Hammacher Schlemmer Hammacher Schlemmer offered free shipping on ANY order over $89.00 and then billed me $125.00 for shipping Fairfield Ohio
We had been watching The Hammacher Schlemmer catalogs that we regularly receive hoping to find the "tiki bar" they advertise for 499.95 to go on sale or clearance. In April we received an offer for free shipping on any item over $89.00. The normal shipping charge was $170.00 which after checking with a number of common carriers is outragous. Shipping is obviuosly a major revenue stream for them.
The free shipping that they offered finally brought the price within our reach. I placed the order on April 30 online and then followed up on the telephone with Bernice in customer service when i found my Paypal account was charged for the item and $125.00 shipping. Bernice assured me she would take care of the problem and call me back within 2 hours.
When Bernice did not call back by 4:00 pm (5 hours later) I called again and was told Bernice had left for the day and that I would have to pay $125.00 of the $170.00 shipping charge. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was connected to someone who stated that I could pay the shipping or cancel the order. Not having sufficient funds to pay the outragious shipping charge I was forced to cancel the order.
I called the corporate telephone number the next day (May 1) and asked to speak to the senior customer service manager and was connected to a woman who told me that the shipping charge is company policy and non-negociable.
I guess the bottom line is Beware of this company. Their definition of free shipping is not the same as ours. In my opinion this constitutes deceptive advertising and fraudulant business practices and considering that the free shipping offer was delivered over the internet which I receive through my phone service it probably falls under the wide reaching wire fraud statutes.
I am not a lawer and can't really afford to persue this issue. Its just sad that such a well known company has such little regard for their customers or their reputation. I would appreciate any advise or assistance from anyone in a position to encourage them to honer their advertising.