.
When no shipping charge correction was forthcoming, I immediately canceled what was left of the order and later sent e-mail to the salesdrone/"customer satisfaction manager" requesting a written explanation, but I have not yet received a reply. I doubt I will.
So here's the way CompuVest does business these days: 1) they don't accurately inform customers about shipping dates, 2) they allow the customer to pay more to split the order into two shipments because of the company's mistake, and 3) then they jack up the shipping charge by close to 50% above their own web-based shipping calculator and refuse to correct it when the customer points out the inequity. I used to be a real fan of these guys, but this has me hopping mad. Unlike some businesses which will screw you in silence, these dolts came right out and say "we're going to overcharge you and you have no choice". Well, I always have another choice - I took my business elsewhere, saved a BUNCH, and so should you. It's sad to see a previously good supplier demonstrate such arrogance and indifference to someone trying to spend several hundred dollars and who was only asking to be treated fairly and not to be "screwed with a snarl".
Anyone out there who wants more information or has a similar experience to report, please feel free to contact me at hypersparc[at]gmail[dot}com.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Various computer parts
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