Lisa,
this is the story of a faithful paizonian but really disappointed customer:
On October 1 I received an email from Paizo Customer Service telling me that the order #918143, which was shipped on August 15, was returned to them because the courier said the address was incorrect. Paizo asked me to give them the correct address, and warned that I had to pay an additional charge for the re-shipping.
On October 2 I replied that the address was correct – it is the same address where all of my 40 orders, including subscriptions, have been delivered since 2005. In addition, I asked why I had to pay an additional shipping fee, since the missed delivery was not my fault, but the courier’s.
There were another couple emails back and forth, and then on October 12, after not having received a reply from them, I wrote another email pointing out that, as seen in various posts on the Paizo’s messageboards, there have been cases of missing packages where Paizo sent out again the whole orders at no additional cost for the recipients. In my case the content of the order was safe, so Paizo would not lose money on missing items.
On October 17 they replied that they explored some reshipping options, but at the end of the day they would not cover the shipping costs; they also included a scan of the return module from the courier, which confirmed that the address was correct.
That was the last I heard from Paizo. On October 18 and then again on October 30 I asked if there was any possibility to combine the returned order with the monthly shipment of my subscriptions (order #1047584), so as to at least reduce the doubled shipping fees on my part. I also asked if they could include my cell. phone number with the address lines, for the benefit of the “problem” courier.
And then, on the very October 30, an email from the Customer Service told me that the monthly subscriptions package was sent out – without the returned items from the August 15 shipment and without any indication of my cell phone.
That was over a week ago. The thing that most has disappointed me is the lack of communication: I still don’t know if and when I can get the items I paid for in August, and still don’t know either how much it is going to cost me in addition to what I already paid. Why the order #918143 and #1047584 have not been combined as requested well in advance of the shipment?
And by the way, I have not received another order #1021570 yet, which was sent out on September 10. Has this one also been returned to you? Will I have to pay double shipping fees on this one, too?
And finally, why the subscriptions monthly shipment seem to have no delivery problem, and in fact I keep getting them, while those two other orders placed with your store have been so unlucky? And what’s the matter with the courier – I always asked for standard mail delivery. If the courier keeps sending the packages back to you, are you going to ask me for the shipping fees again and again?
Lisa, sorry for all the trouble and the questions, but really I have got no answers, and have a couple of orders worth $460 out there, which I paid for and would like to receive.
I appreciate the attention you usually give to your customers, and I think I’ve been good business for you so far; I hope at least to be heard and receive some answers.
Thank you for your time,
Giorgio
Damn! That sucks. That is a pretty big order too. Good luck to you.
Thank you eirip!
The thing that upsets me most is that Cosmo keeps sending out replacements for missing or damaged orders (just look at the boards: two such replies in the last hour) and I have to pay twice for an error of the courier...
And my pleas have been ignored for three weeks now. I just can't understand why?
Director of Sales
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When we send out orders we do everything in our power, based on the information provided to us by the customer, to make sure that the order arrives promptly and securely.
In the case that an order fails to arrive altogether, we assume that the order would have arrived had it not been stolen/misdelivered/destroyed utterly/zapped into an alternate dimension/or whatever happens to packages that disappear. Despite knowing that we did everything we could, we accept the responsibility for these orders.
However when a package is returned, it indicates that something is wrong with the address, or it wasn't picked up in time, or customs duties weren't paid, or any number of things that happen. But all of them occur on the customer's end and are beyond our control. We are more than happy to try and absorb the costs of reshipment, but in cases such as yours where the package is returned marked "Insufficient Address", we have to assume that we were not provided adequate information to ship the package in the first place, and there was no way it would have arrived no matter what we did. Therefore, when a package has been returned, we ask that the customer pay the shipping and handling for reshipment.
I apologize for the lack of previous response. I will send you an email this afternoon regarding this issue as well as an update on order 1021570.
Thanks,
cos
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Director of Sales
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But if he had had shipments shipped to the same adress previously, it's obviously the couriers fault, and that avenue should be pursued.
...which is why the scan from the courier was included in one of the response emails. This is not something we do very often.
Honestly, I thought it would help.
This is obvioulsy a lucrative customer...in an era when customers have less and less money to spend...
This is true. However, I encourage you, and everyone reading this thread, not to assume that all of the information is presented here. I am sending him an email which will hopefully bring this to a solution.
Thanks,
cos
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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As a part time postal employee, I can tell you that if any part of the address is missing or incorrect, the package will be sent back marked Insufficient Address.
As this has occurred twice, if I were Aidan I would contact the local post office (since that is the shipping method you indicate you use) and find out why they keep sending these packages back.
If you live in an apartment, another possibility may be occuring. If you live in an apartment and a parcel comes for you that will not fit in your lockbox, the mail carrier (at his discretion) may put a notice in the mailbox indicating the parcel must be picked up at the post office. Many carriers will not leave a parcel unattended in an apartment mailroom/lobby, and leave the slip to ensure the parcel is picked up by the correct party. If no one comes in to the post office to pick up the parcel after 5 days, it gets sent back to the sender. (If this is the case, it could also explain why your other parcels get delivered to you. If they fit in your lockbox, they will be delivered to your door).
In either case, it is not the fault of Paizo, and IMO, they should not have to reimburse shipping charges.
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As Cosmo points out, we don't know much about what happened (other than Larry Lichman, who has some insight into how this stuff works), so I'm not going to offer an opinion as to the rights and wrongs of that. I would just say that customer service have been just great, including one incident where I didn't look closely enough at something, and also the higher-ups are great (Vic in particular, who was very understanding of what looks to have been a recent careless error of mine resulting in an unfortunate and undesired outcome).
Paizo, in my experience, rule.
USPS, in my experience, not so much (but they're not as bad as some people say they are).
As this is the customer service board and thus Cosmo's domain, I'd like to suggest that everyone reserve judgment and not post to these threads. These threads are for Cosmo to help customers and he answers them in reverse order--oldest to newest. Whenever you post to one, you reset the thread order and may actually prevent Cosmo from answering an important query.
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Just a quick reply.
In my business, we have just had to switch courier services twice in the last three months... from UPS to USPS to now Fed Ex. The problem we faced was that shipping our product (which is perishable) with a guaranteed two-day shipping (in order to insure the condition of the product) was not being honored by the courier service. This was not due to a mistake in reciver's address, but due to an error with the delivery courier (who tried to deliver once and returned the perishable items back to the shipping warehouse were they sat unrefrigerated for the weekend and spoiled. Further calls confirmed that it was the last delivery of the day and the now unemployed courier never truly tried to make the delivery.
Following this, I might be jaded toward certain courier companies now, but the problem might be simply a lazy delivery person. It could be that no problem exists with either Paizo or the reciever's address information.