TALE FROM A FORMER EMPLOYEE
Written: Nov 24 '01
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The Bottom Line
Shop here only if you are in need of a full frontal lobotomy.
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| Full Review |
As a former employee of Harry and David, I am intimately familiar with the workings of the slavish hell-hole.
What Crap Do They Sell?
Harry and David specializes in exploiting the middle class by claiming to sell delicious fruit baskets, preserves, baklava, candles, etc... and other over-priced gift sets that they claim "make excellent gifts." Harry and David, Jackson and Perkins and Northwest Express are all affiliates, with call representatives taking calls for all three companies.
Jackson and Perkins deals in exquisitely priced roses, the same quality you can find from your local florist.
Northwest Express deals in clothing wares--priced as high as Nordstrom with quality comparable to Wal-Mart.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT HARRY AND DAVID!?!?!?!
Absolutely NOTHING.
OKAY, WHY DO THEY SUCK SO BAD???
Well, I worked there one Christmas and I was mortified at the way they handled business. I was a order entry specialist who took all of the incoming calls. 80% of the calls were people complaining about how their gift was either A) Damaged B) Delayed C) Not Received Whatsoever D) One or more of the above.
GOOD OLE' CUSTOMER SATISFACTION!
Most of the time I was listening to people complain and moan, yet I was powerless to do anything for them, as I "hadn't been training in customer service" so I had to transfer hundreds of calls to customer service so that they could try to rectify the situation.
BROUGHT OUT SATAN IN ME
I would like to formally apologize anyone that I tried to sell this one small "tower" (and I use that term VERY loosely) to in the winter of 1999. You see, we had a contest going on, as to which one of us could bamboozle the most poor customers to buy these awful things :| I think I sold close to 50 of them to unsuspecting souls.
This "Tower" weighed like 8 ounces, and it had like .00001 ounces of baklava, a pear, an anemic amount of cheese (probably equivalent to a droplet of milk from a cow's mammary glands...) and some other assorted tidbits. It cost $28 with shipping and handling, and I felt like such a sell-out for ever recommending such things to any HUMAN.
DETRIMENT #394,634,302--THEY ARE "WAY" TOO EXPENSIVE
Prices from H&D Range anywhere from $8 to $300 with each and EVERY piece of trash they are selling to be morbidly overpriced. Only Bill Gates could possibly afford to waste money to this extreme, in my humble opinion.
Speaking of famous people, many famous people have called H&D to order gifts (Ty Cobb's granddaughter, Stephen Baldwin, Chelsea Clinton and Bjork) to my experience (albeit brief) there.
These people are not middle class, and they probably had the money to throw away. This exemplifies the type of people who should be calling here--people with money, who would just as soon throw it in the fireplace.
"May I have your credit card number, please?"
Why even bother! If you have ordered there before, the number remains in the computer. To make matters worse, employees can search by address, phone number, and last name, so if anyone were to hack H&D's mainframe, your credit card number can be compromised like a hooker on happy hour!!!!!
THEIR ON-LINE ORDERING SITE
I swear, I bust a nut everytime I think about this JOKE. The internet site has many "deals" all over it, but if you try to order, odds are good you will be sitting there wondering if your order went through, or if you ordered the wrong thing. There is no confirmation most of the time, and you are wondering if you are going to get charged for a Japanese Booty Smacking Pear Basket, or one of H&D's other speciality goods.
So, you call H&D's 800 number, and you get hold of someone like ME, highly undertrained for these matters, and I pass you off to a Customer Service Representative, who will deal with you by promising you things that it cannot hope to back up.
DO NOT SHOP HERE
Caveat Emptor is the biggest understatement for this place. I have sampled many of their products (fruit, cherry chocolates, etc...) and was not impressed. The 2 things I cannot emphasize are A) how poor consumer satisfaction is and B) how overpriced everything is.
They claim to have express shipping, but there are many times when it doesn't come through. You can pay $27.00 to have overnight-morning express, and most of the time it doesn't get there. Also, they have "standard 5 business day shipping" which is a joke, because if you order on Saturday, you might get your package by next-next Tuesday.
Anyways, I'm done ranting on this company. Low and behold, the whole inspiration to write this review came to me when I received one of their catalogs in the mail today *grins malevolently*.... I just had to make peace with this beast.
Recommended:
No
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About the Author
Member: Katie
Location: Medford, Oregon
Reviews written: 87
Trusted by: 53 members
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