I was using Target.com to purchase an area rug for my living room on July 6th 2010. I placed the order at 10:34pm. At 10:35pm I realized I had purchased the wrong rug. At 10:36 pm I called customer service to cancel/change the order.
The item was scheduled to be shipped on July 12th. Let me restate that because it's important as some fulfillment centers automatically put items in the shipping que as soon as you order. In that case, while I wouldn't be happy, I would understand that the order could not be canceled.
I was told by the customer service rep, at some overseas call center no doubt, that it was impossible to cancel the order and I would have to wait until the item was shipped, received and returned before getting a refund. This process was expected to take several weeks. What? My money is in limbo for 3 weeks because you refuse to cancel an order less than 5 minutes after it was placed.
This is nothing short of robbery. It takes Target 5 seconds to take my money and 3 weeks to return it? It is impossible for me, or anyone who understands how automated order processing works, to believe that a computer generated order cannot be canceled as easy as it is created especially when the item is not scheduled to be shipped for a week! At best this is extremely poor customer service from one of the largest retailers on the planet and at worst it's criminal negligence.
Beware of Target.com. Use Amazon.com instead, same selection/prices(sometimes better process) and much better customer service/order fulfillment.