You call that Customer Service!?

This has been on my mind for the last couple of days and I just need to get it out of my system.

A week or two ago, I bought a new base for our broken office chair online through ebay. The listing stated the price and the shipping and handling. The minute the auction closed and I realized I was the winning bidder, I quickly zipped over to pay pal to complete the purchase. I like getting things done as soon as possible.

About five minutes after I completed the transaction, I received the invoice from the seller telling me how much I owed. To my dismay, the shipping and handling was different on the invoice than it was on the listing. It was a dollar or so more, which is not that big of a deal. I emailed the seller asking if I owed more money since I only paid what the listing stated. This is the response that I received:

“Megan - Congratulations again on the winning bid and thanks for the purchase. I am sorry for any confusion. If the ad was set up as $$ that is what you pay. The shipping will probably be more because it is going out to California from Florida across the ENTIRE country, however, we will absorb any loss as we do not charge our customers for our mistakes. Thanks again and we will send out a shipping confirmation when it ships out which should be tomorrow.

Take care & God Bless”

I thought, “Hmmm. How nice of them. The ENTIRE country -- that must be a super long trip!” and went on my merry way.

They next day, I received another message.

“Megan -

Congratulations again on your winning bid. I wanted to let you know that your package was shipped today March 1st at 12:25 via The United States Postal Service parcel post. The shipping was actually $$ instead of the $$ we charged you, however, as our policy states we do not charge our customers for our mistakes. The post office gives an estimate of the package arriving within 7 - 10 days, however, lately they have taken longer due to delays. And with it going from Florida to California it may take even longer. That is one of the reasons we ship out our items as soon as possible after payment is received. Thanks again.

Take care and God Bless. “

This time I thought, “What is up with the idea that I should feel bad because they did the right thing? They were the ones who made the mistake, I offered to fix it. Can we just let it drop all ready!?“

I hate how they feel they need to tell me how much the shipping really cost, like it is my fault or something, but because they are saints, they took care of it. I think that is just terrible customer service -- trying to make the customer feel guilty because the seller made a mistake.

“And with it going from Florida to California it may take even longer. That is one of the reasons we ship out our items as soon as possible after payment is received.”

Since when does a business need to explain every little thing it does? That just annoys me. Are they looking for praise? I don’t think I will do business with this seller in the future even though they have a 100% feedback. I don’t feel comfortable with self praise-rs.

Is there anyone else out there that agrees with me?