Sent wrong items twice, very poor customer service
Written: Jan 11 '06 (Updated Jan 27 '06)
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I had done business with Smarthome.com a couple of times over the previous few years. As I am doing a major home remodel I decided to investigate some of their product offerings. Smarthome.com has a large assortment of hard to find electronic and automation item at prices that are generally fair or a bit higher then other online retailers.
Now comes the bad part:
(I will try to not let my frustration cloud my review, as I don't believe that Epinions is the place to post grievances)
Smarthome.com uses a "forum" type email support system. It takes several days to get a reply and the reply does not come to your email address, it goes to a support forum. It is slow and hard to understand. It is best to contact via phone for any trouble or order difficulties. I gave up on email after 3 or 4 trys with their email system.
I ordered several items and was amazed to see that 2 of the items I had ordered were entirely incorrect (a cable tester instead of a wall switch...pretty hard to mess THAT up, right?)A called Smarthome.com customer service and spent about 20 minutes getting an RMA to return the items they had incorrectly sent me. I was feeling gullible at the time, so I went ahead and reordered the wall switch again, and I was assured that the switch would be sent overnight via FedEx. After a week; I find that the package was sent to my business address and to another suite. Upon opening the package; well you guessed it....a different kind of cable tester was sent with no sign of the elusive wall switch.
After spending an additional 20 minutes on the phone with Smarthome.com I received an RMA for this SECOND batch of incorrect items. They received the items for return on 1/3/06 and as of 1/11/06 I have yet to be refunded. To date I received none of the items I ordered and have paid interest for over a month on the incorrect items they sent me.
Customer service means more than being polite on the phone and saying "I am sorry". Customer service should mean taking care of your customer and making sure the problem gets solved. Smarthome.com does not supply good customer service. They sent me the wrong items; twice and I have been trying to solve their problem for them. Would you do business with a company which treated you so poorly?
My bottom line: Don't be fooled by a nice catalog and phone friendly "talking heads". This company did not care about my order or about making it right. You will take a chance if you do business with Smarthome.com. "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." Smarthome.com has made a fool out of me, I hope my review helps others avoid being taken advantage of this company.
To their credit; Smarthome.com has offered to send me the correct item. I will post an update to see if the correct item is delivered, as I await a refund of the items they incorrectly sent me.
Update 1/26/06: Refund was made and the proper item was sent. I will up my rating to 2 stars based on follow up, but I am still leary of recommending Smarthome.com.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Wall switch
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Epinions.com ID:
KAR120C
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Location: Oakland, CA USA
Reviews written: 155
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Life long "Techno-phille. I prefer "real world" reviews.
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