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Another rant, cigar related...
rusirius
Posts: 565 ✭✭
So here's another small rant... Gee, I'm awfully ranty today am I not? 
This one's sort of cigar related so I'll put it in here...
So anyway, what is it with these freaking disclaimers?!? Do we honestly live in a world where simply putting a disclaimer somewhere can absolve us of all wrongs??? Let me explain...
About two weeks ago I ordered a new cabinet humidor... No, not off ccom... I'm sorry fellas, but I just didn't see anything I really liked on there...
So the pictures and description showed this thing as being rather awesome... The entire cabinet was lined in spanish cedar as expected... It had multiple shelves/trays which were also spanish cedar... Nice display windows on 3 sides, etc...
All in all it was a very nice looking humi that would make a respectable piece of funiture...
Fast forward a few days and the humi arrives... I open it up to find a product COMPLETELY different from what I had ordered... The one that arrived was built with the stained wood and was NOT lined in anything... It had windows on all four sides, and the ONLY thing that was cedar was the shelves themselves... Several other differences were obvious too...
Okay, so obviously they sent me the wrong one... No problem... I just give them a call and explain the situation...
I'm then asked if the box was labeled with a specific part number... Why yes, yes it was... "Ohh, well that is the part you ordered..."
No, it's not what I ordered... What I ordered is clearly depicted on your website and this isn't even close...
Then it came... That statement... The one I've heard and seen used so many times before...
"Well sir, we have a disclaimer on our website that states that due to manufacturer changes the product you receive may not always be exactly what is shown on our site..."
WHAT?!?!? Well ladies and gentlemen, it's time I open up a web business of my own... If simply burying a disclaimer somewhere on the website can make that acceptable then I'm going to be a millionaire in no time... You see, I've got it all worked out... I'm going to sell diamonds.... Millions of diamonds... At 50% off retail... The only thing is, instead of shipping diamonds, I'm going to ship oranges in their place... When customers call to complain I'm just going to inform them that it was just a manufacturer change... See, some oranges decompose and their carbon eventually get's smashed with enough pressure to form diamonds... A higher power (i.e. the manufacturer) just had a different plan for these oranges...
Don't give me that bullshit... How can you tell me that I might not get exactly what I ordered if the "manufacturer" decides to change it? I'm sorry folks, but a "disclaimer" like that is meant to cover things like, "Ohh, they couldn't get those knobs with the fancy design anymore, so instead they had to use these knobs that have a simplier etched design..." Not a, "Ohh, they completely reengineered the thing, threw out the spanish cedar, popped in another window (to eliminate even MORE wood), changed from piano hinges to regular hinges, and ohh yeah, we'll be sending you a tonka truck instead just because..."
And it's not just this... disclaimers everywhere are seemingly letting people get away with anything... In this case what I would describe as attempted fraud!
Multiple calls to this company always provided the same response... Even an attempt at just getting a refund seemed futile as I was told I would have to not only ship it back at my expense, but would then be charged a 25% restocking fee... Yup, you guessed it, all outlined in yet ANOTHER disclaimer buried somewhere on their page...
I finally decided to write an email... enclosed was clear descriptions of what their website showed versus what I actually received...
Ohh, and I also happened to mention that I was speaking to my lawyer about our potential case of fraud against them...
Imagine what happened? I got a response back, they had already generated a return label for my package and already scheduled a pick-up with fedex... They'd be picking it up in the morning and issuing a full refund...
But why? Why should I have to go to those extremes??? I subtly point out that I seemed to get a much better response than all the times I had called before... The response I got back was that since they were an e-tailer, 99% of their customer service issues are handled through email... Basically saying that I should have just used email in the first place... WHY HAVE A PHONE NUMBER LISTED ON YOUR "CONTACT US" PAGE THEN?!?!? AND WHY SHOULD YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS RESPOND ANY DIFFERENTLY TO A PHONE CALL THAN TO AN EMAIL?!?
*sigh* Okay... rant over...
This one's sort of cigar related so I'll put it in here...
So anyway, what is it with these freaking disclaimers?!? Do we honestly live in a world where simply putting a disclaimer somewhere can absolve us of all wrongs??? Let me explain...
About two weeks ago I ordered a new cabinet humidor... No, not off ccom... I'm sorry fellas, but I just didn't see anything I really liked on there...
So the pictures and description showed this thing as being rather awesome... The entire cabinet was lined in spanish cedar as expected... It had multiple shelves/trays which were also spanish cedar... Nice display windows on 3 sides, etc...
All in all it was a very nice looking humi that would make a respectable piece of funiture...
Fast forward a few days and the humi arrives... I open it up to find a product COMPLETELY different from what I had ordered... The one that arrived was built with the stained wood and was NOT lined in anything... It had windows on all four sides, and the ONLY thing that was cedar was the shelves themselves... Several other differences were obvious too...
Okay, so obviously they sent me the wrong one... No problem... I just give them a call and explain the situation...
I'm then asked if the box was labeled with a specific part number... Why yes, yes it was... "Ohh, well that is the part you ordered..."
No, it's not what I ordered... What I ordered is clearly depicted on your website and this isn't even close...
Then it came... That statement... The one I've heard and seen used so many times before...
"Well sir, we have a disclaimer on our website that states that due to manufacturer changes the product you receive may not always be exactly what is shown on our site..."
WHAT?!?!? Well ladies and gentlemen, it's time I open up a web business of my own... If simply burying a disclaimer somewhere on the website can make that acceptable then I'm going to be a millionaire in no time... You see, I've got it all worked out... I'm going to sell diamonds.... Millions of diamonds... At 50% off retail... The only thing is, instead of shipping diamonds, I'm going to ship oranges in their place... When customers call to complain I'm just going to inform them that it was just a manufacturer change... See, some oranges decompose and their carbon eventually get's smashed with enough pressure to form diamonds... A higher power (i.e. the manufacturer) just had a different plan for these oranges...
Don't give me that bullshit... How can you tell me that I might not get exactly what I ordered if the "manufacturer" decides to change it? I'm sorry folks, but a "disclaimer" like that is meant to cover things like, "Ohh, they couldn't get those knobs with the fancy design anymore, so instead they had to use these knobs that have a simplier etched design..." Not a, "Ohh, they completely reengineered the thing, threw out the spanish cedar, popped in another window (to eliminate even MORE wood), changed from piano hinges to regular hinges, and ohh yeah, we'll be sending you a tonka truck instead just because..."
And it's not just this... disclaimers everywhere are seemingly letting people get away with anything... In this case what I would describe as attempted fraud!
Multiple calls to this company always provided the same response... Even an attempt at just getting a refund seemed futile as I was told I would have to not only ship it back at my expense, but would then be charged a 25% restocking fee... Yup, you guessed it, all outlined in yet ANOTHER disclaimer buried somewhere on their page...
I finally decided to write an email... enclosed was clear descriptions of what their website showed versus what I actually received...
Ohh, and I also happened to mention that I was speaking to my lawyer about our potential case of fraud against them...
Imagine what happened? I got a response back, they had already generated a return label for my package and already scheduled a pick-up with fedex... They'd be picking it up in the morning and issuing a full refund...
But why? Why should I have to go to those extremes??? I subtly point out that I seemed to get a much better response than all the times I had called before... The response I got back was that since they were an e-tailer, 99% of their customer service issues are handled through email... Basically saying that I should have just used email in the first place... WHY HAVE A PHONE NUMBER LISTED ON YOUR "CONTACT US" PAGE THEN?!?!? AND WHY SHOULD YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS RESPOND ANY DIFFERENTLY TO A PHONE CALL THAN TO AN EMAIL?!?
*sigh* Okay... rant over...
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Comments
just another case of a company trying to get by with what they can. something else thats funny is several times disputes i ve had with a mfg when i mentioned one of my best friends was a retired judge who was back in private practice, the aboutface and treatment i received would have been funny if i wasn t already mad as hell
i would never ever go through them again aslo. Capitolism at its best. ...and at the same time, its worst.
A very good way to avoid going through these situations is to only use reputable dealers and sites. Fraud like this over the internet is HUGE with digital cameras and camcorders (which is my main hobby / passion / love). A very good site to check online dealers for that is this:
http://www.resellerratings.com
I don't know if they would have cigar stores or anything, but it would be worth checking out. I'm sorry you had to go through that.