The Computer Next Door

When Customer Service goes South

Online shopping is by no means a level playing field. You'd think that the newer online vendors would be savvy about how to handle customer service, but such is not the case.  Some are downright awful, especially in the areas of customer service. so you really have to be careful where you shop online.

I like to experiment and try new vendors, and every now and then this leads to an unhappy customer service experience.

Such was the case when I recently attempted to purchase some replacement china and tableware on the Web. I had made notes about a Website I previously used to purchase tableware, but the site was a little hard to use.  So, I thought I'd try another online vendor.

I tried a vendor who was sending me regular emails - Homeclick.com.  I must have purchased something there before, but I don't remember what it was, or in fact anything about the shopping experience.  But I will not soon forget this recent purchase.

I liked the china, but getting the order sorted out was a nightmare.

The Web transaction was smooth enough, even though I was told to expect my shipment in two packages.  Since most of the shipment was coming in the first package, I chose to pay for "expedited shipping" (via FedEx) for that part of the shipment, running me an extra $12.

The initial confirmation of my purchase was also fine.  But the 2nd email Homeclick sent about what was being shipped showed an incorrect number of items.  They appeared to have left out one of the sets of silverware.

I called customer service, who assured me that nothing was amiss, and that it had simply been back ordered. I requested a refund on that part of the "expedited shipping" and was told I would receive some of the money back.  When I received the first part of my shipment, it made no reference to the correct number of silverware settings, back ordered or not.  It appeared that part of my order had "disappeared" - into the bowels of Homeclick''s order placement system.  By this time, the entire charge had also been made to my credit card.

Irritated, I called HomeClick's customer service department. They seemed to not understand what was going on.  I cancelled the remaining parts of my order, and requested a refund for all items I had not yet received.  The service rep told I would receive a refund for $98. Shortly thereafter, I received an email telling me my refund would be $38.

This went on like this for the next few days.  I would call customer service, they would tell me one thing, then a day or two later, I would get a completely different story via e-mail.  It was bizarre - it was almost as if nobody in customer service was talking to anyone else, and the e-mail department was in its own little world.  I also was wondering if I would ever see my refund - or, in lieu of that, my china and silverware.

The upshot was that I finally received a set of silverware I had asked to be cancelled, and finally did get a credit back to my credit card for two items (totally about $60), but it simply wasn't what I had requested of the customer service department, and I felt misled. But they wore me down through the experience of making multiple calls to customer service, cross-checking their e-mails (which all contradicted each other), and continually checking my credit card's Website to check for a refund.

It could have been worse, I suppose (they could have failed to give me any credit back, or failed to ship the merchandise).  Nevertheless, the whole experience ticked me off.

What went wrong?

I'm guessing that Homeclick's back-office systems are simply not in synch with each other or with their Website transaction processing system. Their customer service process also lacks process (typos in their emails make me think they are hand-written, not automated).

The lesson is, I suppose, to make a note of these lousy customer experiences when you have them, and remember not to order from these sites again.  Also, you can let others know to "buyer beware." You can post opinions about online vendor on many consumer sites, including:

Epinions

RedPearl

Yahoo Shopping

Most require you to have a user ID of some sort.  It's worth a try.  My problem with all this is - it's just more time spent on something that should be very simple. And isn't that why we're online in the first place?

How Green Is Your DVR?

Herein, and on the record,  I want to admit I have a conflict.  No, nothing that'll cost me huge sums with a mental health professional.  But an issue nonetheless.

How do I reconcile my love of technology with an ever broadening awareness of energy abuse?  Technology lovers more and more are finding themselves in this same dilemma. All those terrific gadgets we love use lots and lots of energy.

Personally, it's a puzzlement.  How do I become more environmentally sensitive and still use the toys I love?  Take my computer as the major culprit.  I rarely shut the thing off.  Want to know why?

No, I'm not merely lazy.  There's a school of thought (quite common among television professionals) that turning your device on and off creates a great deal of wear and tear on the device. It's a habit hard to break after more than 20 years.  But, I have to confess I'm beginning to revisit the wisdom of my ways.

Take for example our friendly digital video recorder (DVR).  Would you believe that set-top high-definition DVR of yours can use the same amount of electricity as your typical refrigerator?  Well it does.

That's because DVRs use hard disks.  And hard disk drives like the kind we run in our personal computers are constantly spinning.  And all that spinning makes your DVR one power- hungry machine. The 'standby' mode of a typical DVR doesn't really reduce its power consumption when compared to the normal mode you regularly use.

Recently a cable industry publication reported that  set-top boxes in the U.S. use $2 billion worth of electricity annually, which produces 15 million tons of carbon dioxide.  The source of these estimates is the nonprofit advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Unfortunately,  HDTVs, are special offenders in themselves. You'd never know it by their thin profiles, but HDTVs are gorging themselves. They're  power guzzlers — using as much as four times the energy of  standard-definition sets. 

But before you go back to a CRT (cathode ray tube TV--the old fashioned sets of the 20th century) know that there's hope.  A new set-top software has been developed to cut the DVR's guzzling ways.  In the wee hours of the night the boxes spin down going into a standby mode that uses less than 1 watt.

Across the Pond, in the U.K.  a satellite provider began deploying the spin-down feature to 2 million HD set-tops. The feature monitors whether people are using their box between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. If the box hasn't been used for a period of two hours, an “auto standby” warning pops up on screen for 3 minutes; if nobody touches the remote, the box's hard disk stops spinning.

The key to the program: Subscribers don't necessarily even know their DVRs are putting themselves to sleep at night. The software switches the system back on if there's a scheduled recording.

Some DVR makers, including Scientific Atlanta, have also developed auto-shutoff features.  Self-interest is also served here.  Disk drives last longer if they're not churning continuously. The U.S. government's voluntary Energy Star program, which sets energy-efficiency guidelines for household appliances, is now working up new standards for digital set-top boxes and DVRs.

It's a bit early for New Year's resolutions, but with the oncoming holidays it's worth considering less passive pursuits and a bit more exercise.  A good way to save energy, while energizing oneself in the process.