Complaint Review: Tiger Direct

I have no idea what happened to Tiger Direct. We LOVED TD for years, recommended them to all our clientele, the whole nine yards. Then something changed, and we realized this in early February 2014.

The short version:

We placed an order (over a thousand dollars worth) and paid for expedited shipping. AFTER we paid we got an email saying the items wouldn't arrive until WAY after when we needed them for a client. Called TigerDirect and worked with a CS Agent to cancel the order, then repurchase a different set of selections that would arrive on time. We realized the start of a problem when we didn't get our cancelled order refunded. Maybe some people can live with over a grand locked up waiting on being returned, but we aren't those people. 

We stopped counting after 28 hours spent attempting to resolve everything via their phone network, being transferred, disconnected, treated rudely on some calls, kept on hold during one call while she "checked something" for FORTY MINUTES and THEN disconnected us. The replacement transaction made after the cancelled order had to be processed through our bank SIX times, despite the bank specifically authorizing the transaction (which was unnecessary for our bank account) and was only successful after we actually had a bank representative call in via 3-way calling to authorize it directly with their agents. All of this and we were STILL somehow charged for an order we cancelled the week before, with the express help of their agents, and replaced with a new order, which STILL showed up with one laptop entirely inoperable.

After the inoperable laptop was reported (immediately) to TD, there was yet another round of impossible contacts with their CS reps, disconnected calls, oddly convenient website failures with processing the complaint email form, and even disconnected chat sessions. It was a nightmare.

I was finally able to talk to an agent via chat, which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone, but only if your life SOLELY depends on experiencing a never ending quagmire of terrible service. You can have the chat emailed to you and you have written documentation of the entire mess, although apparently that doesn't help them actually follow through. So there's that.

Regardless, she emailed us a return label for the stuff that didn't work, and for the order that we had immediately cancelled (and were shipped anyways, for totally unknown reasons to us), and we went to UPS and shipped both packages IMMEDIATELY. As in, under 30 minutes from the chat session. Then we scanned and emailed proof of that return. Thankfully I still have all of these emails. The tracking numbers are 1Z1W839V9092729448 and 1Z1W839V9095362383, for anyone who wants to verify that they were received and signed for. It took about 5 emails for that to get situated, but it finally was.

Imagine my absolute astonishment in getting an email today saying we are in collections with Tiger Direct. 

COLLECTIONS!

What. The. Hell? 

Then I see the date. It's for February 10th. The date the free replacement laptop was shipped. And yes, I checked the chat transcripts where the agent says "The computer is being shipped without further charge to you."

This is an absolute nightmare, and I'm pulling our credit to see if it's been reported there. If so I'm reporting them, this is insane, do NOT waste your time or money here. Even when you think you've gotten something solved they apparently wait until right before Christmas to start the entire debacle over again. 

TL;DR - I was irritated enough not to shop there after this was supposedly solved last winter. Now I'm telling everyone to take their holiday spending elsewhere. Absolute ripoff.