Complaint Review: Steam Buddy - Buddy Mays Infomercial

I ordered the Steam Buddy ($19.95) over the phone in response to Buddy Mays' infomercial. I'd been wanting a small steamer for a while. I also chose to order the furniture brush ($7.95). They threw in a creaser for "free" even though I don't need a creaser and didn't need for them to include it. I didn't ask what the shipping would be. I thought it would be around $6.95. It didn't occur to me that they'd do what they did, to wit:

They charged shipping on each piece even though they were all in one box. The Steam Buddy's shipping charge was $9.99. The shipping charge for the furniture brush was $2.98. The shipping charge for the creaser (which I didn't even want) was $5.98. Total shipping: $18.95. They sent it by USPS parcel post, whose price as calculated on the USPS site for a package of this size and weight and to-and-from ZIP codes is $5.94.

I was stunned (a) that they would charge as much as $9.99 to ship the Steam Buddy and (b) that they would impose additional "shipping charges" for each item, in the same box. That's just unheard of. And the person who took my order should have told me they were going to do that & what the total would be.

I called them to say that I'd be willing to pay $5.95 for shipping for the whole lot (1 pkg). The person answering said she "would pass my message up to the managers" and that I should hear back from them by phone next week (it's Thursday of this week, Dec. 4). I told her that if they refused to reduce the shipping charges I would report them to the BBB.

Since I just made that call, we don't know how it's going to turn out, but the customer service person said (after I asked) that they don't refund shipping.

Ann
Lacey, Washington
U.S.A.