The Big, Black Hole of Crappy Service
Written: Dec 10 '02
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I remember the first time that I walked into the brick and mortar version of Linens-n-Things. Jeez! I never knew that there were so many different appliances, towels, and home accessories. I thought that what I bought at Target was a good selection :).
Every time I walk into one of these stores, I end up spending more then I ever intended. I call it the Walmart syndrome. You can't just buy one thing.
When I stumbled across the online version of Linens-n-Things I was thrilled. No more would I have to worry about those long lines and instead of impulse shopping, I could take my time browsing through things and thinking about purchasing them without actually purchasing.
For those of you not familiar with Linens-n-Things (either the online or physical store), LNT specializes in Bath, Bedding, Kitchen, Electrics, Home Decor, and Organizational items. You won't find any major furniture there (like dining room tables and sofas), but you will find accessories to put on your furniture.
What's the difference in the product selection between the physical and online store? None that I have been able to tell and believe me, I've been quite thorough in scoping both out :).
You'll find that navigating through their web site is quite easy. And from time to time, they offer free shipping on purchases over a set amount (have seen it range from $50 to $150).
So far so good, right? So why the one star?
It comes down to the experiences I've had over the past six weeks.
Starting six weeks ago, I started to heavily focus in on my livingroom area. After visiting a local LNT store, I had seen some things that I thought would fit in perfect with my decor. Sure enough, they had the exact same products for the same price on the web site. Yay!
I went through the process of adding every thing to my cart and I was excited about the free shipping. Yay!
When I went to hit the purchase button, I got the screen of death (i.e. Server not found). Now had this been at 2 in the morning, I might have been more understanding. I was miffed but decided to try back a couple of days later.
A couple of days later, I went through the entire process AGAIN because it had not saved anything to my list even though it should of (according to their web site information). I chalked it off to a web fluke. Added every thing back in, went to go put in my credit card number and it kept on telling me that it was invalid. I double checked. All of the numbers were right and in fact, I had just used that particular card at another web site just a few minutes before. Num lock wasn't on. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I tried TWO additional cards and I got the same error. I even tried putting spaces and dashes and every thing else in there.
NOTHING WORKED.
I then sent an email off to customer service. Mind you, that was five weeks ago, and after not receiving an answer in three days, I resent it. Still no reply.
Stupid me, I went in a week later and decided to apply online for their LNT card. An extra 10% off on my first purchase (either online or at the physical store) would be a cool thing! I filled out all of the information and it came back telling me that "there was a problem" and that they would be contacting me within 24 hours.
Well, as a person with superb credit, I took that a little personally but thought that their system might be down.
I never did hear anything from them within 24 hours or even three weeks. Two weeks later, I did receive a LNT credit card in the mail. I mean, that's a good thing but hey - I was a little soured over the fact that they said my application had "a problem" and then they didn't email me to say - it was our fault (system) problems, not you.
I ran a little experiment and wrote an email every day to customer service, asking a different type of question. That went on for three weeks. 21 emails folks. None answered. And gee, I'd love to say that it got lost in the mail but I alternated between my work email address and my email home address.
Before I gave up hope, I called their customer service line. After being on hold for what seemed like forever, I was treated shabbily and given no answers.
I'm sorry that I can't tell you about the delivery speed or order accuracy. I would have loved to have given two thumbs up to LNT. Their products are marvelous and extremely helpful in assisting me in my organizational frenzy. Unfortunately, I can't.
This is NO WAY to run an online store. And as such, the online version of LNT has lost my business forever. I will still visit the physical store because the people there have always bent over backwards to help me.
Recommended:
No
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About the Author
Member: Kristina Frazier-Henry
Location: Indiana
Reviews written: 1345
Trusted by: 1155 members
About Me: Cannot breathe. Missing Barbara.
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