Complaint Review: Bidz.com

Dear Customer,

We would like to begin by apologizing for any inconveniences this may have caused. We would like you to know that our company now more than ever takes extra measures to prevent things like that from occurring.

If you have any questions and concerns please feel free to contact us.

Thank you,
Bidz.com

Well - another grand job you've done of cutting & pasting without even bothering to READ - yet again!

Your comment today :-
As far as the claim goes for any customer if a customer files a claim to soon and does not allow the full time period to pass there claim will be automatically declined. The customer says that they did not want do fill out the necessary paper work needed in order to get their refund. We do realize that every country does not offer a free notary service but all customers can go to an accountant or a police officer and have them sign off on the paper work.

My comment 4 weeks ago - AFTER waiting the required time for the item to arrive.
I give my formal authorisation to investigate my undelivered package. I will fill in all necessary documents. As it has been well over 8 weeks now I would appreciate receiving the documents by return email. I do hope that
this will not take a long time as I have already been incredibly patient waiting this long when normal mail from US takes a week to arrive, even with customs clearance.
Linda

If Bidz needed ANY paperwork to claim from their insurance company - then WHY didn't they take me up on my offer to fill it in???? - AFTER over 8 weeks had elapsed.

Try READING what your customer says instead of spouting utter rubbish! I wanted to get the needed? paperwork - I NEVER on any occasion said I wouldn't fill the paperwork in. YOU WERE THE ONES WHO WOULDN'T SUPPLY THE PAPERWORK!

To address the customers time frame issue if this customer would have read the shipping information provided in the help section the customer would have realized that the shipping time frame is given. Here is the link were this information can be found http://www.bidz.com/ht/help?page=shipping_int

Below is copied directly from our site.

SHIPPING INFORMATION & POLICIES: INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS

*** THE INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION APPLIES TO BIDZ.COM MERCHANDISE ONLY. ***
For payment and shipment information on item(s) won from Certified Merchants, please contact the Merchants directly.
Click Here to go to Certified Merchant Directory
For U.S. Shipping Prices, Click Here
SHIPPING PRICES:
All International orders will be shipped through Fed Ex International. If you choose FedEx FIMS Service (FedEx International Mail Service), your order will be shipped to a FedEx sorting facility in New Jersey. Packages are then shipped to your country to be delivered by your local Post Office. Delivery is 3-4 weeks.
To save money on all shipping costs, you may send one payment for all of your items. Items processed on the same invoice will be shipped together, however, not all items can be processed on the same invoice.
The customer is responsible for all customs fees on your package. Please consult your local Customs Office for duties, regulations, and restrictions.
Shipping rates for your first item will be determined by the total Declared Value (D.V.) of your package (see below)
Shipping rates are also determined by item category. See Shipping Policies for details.
CANADA:
Invoice Value Shipping charge
$1.00 - $300.00 $10.95 - FedEx FIMS
$2000.00 - below $35.95 - FedEx Express
$2000.01 - 4999.99 $49.95 - FedEx Express
$5000.00 - 7999.99 $79.95 - FedEx Express
$8000.00 - up $109.95 - FedEx Express
* Please see Auction Page to view detailed shipping information for your merchandise.
* NOTE: IF YOU CHOOSE FEDEX FIMS YOUR ORDER WILL TAKE UP TO 4 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. DELIVERY IS VIA YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE. PLEASE SEE SHIPPING INFORMATION FOR DETAILS.
* PRICES BASED ON 1 ITEM SHIPPED, $3.00 WILL BE CHARGED FOR HANDLING ON EACH ADDITIONAL ITEM.


INTERNATIONAL:
Invoice Value Shipping charge
$1.00 - $300.00 $19.95 - FedEx FIMS
$2000.00 - below $45.95 - FedEx Express
$2000.01 - 4999.99 $59.95 - FedEx Express
$5000.00 - 7999.99 $89.95 - FedEx Express
$8000.00 - up $119.95 - FedEx Express
* Please see Auction Page to view detailed shipping information for your merchandise.
* NOTE: IF YOU CHOOSE FEDEX FIMS YOUR ORDER WILL TAKE UP TO 4 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. DELIVERY IS VIA YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE. PLEASE SEE SHIPPING INFORMATION FOR DETAILS.
* PRICES BASED ON 1 ITEM SHIPPED, $3.00 WILL BE CHARGED FOR HANDLING ON EACH ADDITIONAL ITEM.

SHIPPING POLICIES:
Upon receipt of funds, it takes Bidz.com up to 10 days to ship your order. During peak season, your order may take longer to ship.
Handling charges include packing, jewelry boxes.
Shipping charges are based on item category. PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE CATEGORY FOR SHIPPING DETAILS.
Customers are responsible for all taxes and customs duties.
Jewelry items (30 items per invoice - $3.00 for each additional item)
Gift items can be combined with up to a total of 3 per order due to size restrictions. You will pay an initial shipping fee based on the highest rate of the 3 and $5.00 handling for each additional item. Gift items cannot be shipped international, and cannot be combined with jewelry merchandise.
Gifts items are continental US only. International Shipping not available
UNDELIVERABLES:
Packages that are refused by the customer will automatically be assessed a 25% restocking fee.
International orders that are refused by the customers may have customs duties and fees that must be paid in order to have the refused merchandise returned to Bidz.com. In these instances the customer will be assessed the full amount of the duty so Bidz.com can get their merchandise returned. Upon receipt of the item to Bidz.com, any cash balances after the payment of duties, less the 25% restocking fee, will be refunded to the customer in a timely-fashion.
TRACKING YOUR SHIPMENT:
To track your shipment you need to obtain a Tracking Number.
To obtain a Tracking Number, go to View My Orders in the My Bidz Control Center.
(The Tracking Number will become available once your order is shipped.)
Click on your Tracking Number, and you will be able to track the progress of your shipment. Please allow up to 2 business days for tracking information to update on the shipper's website.



The customers choose the 3 to 4 week service. It may take up to 8 weeks for a customer to receive there package. What people need to also conceder is the fact that we do reserve the right to take up to 10 days to pull the merchandise. So in this customer's case the payment was made on 12-10-06. The customer at the latest should have received the package on February 14, 07. We do understand that this is a long time to wait from merchandise but the customer always has the option to pay more for the shipping witch would be our 1 week service. Another thing that the customer says is that the merchandise that was purchased was not able to be tracked; this is due to the bulk mail situation.



The customer also states that the item that was purchased weight just a few grams. To clarify that the thing is since the item are sent out bulk mail when the packages get to the sorting faculty in Newark packages are separated by country. When the bin get full with 15 lbs of mail for that specific country then the packages will get ship out to that country.

As far as the claim goes for any customer if a customer files a claim to soon and does not allow the full time period to pass there claim will be automatically declined. The customer says that they did not want do fill out the necessary paper work needed in order to get their refund. We do realize that every country does not offer a free notary service but all customers can go to an accountant or a police officer and have them sign off on the paper work.

When a customer files any kind of charge back or dispute there account is close and all communication is stopped. If the customer would like to receive a refund for merchandise that was never received first the pay pal dispute will need to be dropped. The required paper work will need to also be filled out and sent back to us. If the customer does decide to drop the dispute and needs the paper work resent we will be more then happy to resend the information. All the customer will need to do is contact our customer service and ask for the claims paper work again the number is 800-444-8124 or 310-280-7373

For those of you in the same situation PLEASE DON'T cancel your dispute with Paypal, despite Bidz trying to get you to cancel, by telling you that you HAVE to cancel before you can even apply for a refund from them.

Read the other comments on here first about how they try to get you to jump through hoops & then they fail to refund you.

Email Paypal with the facts if Bidz escalates your dispute to a claim. Better still - make sure ALL facts are put in the initial dispute claim to Paypal. It might come as a surprise to you that a company could be so underhanded to escalate your dispute immediately thereby stopping you from putting the true facts to Paypal in the normal manner. I sent 2 emails to Paypal - they restrict the amount of letters you can use to 1/2000 unfortunately BUT fortunately they must have read them.

I received my refund today, thankfully all I lost was around 5 due to currency fluctuations & the costs of changing back & fore. Obviously there is still no sign of the ring 12 weeks after paying. I very much doubt it was ever sent as I think I won it too cheaply. It's easy to say it was added to a bulk 15lb shipment as it only weighed 6 gms. I wonder how many other people they do the same to & how many give up in frustration?

I've since done a bit more research on the diamonds they use. I had researched a bit before & only bid on the one I won because it was the good H colour.

Do you realise that most sellers of jewellery won't sell anything of a worse grade than SI2? There are some jewellers who will sell SI3 - I1 grade but only because a small, & it is a small % of these can be borderline & a few look OK as the imperfections are NOT in the middle. I2 & I3 grades are not jewellery grade & you won't find these in ANY decent jewellery store. Most of the stones Bidz sell are graded I1-I2 & sometimes I3.

Then you have to look at the colour of the diamond. The great majority of jewellery shops won't sell anything that is coloured over J as if you place anything from K onwards next to a decent grade colour of say G H then there is a very obvious brown or yellow tint - which often looks dreadful against a stone a few shades better.

Bidz again sells these inferior stones - which should be a fraction of the price of decent stones. They even sell dirty brown stones & black stones (they were called coal when I was in school. (oops, sorry, black coal is a little less hard than black diamond - but it's the same chemical) They price these up at the same price as excellent stones. They're having a laugh aren't they?

I notice that although Bidz has rebutted complaints made either side of mine they have strangely not bothered answering this one? Maybe I gave too much information so they can't rebut it?

COME ON BIDZ -
1. Answer why you have behaved the way you did?
2. Answer why you haven't bothered sending me any claim forms? - Even when I offered to fill them in.
3. If the claim forms are needed for your insurance then why won't you send them to me?
4. Why do you try to get people to drop their claims?
5. Why do you escalate claims giving bulk shipment information? Is it because you hoped Paypal would not notice it was delivered to the other side of the world instead of the customer?
6. Why do you totally mislead people on prices of your jewellery when more often than not the true price should only be 5-10% of the price you quote?

Lots more questions - but i know I'm wasting my time asking them as Bidz won't respond.

BUYER or BIDDER BEWARE!

I am getting increasingly worried about my order No. bidz000757693 paid for early December.

The tracking information you sent 854007029462 tracking number with FEDEX says delivered to Newark NJ on 20th December.
I have emailed FEDEX - with to date no reply.

I very frequently over the last 9 years have dealt with a Californian company & I have never waited longer than 2 weeks for a delivery even sent by USPS & that time also includes customs clearance as I frequently go over the customs limit. UPS shipments get here in 2-3 days or 5-6 days with customs clearance. We were sent a parcel from our daughter in MS on 22nd December by ordinary USPS & received it on 28th December so it's definitely not down to delays with Christmas posting.

It has now been 4 weeks since the package was delivered to the FEDEX facility - more than ample time for them to get it out to me. I have telephoned the Post Office just to check they do not have it, & they say there is no package there. I have received no communication from Customs as sometimes happens if there is a query on the package.

I REALLY WANT the ring but I will have to initiate a claim with Paypal on Monday as I need to cover myself & avail myself of their 45 day limit.

PLEASE PLEASE Please could you let me know if there is any way for me to track this package & find out what has happened to it? I've been frightened to go anywhere in the morning (when the post comes) as I really don't want to miss the postman. They should leave a card if I'm out but I keep thinking 'It'll be here today'.

Can you tell me whereabouts the item is?
Regards
Linda


Dear Customer,

Your order is not lost; You selected FIMS which was shipped via FIMS - Bulk Mailing (15 lbs). Please see below on how it works.

Orders shipped via FedEx International Mail Service (FIMS) - Orders are picked up from our location and shipped to the FedEx sorting Facility in Newark, NJ. In New Jersey, packages are sorted by country and delivered to you by your local Post Office.

Note: Delivery may be delayed due to customs. (Delivery is 6-8 weeks)

Thank you,
Customer Service Team
******************
Bidz.com

I sent the message above & got a reply which didn't really help. DO YOU KNOW where the item is?

Your website is totally confusing as to when a claim should go in - it contradicts itself 4 weeks 6 weeks & 8 weeks - some dates from when order placed , others from when received at Fedex facility.

It is now 6 weeks since I placed the order and over 4 weeks from when it was at the FEDEX facility.

I REALLY WANT the ring but as I said in my previous post I now have to commence a claim with Paypal in order to fulfil their requirements.

Can you please tell me WHAT DATE is the latest that my ring should be delivered? I will not escalate the Paypal claim at the present time as I would much prefer the ring ordered OR a replacement ring the same. You are still selling identical rings online.

Had I realised I would have had to wait so long I would have had sent to my daughters in USA. It could easily have traversed back & fore using ordinary mail at least 3 if not 4 times now.

Regards
Linda


FROM PAYPAL
Your seller has chosen to escalate this dispute to a PayPal claim. By
ending communication with you and escalating to a claim, the seller is
asking PayPal to investigate the case and decide the outcome. As part of
our investigation, PayPal will review any communication you may have had in
the Resolution Centre.

Thank you for contacting PayPal. We have begun our investigation of the
following transaction:

Transaction Date: 11 Dec 2006
Transaction Amount: -$160.68 USD

Case Number: PP-243-915-441
Seller's Name: Bidz.com, Inc.

Our records indicate that the seller sent your item using PayPal Postage.
You can track this package by logging in to your PayPal account and
visiting your transaction history log or by confirming the information
below:

Tracking Company: FEDEX INTERNATIONAL MAIL SERVICE
Tracking Number: 854007029462


I really would like to know why you escalated my dispute to a claim??
You are well aware that the tracking number you provided to Paypal ONLY tracks a BULK shipment to Newark.

I gave you ample warning I was going to commence a dispute as it was the only way I could safeguard my money.
I also told you I would NOT escalate the dispute at the present time but would allow time for the item to reach me - having already waited over 6 weeks I thought I was being very reasonable.


You have stopped me putting the true facts to Paypal (i.e. the tracking number not being to my address) by escalating as you are probably well aware of.

Your business practices leave a lot to be desired.
Linda


Dear Linda,
The dispute was escalated because the package at the moment is not lost.
It does take a while for the order to be delivered. Please note that we buy insurance on all packages shipped and if for some reason your order is not delivered. A claim is filed a full refund is issued.
In the future, you have the option to upgrade to faster service at an additional charge.
Please note that you did not pay shipping for this order, it was shipped free of charge.

When a dispute is initiated, funds are removed from our account and there is a possibility of you receiving your order and getting your money from Paypal.


We ask that you please cancel the dispute and await the delivery of your package and again, if you do not get the package a claim will be filed a full refund issued.
Below is our shipping information regarding FedEx International Mail Service. This is available when you click on the tracking # on the order status page.


I cannot understand your logic at all?


I clearly stated that I would have to start a dispute to safeguard the money I have already paid for an item that I have not received that you say isn't lost but you won't tell me even if it has been sent to the UK.


I also stated that I would not escalate to a claim in order to wait & see if the item arrives. Now you have escalated this to a claim & asked me to withdraw my dispute - which clearly would leave me without a leg to stand on should the item not arrive & you not honour the claim.


I have gone to a few websites now & found that your company is definitely NOT very forthcoming with any refund should items not arrive therefore I will not withdraw my dispute.


Surely it would have been in both our interests to wait until 5th - 9th of February which is 8 weeks from the time I paid or the time it was despatched with Fedex??


If it hadn't arrived by then you could have refunded me via Paypal & we both would be happy & the dispute could have been withdrawn by myself.


Surely it is you who should withdraw the claim & allow it to remain a dispute.


You were the ones who offered the free shipping & made a big thing of the free shipping without making clear it was a 3rd or 4th class service. I also saw nothing to enable me to upgrade to a faster service just a statement saying it took 3-4weeks. Had I been able to upgrade to a faster service which would have got the package here within the normal 1-2 weeks for any shipment from US I would have gladly paid extra for that option.

Linda

It is now the 12th February. The postman has been & there is still no sign of the ring.
I think I have been extremely patient. As you are aware I did start a
dispute with Paypal - purely to safeguard myself. You then proceeded to
escalate this to a claim - which I certainly could NOT understand.

You now need to file a claim with FEDEX - I trust that you will now please
refund all monies paid via Paypal so the dispute can be immediately closed.
Linda


BIDZ
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 11:20 AM
Subject: RE: Re: Order number bidz000757693


> Dear customer,
>Your account has been deactivated as we have been notified by our merchant bank that you have enacted a dispute/chargeback. Please contact the card issuer to reverse the dispute. You should then contact customer service at 800-444-8124 7 days a week between 8am-5pm PST to inquire about
reactivation. Thank you.
>Thank you,
>Customer Service Team


Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 3:42 PM
Subject: RE: Re: Re: Order number bidz000757693

Dear Customer,
>
> Please be advised that in order to issue you a refund for your missing/lost order we have to go through some steps. Certain procedures must be followed to initiate and resolve the matter. Once you have given your formal authorization to investigate a missing, lost, or stolen package by sending an email to claims@bidz.com, you will be forwarded the necessary documents. Once these forms are completed and returned back to us we can in turn forward them to the insurance company to complete the claim. Without following these steps we will not be able to initiate and
complete your claim as all the information is required and must be in writing. Also, we will not issue you a refund until you reverse your
paypal dispute. We may assure you that you will be refunded in full for this order but, first you have to reverse your dispute. Once you have
reversed your paypal dispute, please get back to us with the copy of your reverse and we will forward this to the proper department for a refund to be issued. Please feel free to contact customer service with any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you for shopping Bidz.com.
>
Thank you,
Customer Service Team

I give my formal authorisation to investigate my undelivered package. I will fill in all necessary documents. As it has been well over 8 weeks now I would appreciate receiving the documents by return email. I do hope that
this will not take a long time as I have already been incredibly patient waiting this long when normal mail from US takes a week to arrive, even with customs clearance.
Linda

Dear Customer,

Thank you for shopping Bidz.com.

Unfortunately no investigation will be initiateed unless you close the paypal dispute.

Thank you,
Customer Service Team
*****************
Bidz.com