Jen ordered a product on Amazon, but what arrived in the shipment was significantly less than what was promised.

She contact them to request an explanation. Their response counts as one of the stranger excuses we’ve heard from an online retailer—basically blaming other less trustworthy retailers for misleading Jen on the Amazon listing. You can read their explanation below and see if it sounds legit to you.

I have been reading the Consumerist for years now. And now, when I finally have a story, it’s about sex toys! Whee!

Basically, I ordered a “sex toy kit” from WISDomestics on Amazon. It only came with one piece of the kit. I emailed them to ask where the rest of it was and they blamed it on Amazon and said they’d give me a $15 refund – basically saying it’s not their responsibility to make sure their product descriptions are accurate. Now that I’ve done more research, it seems that their listing of the Fun Factory Delight are all at different prices and higher than the rest of Amazon sellers – so I think they’ve been purposefully deceitful in this listing to make more money in selling a nonexistent kit. I want to ask for a full refund since it’s already 12/23 and I’d rather give the one present than nothing at all.

Order #102-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx

Missing parts: The product description clearly states: “Hidden Flower Bullet Egg Vibrator, Crystal Clear Lady Finger, and Mini-Mite Vibrator Included.” These were not included in the package I got today. I paid extra for this kit compared to other options which were just the Delight on its own.

Please advise on when I can expect the rest of this gift to arrive.

Thank you,
Jen

Their response:

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:48 PM, WIS Accounts wrote:

Hi Jennifer,

Wow, we can imagine your disappointment. We’re just as disappointed, because a valuable customer like you was misled by an Amazon Seller.

You notice that you have the option of choosing to buy an Amazon product from several sellers? In order for that to work, we all have an obligation as Amazon Sellers to maintain the product’s records according to the rules. One of those rules is not to bundle one product with other products from different manufacturers.

When we indicated to Amazon that we sold the Fun Factory product, this record reflected only the Fun Factory product. After that time, another Seller uploaded different information to reflect a “package” for the product. Since then Amazon has severely restricted that ASIN, and we can no longer change the listings.

We hope you understand that this behavior by the other Seller is beyond our control. On the other hand, we’d like to do something to assure your satisfaction.

If you have not opened the product you can send back the toy and we will give you a complete refund. If you would like to keep the toy we can match the price of our other Fun Factory Delight listing ($199.99) and refund you $15.

Please let us know which you would prefer. We do appreciate your patience.

Kindest regards,

WISdomestics / Wild In Secret
Customer Service

Jen is wondering what to do next. She’s found several different listings on Amazon for the same product, each at a different price point:

$123.99
$131.99
$134.99 (the one she ordered)

Jen, we think you should contact the seller one more time and explain that they did not deliver the item they sold to you, and therefore their “unopened product” return policy does not apply. You should demand a prompt refund including shipping, and if they refuse you should contact Amazon to file a complaint about the company’s bait-and-switch behavior (that’s all this amounts to, no matter what lame excuses they offer). Remember too, that you can file a chargeback on your credit card if necessary—but don’t do that until you give WISdomestics a chance to do the right thing, and Amazon a chance to step in and enforce proper merchant behavior.

P.S. That’s one fancy vibrator!

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