ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (01/10/85)
Although I have usually gotten good service from 47th Street Photo, they sometimes get confused. The following letter from me to them is self-explanatory. I was living in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the time I wrote the letter. UPS between Elizabeth and New York never takes longer than two days. I now believe that this particular snafu was atypical, and that if I had done nothing but wait I would have gotten my order just as quickly (or slowly). They did eventually wind up delivering everything I ordered, at the prices they quoted. They charged $7 for shipping, which is plausible for something as big and heavy as a slide projector. Their response to this letter was to mail it back to me with a hand-written note in the margin saying "sorry for screw-up." ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5 November 1981 47th Street Photo 36 East 19th Street New York NY 10003 On Tuesday, October 6, I ordered a Leitz RT-300 slide projector, a stack loader, a box of slide clips, a case for my Minox 35EL, and some film from you by phone. The person who took the order said that everything I ordered was in stock, that it would be shipped within a few days, and assigned me invoice number K1006. On Friday, October 9, I called again to confirm the order. I was told that the order had not yet been shipped, but that it would go out "today or Monday." My credit card was charged for the merchandise on October 9. The following Friday, October 16, I still had not received the order. I called United Parcel Service, who confirmed that it should take no more than two days to ship a package from New York to Elizabeth. I then called you again. The person I reached said that the order had still not been shipped, and that it would (again) go out "today or Monday." After some thought, I decided to cancel shipment. I intended to be in New York on Sunday, October 18, and I felt it would be easier for me to pick up the order in person than to have to wait an unknown amount of time for it to arrive. I called back, again on October 16, and said I wanted to pick up the order. The person I spoke to said that I could not do this because it had been shipped on October 15. When I pointed out that I had been told five minutes earlier that the order had not been shipped, this second person told me that you were having some problems with temporary help. She also gave me a UPS ticket number. If indeed the order was shipped on Thursday, October 15, it should have arrived no later than Monday, October 19. When it still had not arrived on October 20, I sent you a letter describing the situation up to that point. Thursday, October 22, came and the order had still not arrived. If it was indeed shipped on October 15, it must be lost. Therefore, I called you again to find out what had happened to it. To my infinite surprise, I was told that the order had not yet been shipped! I said I wanted to cancel the order and I was told that I had to cancel it in writing. That evening (October 22), I sent you a Mailgram asking you to cancel the order. The Mailgram contained the invoice number and my name and address. On October 27 I got a letter from you containing my original letter and my Mailgram, with a handwritten request: "Please advise what you ordered" and a number "K1006-47", also handwritten. The date stamps on these papers say that you received my Mailgram on Friday morning, October 23. That same day, I sent you a letter detailing what had happened up to then and providing you with all the information you would need to cancel the order. Needless to say, the order arrived the next day, October 28. The postmark shows that it was shipped October 26, three days after you received my written cancellation request and ten days after you told me on the phone that you could not cancel the order because it had already been shipped! The order, by the way, was not quite right. Insteading of sending a case for a Minox 35EL, you sent a case for a Rollei 35. The invoice correctly said Minox. I am returning that item under separate cover for replacement. On October 31, I received the enclosed post card. This card said that the merchandise I ordered is out of stock and asked me what I wanted done. The card was postmarked October 30, but dated October 22. I am returning the post card and sending you this letter in another effort to point out to you that your mail order division is very confused. As a brief review, the principal points are these: I ordered merchandise on October 6. On October 9, you told me it would be shipped by October 12. On October 16, you told me it would be shipped by October 19. When I tried to cancel the order later on October 16, you said it had been shipped October 15. On October 22, you told me it had not yet been shipped. I cancelled the order, and you received my cancellation on October 23. Nevertheless, you shipped the order October 26. On October 30, you sent me a card dated October 22 saying that the order had not been shipped. As far as I can see, every single thing you ever told me about my order has later been proven to be false. Can you explain this?