Reader Jeff Z sends us this “horror story” about ordering a ten-season DVD set of ‘Friends.’ And the horror doesn’t involve his taste in comedy.

Here is my saga with MoviesWithASmile.com. I should have known better when their price was so much lower than everyone else’s!
It’s because they take your money as an interest free loan, and never send you the goods!
Anyway, I ordered the box set of all 10 Friends seasons for my wife on Nov.29.
Obviously, my credit card was immediately charged.
I received an email confirmation immediately as well.
Two days later I received an email with the subject line “DVD Order Shipped”.
What could this email say, other than my order had shipped?
Well I’m glad you asked!
The email told me the item I had purchased was not in stock, “but should arrive within the next 5 business days.”
They also offered to upgrade the shipping for no extra cost.

Find out if Rachel finally gets with Ross’s monkey after the jump.

Fine, I say, and I forget about it. On December 9, I realize that more than 5 business days have gone by, with no confirmation that the item has shipped. The website continues to show that the item is ready to be ordered. I decided to check the “My Account” section and saw that my order, however, was still on “backorder.”

So I fired off an email to customer service (since there was no phone number to be found), asking them to let me know whether or not the item had shipped yet. To the site’s credit, they promise to respond to all emails within 24 hours, and they always have. But in the most incompetent way!

The next day, I received an email telling me they RECEIVED the backorders the day before, and were processing them. They told me the item would ship that day or the following Monday (it was a Friday). On Monday, after still hearing nothing, I email again to ask for confirmation it had shipped. I received an email a few hours later stating “Your item has shipped.”

Well woo hoo! That’s it, right? WRONG. I emailed the next day to ask for a tracking number. No response. I waited two days, and no package arrived. I noticed that the “My Account” section still said the item was on backorder. I emailed them to tell them this, and asked for a tracking number again. Again I got NO RESPONSE.

I tried to research their phone number, to no avail. So I emailed them asking for the phone number. They responded by telling me that the item was STILL ON BACKORDER, and scheduled to ship the following week! They claimed they had sent me an email indicating this, and that if I wanted, I could cancel the order and get a refund. They also told me the item had increased in price and if I wanted to order it again, I would have to pay the higher price (as if I would place another order with them!).

I replied that they had told me the item had shipped, and now they were telling me it was on backorder. I asked for a supervisor to call me. NO REPLY.

The following week (now Dec.20 already!) I emailed again, recounting my story briefly and asking for someone to please call me. I told them that if they did not, I would be writing to sites like this to post my story to prevent others from being scammed. How did they respond? I’ll quote the email:

“Refund has been issued. Please note, it may take 2-3 days to appear on your credit card.”

WHAT??? Forget the fact that they charged my card immediately, but it takes 2-3 days for a credit. WHEN DID I ASK FOR CANCELLATION OR A REFUND??? I simply asked to speak with a human being, and they unilaterally cancelled my order. What a joke.

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