Hi OzBargain community,
I managed to get an order on two hoodies at a really great price on this bargain https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/648211, back in Sep 2021.
Check the original correspondence I sent to them below, but in a nutshell they will take your money, not deliver your items, do zero pro-actively to resolve the situation, and even after you have done the accounting & recons on their behalf, simply not reimburse all that you have paid.
Now, to put things in perspective, my previous line was a bit melodramatic, I think the majority of their business is good & fine, and after all I'm only out of pocket for six bucks.
But it's just really frustrating when a company relies on you to do it's admin for it, and then either consciously or unconsciously scams you out of any amount of money.
The amount they are not reimbursing me is the "Shipping & Handling" amount, but am I correct in saying that if they never shipped anything, then they shouldn't be allowed to charge for it?
Cheers guys.
UPDATE: 19/Oct/2021
I received the remaining $5.95 from Bonds after opening a third case with them, and including a link to this page.
Some closing thoughts:
1. It was annoying, but I'm fully reimbursed, so thanks to Bonds and thanks to OzBargain & it's community for allowing platforms like this.
2. There has to be some kind of innovation opportunity here, to blockchain payments for online orders to proof of delivery, so that payment is only finalised upon proof of delivery? Businesses will argue that they couldn't release the goods without receipt of payment, which is fair, but episodes like this seem to put the consumer at the disadvantage. Some kind of compromise is required.
3. I don't know for sure, but if I had to bet I would say that the Bonds correspondence I received was computer generated, as in an AI or robot of some kind. I think the technology has some way to go in terms of providing an accurate understanding of the situation, as the money saved in a lower human workforce will be offset by the negative sentiment in your client base upon having to interact with you.
Later!
Mail sent 7/Oct/2021 to Bonds Outlet:
Hi team
On 1 Sep you took $19.95 off my account for an order of two hoodies
After four weeks of waiting I raised a case with you to see where they were
You gave no explanation, but sent a mail saying you would refund me
On 29 Sep I received a $14 refund in to my account
There are two things wrong here:
1. You owe me the balance of $5.95
2. You didn't honour my original purchase, you didn't notify me you couldn't honour my original purchase, when I raised the issue with you there was no explanation why you didn't honour my purchase, and after all of that I am still struggling to just get my money back.
This is not a good way to conduct business.
(and then my name)
and?