Sigh ... I have been doing verbal battle with ABC Distributing for about one year now. I made the mistake of placing several orders with ABC within a short period of time and then returning some items -- some were shoddy construction, some didn't fit. Then the problems began...
I asked for credit for the items I had mailed back, but ABC claimed those items were not mailed back. I have learned to always send them registered, but the post office only keeps records for a short period of time, so... I finally found a rep who believed me, and issued me a credit; however, the items were not removed off of the files, so after months of getting harrassing robo-calls from ABC, I called and asked for a copy of the invoices that they claimed I owed. Those arrived by email, but ABC says it has no record of what invoices they sent me.
I paid the invoices only to discover that they contained charges for the items I had returned and believed had been credited. So I sent a letter advising ABC that I had overpaid by them, and, surprise, surprise, they claim to have never received the letter, which was sent Certified Mail and received Oct. 19 at 8:08 am at ABC Distributing's offices.
Then, to highlight how screwed-up their accounting department is, I received a refund check last week for one of the items that I had returned. So, we can deduct $8.39 from what they owe me.
Evidently there was a cacaphony of complaints about ABC's extremely excessive shipping charges, so the company finally stopped gouging their customers with shipping charges. So I eventually stopped complaining about that issue.
But there appears to be no hope for their accounting department. They are so screwed up that it is impossible to even explain a problem after you have waited on hold for one hour to finally reach a representative. The problem is so multi-faceted that I don't know where to begin, and their records clearly are so disheveled that they don't know where to begin, so they just end up saying "I can't help you." That prompts me to ask to speak to a supervisor, and, shock of shocks, instead of transferring me to a supervisor, they disconnect the call, leaving me sitting on the other end wondering if it's worth wasting another hour out of my life on hold to enter the accounting abyss that is ABC Distributing.
For the most part, their products are cute and well-priced (until they add postage) but beware of cheaply constructed and tailored items, items that don't work, and sizes that aren't right. And heaven help you if you have to try to contact them, and speak to an actual live person. Your phone bill will never be the same!
I've already told them to remove me and my company from all of their mailing lists and email lists, but, like everything else one tries to communicate to this company, it falls on deaf ears. I should just take my licks and walk away, muttering "lesson learned," but I'll be darned if I want to leave any of my hard-earned money in their disorganized coffers.
Amy Johnson
Bannockburn,#2UPDATE Employee
Sat, December 05, 2009
I am terribly disappointed about the poor service we provided you here at abc Distributing. It is very discouraging to read that one of our customers has "been doing verbal battle" with our company, and I want to make it right. The problems you encountered with your orders, returns, credits and refunds were very avoidable.
It sounds like your activities with abc Distributing took place during times when we were making some monumental changes to our operations. It took a couple of years to accomplish, but we invested in new back-office platforms and tools to better meet customer expectations. Credit card payment options were added in 2008, order value shipping was rolled out in June of this year, etcetera. However, we had some issues transitioning through all of these changes aimed at providing you with a positive and efficient customer experience. We are committed to improving the customer experience. Please accept my sincere apology for how your account was mis-handled.
Please share your story with me. Feedback like this helps me improve staff performance, develop better training and create programs to improve the customer experience. Please send me your contact information so that we can also resolve any outstanding accounting issues to your satisfaction. Email me at [email protected]