Victim of stupidity

Feb 14 2006 Evening Gazette

Stupid company syndrome - now that was a phrase which caught my eye in a recent press release.

An increasing number of people are refusing to put up with shoddy service and are hitting firms whose standards of customer care leave a lot to be desired where it hurts - in the pocket, according to the National Consumer Council

Now I have recently fallen victim to stupid company syndrome.

I ordered a three-quarter length coat and the parcel arrived within a week. So far so good.

But when I opened it, while the clothing was the right colour, it was the wrong length.

When I looked at the documentation I found that the coat I wanted was not available so they had sent me this one as an alternative.

Well, if I had wanted a jacket rather than a coat I would have ordered one in the first place.

The company had taken my telephone number when I placed the order so why did they not ring me instead of sending an unsuitable substitute out on spec?

All this led to me having to make an unnecessary trip to queue at the post office to return the coat.

And to add insult to injury, while the cost of the coat has been refunded, the postage and packing has not.

So how do you think this company ranks on the stupid front?

I am now one really dissatisfied customer. Why should I have had to pay to have something delivered to me which I had not ordered and did not want?

And while the company's order line is open all hours, they cannot deal with such complaints. I have been told to ring the inquiry line which is only open 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday. So I will be ringing them when I get a moment to demand the postage charge is refunded.

And one thing's for sure - I will not be doing business with this particular mail order company again.