Original entry:
Right now I'm feeling a bit like a ping pong ball between two companies, one of which has my money.
Tuesday I place an order with Company V for an item to be shipped via UPS Ground. I then find out that Company V isn't open until Wednesday, and as such the item probably won't arrive before the weekend given the processing time. So I wait until Wednesday and contact the company via e-mail, including my order number and information. I ask if I can upgrade my shipping to the faster option, paying the difference on my card.
An hour or more goes by with absolutely no response whatsoever, so I call Company V. The representative tells me that yes she received my e-mail, but they didn't open until 11am, so she couldn't answer them yet. It is now a little before 2pm, so she'd had almost three hours to answer them...
Company V says they can change the shipping, but FYI your card was denied for an incorrect address. Mind you at this point the representative tells me my card had not been charged for anything. She is very specific about this and says it several times. So we correct the information and she goes to resubmit the card. Denied again. I check through my history and find that lo and behold, the money is already gone. They had in fact charged my card, on Tuesday when I placed the order. The representative tells me to call my bank and ask them to release the funds. The funds I was never charged...?
I call Company T, my credit card company that's attached to my bank. I get a representative who asks me in a very snotty tone why I called her (not here, but her), she can't do anything for me. She tells me that "obviously" the company has to request the release and they should already know this "if they know what they're doing." I'm a little miffed as she's suddenly pissy, but I in turn call back Company V with that information.
Company V calls Company T, a fax is sent and I am told that within an hour I will be all set. If you're thinking that sounds too good to be true, you're right.
Company V and I e-mail back and forth, during which they tell me that the release never went through. They tried charging my card twice more with no success, and at this point they are closing and can do nothing else. I call Company T and get another representative who is much nicer. I explain the situation and she looks into the account to find that the transaction did go through. Company V received my money on Tuesday when I placed the initial order. I ask her for more information on the transaction, but all she says is that it wen through and that's all that matters. I try to explain about the initial request that was made for funds to be released, but instead she pointedly asks if there's anything else she can do for me. Anything else? Anything but this?
I e-mail Company V to tell them the good news only to have them insist that no, there's no way they have the money. No, there's no one they're going to call or check with, it's on my end now.
I go back again to Company T one final time and get confirmation that yes the money is with Company V. They have transaction ID's and information for me if necessary, but they say that Company V must communicate a cancellation of the transaction before anything can be done. Now Company V is closed for the night, and no matter what I'm not getting my item for the weekend like I needed it. The Company V representative has been polite this whole time, but not really willing to go any further than she absolutely has to. Any time I'd write that their company may still have the funds somewhere she'd respond back with an absolute no, and that was it. No looking into it, just no.
Also, getting information from her is like pulling teeth. Any time I'd send an e-mail it would take a long time to get any response back, even if I asked for just a quick reply to show she'd received something. Each time I had to call her to get her to read my e-mails. She asked for the information to be sent in e-mail form as well, so it's not as if I had made the suggestion.
Needless to say I'm frustrated, and a just a little nervous as to where all my money went. The order wasn't exactly cheap, and I don't really like having a few hundred dollars floating around "somewhere." Perhaps the bad service of the money being missing is just a computer glitch; which is something I can deal with. The attitudes however from both sides of "not my problem," are really bothering me. At this point there's nothing I can do until morning, but I have e-mailed Company V one last time with all the pertinent information.
tl;dr: I place an order with a company that is supposedly declined and doesn't charge me, except it does. Company rep is polite, but very hard to get information from, and doesn't want to research anything for me. Card company says it's not their problem either, but gives me details on the completed transaction. Now the money has disappeared somewhere, the company won't process my order, and the faster shipping I've already paid for is pointless.