Remember a couple weeks ago, when I told you about a duplicate order I had received in the mail? And used it as a springboard to discuss manners and the benefits of doing the Right Thing?
Remember how I emailed them to let them know, and was irritated that they wanted me to call them instead of dealing with it via email? And that they sent me a UPS label so I could return the duplicate items? And never said thank you for being honest enough to point out the problem?
Well, you’ve got to admit I tried.
But, guess what … I got my Visa bill today. Guess who got a CREDIT for her return from B&BW?
Yep. They refunded me for returning items I hadn’t actually bought in the first place.
Corporate America at its best, folks.
The next question–would you think less of me if I just let this go at this point, instead of butting my head up against the B&BW brick wall again? Have I met my moral obligations by trying to fix this once already? Or should I contact them and try to explain?
Discuss!
No, having viewed this on Twitter, I think you get to hold up the Monopoly card that reads “Bank error in your favor.”
You tried, you did the right thing, B&BW screwed up to make amends for their screw up. I think the gift horse cliche would serve you well here.
Bradley Robb’s last blog post..Profiles and Identity – Are You On Message, or Just On?
I say donate the refund to a charity of your choice.
Getting it straightened out would be painful, the company won’t notice then money’s gone, someone will actually benefit from it, and you won’t have guilt to deal with.
John Roach’s last blog post..5 common Americanisms and their origins
Good point, John! Charity WOULD be a good solution, wouldn’t it?
I believe right is right, and truth is one and the same for everyone everywhere every time. It follows then that I am not a believer in situation ethics; therefore, I would not have to think twice about this issue. I would inform them of their error in my favor, and I would go a step beyond that and see if I couldn’t speak with someone in management and tell them about the whole fiasco. If I encountered any harsh resistance to that effort, I would then abandon all my efforts on their behalf, other than telling them about their last error.
If they have any trouble whatsoever in understand their last error, I would drop the whole thing immediately and keep the refund as just compensation for my time and trouble.
I would know from that episode that they are a dangerous, imbecilic company and I would leave them alone in the future.
Deb, You know what? If you alert them, they’ll probably send you more money.
Oy vey. I think this is a case of “we don’t have a procedure for this,” but HOWWWWWW STUPID. I agree with Bradley above. Your time is worth something, too, and all this will take a ton of time to try to sort out, and then they probably STILL will not believe you or understand, one or the other.
Norma’s last blog post..This Is A Mobile Post
I had a similar situation in which a bookseller mailed a book I’d ordered but it didn’t arrive. After 2 weeks I asked about it per Amazon’s policy. The seller replied that their own policy was to wait 30 days but they’d been having post office problems and they refunded me the money. Shortly thereafter the book arrived. I tried to pay them for the book. Twice. They almost refunded my money a second time so I gave up. In future I’ll be more careful about complaining that a book hasn’t arrived I guess. 🙂
I like the suggestion of giving the money to charity.
AmyL’s last blog post..Blog Business 2-2-2009
After a while, you start wondering, “Did I just not explain myself clearly enough?”