Good afternoon, SF.

Last week I saw a gadget I wanted from a well-known company -- for simplicity, let's call them P-Co.

P-Co's web site is one I visit often, always seeing things I want and don't need, but things that are valuable to my hobbies. So last night I figured I had stalled in "think about it for a while" mode for too long, and placed my order. I ordered two other items as well, things that had been on my want list for some time. The main item was roughly $150, the other two roughly $20 each.

P-Co's splashy offer was "free shipping on orders over $49." My order qualified for that easily. I placed the order, finding that one of the less-expensive items was on backorder, expected to ship on Tuesday. I'm fine with that, I'm in no particular rush for the items. The in-stock items would ship immediately*, and the delayed item would ship with a $5.49 shipping fee.
(* Immediately? I placed the order on Saturday night, I'm thinking it won't ship until Monday at best.)

Say, what?

On the one hand, I'm a little irked about it. Yes, it's now two different shipments, but the goods were all on the same order. I'm of the mind that the entire order should ship on the free-shipping offer.

Thinking about it for a while this morning, I thought "hey, I appreciate the quick shipping on the two items, but I honestly would have been okay if the entire order had been held up until Tuesday in order to consolidate shipping. Maybe that should have been offered at the time of checkout?" (Especially when considering the *, above.)

As I sit here watching the sun prepare to set, I can't decide whether to send a grouchy note to customer service at P-Co, or to just let it ride.

What would you do, ladies and gents?

Their systems may treat a backordered item as a separate order. I'd expect the company to honor the spirit of the policy.

I'd send a note, but not a grouchy one.

quote:

"hey, I appreciate the quick shipping on the two items, but I honestly would have been okay if the entire order had been held up until Tuesday in order to consolidate shipping.

This.

quote:

Thinking about it for a while this morning, I thought "hey, I appreciate the quick shipping on the two items, but I honestly would have been okay if the entire order had been held up until Tuesday in order to consolidate shipping. Maybe that should have been offered at the time of checkout?" (Especially when considering the *, above.)

Exactly whatI would tell them to do. I bet they will no charge the shipping og =f the later item if they can't hold the in stock items.

Send a note letting them know that how you feel. Ive canceled orders because of that issue.They should tell you up front that the separate item will be charged shipping.

Contact them. They should waive the shipping charge.

Definitely contact them and politely explain your issue. They should fix it. I can't recall ever getting hit with an additional shipping charge for for a backordered part of a larger order.

As other's have said, it's probably a system glitch more than them trying to screw you. System sees an order for less than $49 and charges the shipping rather than writing it off. They'll likely waive it if you call them and are nice about it.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
probably a system glitch

That makes sense. I've sent an email... let's see how it turns out.

Grouchy communication early on almost never inhances the situation at hand , especially the first exchange.

A simple call to inquire ,most often will put those involved on the same page, so to speak.
Example: I just ordered 12 Items, on the phone, from a company in So. Carolina,

Technically , none of the 4 purchaces met the required
$50.00 minimum for free postage, too four addresses.

But I made sure to ask first, and they did some adjusting and all turns out well in the end.

Well, here's the resolution:

I sent an email last night:

quote:

Good afternoon. I'm writing to ask a question about the free shipping policy.

Last night I placed an order for three items (order #nnn). Two were in stock, one was estimated to be in stock on Tuesday (5/12). I accepted the offer for free shipping on orders over $49.

Upon order confirmation, I learned that the backordered item (product #nnn) would be tagged with a $5.49 shipping charge.

On the one hand, I understand that the system split the order in two due to item availability. On the other, I think the free shipping offer should apply to the entire order, rather than only to the in-stock items.

Perhaps the system could offer an option to hold in-stock items for a short time to let (reasonably) delayed items be grouped into the same shipment?

Thank you for your consideration.

I got a response this morning:

quote:

Thank you for your email regarding your recent order. I am very sorry for the confusion regarding the free shipping. Unfortunately the free shipping does only apply to the in-stock items, I apologize. However, your feedback is very important to us and I have documented it for review. I apologize sincerely for the inconveniences.

Thanks for Your Business

Ehh. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?

If you don’t need the other items right away tell them to hold the order until everything is ready to ship.

I am guessing that they will make you happy, but! There are companies out there that do this that really enjoy 79% of the customers that would never inquire about the added fee.

Very often, it is the "marketing" people who come up with sales promotions and the like. These are also the people who have the least prediliction for attention to detail. They don't know or care or wouldn't care if you expected them to anticipate common situations like that. This is why the people who implement their crazy shit is responsible for following up with detailed fulfillment analyses and "what if" scenarious. In some companies this secondary function may be between somewhat or completely lacking. This is why we have operations managers and IT departments, someone has to do the dirty work while the marketing and sales people get all the glory. And if they don't get any glory, the operations managers and IT department catch hell. Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
The in-stock items would ship immediately*, and the delayed item would ship with a $5.49 shipping fee.

If that was shown before you pressed the order button, and you went ahead and ordered knowing that, then, IMO, that's on you.

Alternatively, you could have held off, contacted their customer service group and asked for clarification and/or a waiver so both would be shipped at no cost, and only ordered if they agreed/confirmed that both would ship for free.

That said, give it a whack and see what their customer service department might do. Worth a shot - a well-run company will bend over backwards to keep customers happy.

I always call a company and ask what their policy is regarding backorders and shipping. Some, like Brownells, will ship in stock items and then ship the backordered item(s) when available for no shipping fee. Others, like Midway USA, will charge a shipping for the backordered items while there are some who will hold the entire order until they have the everything in stock.

Making a call and knowing what to expect goes a long way in avoiding frustration.

quote:

Thank you for your email regarding your recent order. I am very sorry for the confusion regarding the free shipping. Unfortunately the free shipping does only apply to the in-stock items, I apologize. However, your feedback is very important to us and I have documented it for review. I apologize sincerely for the inconveniences.

Thanks for Your Business


Ehh. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?

Agree with Voshterkoff, ask them to hold the shipment if you don't need it asap, or cancel the extra item and look for it elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
The in-stock items would ship immediately*, and the delayed item would ship with a $5.49 shipping fee.

If that was shown before you pressed the order button, and you went ahead and ordered knowing that, then, IMO, that's on you.

I'm not saying there wasn't anything at all saying that the free shipping offer extended only to in-stock items. I simply didn't see it, and that's probably on me.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
Alternatively, you could have held off,

Another good point. I probably should have waited until today to place the order.
(However, I just looked and that item's status is now "overdue.")

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
a well-run company will bend over backwards to keep customers happy.

Indeed. Truth is, this won't hurt my relationship with the company at all... I'm not uptight about it, and I'll still buy from them. I'm not harmed at all by the delay or the charge, things simply could have been more clear ahead of time.

Maybe I simply missed it. (shrug)

no, i would have called and asked for the shipping to be free or to talk to a supervisor.

It said "Free shipping for orders over $40." You placed an order over $40. It wasn't your problem, they didn't have it in stock. Because they have a problem with their inventory as in not having to ship then it becomes your problem?

I would call again if I were you. Make the request based on the reason above. If they resist, I'd point out it was your first time ordering for them and you placed over $150 and that your a loyal customer once a company has earned your business.

Im a little confused.When did you find out the item was backordered - before or after you hit the buy button? Im with Rey HRH.