Attn: Meritline member (The Conclusion)

[luigi2000]

I decided to reply to this thread after reading all the replies supportive to Meritline.com. I won a Meritline.com ebay auction for 2x DVD-R media. They sent the discs in reasonable time. There was so much glue on them that the discs were stuck together. I went through fifteen discs to find one that burned properly at 1x. It took me two months after purchase and several calls to get my money back minus some type of fee.

[tommyoz]

Ok, The deal has finally come to an end. Thanks for all replies it's been interesting to see everyone's response. Although some may not have agreed with the way I went about it, we are all entitled to our own opinion.

To the wise who were able to read through it all, God bless you. To those who were not and stand by Meritline, you are entitled to that.

After filing a claim with my credit card company, I received an email from Meritline today (mind you that this is the first one since the initial email on Dec. 05 2003) that read:

Dear Customer,

We have received your dispute due to non-receipt of merchandise. Please
allow me to explain the reason you didn't receive your order was because the
items were on back order. We have these items now, would you still like to
receive them or would you prefer to cancel the order? If you like to cancel
the order, we will accept the chargeback, if you would like to receive the
items. Please reverse the chargeback and we will have the items send to you
right away. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thank you,
Meritline.com

This wasn't what they were telling me before. They told me several times that it was shipped after admitting that they hadn't been shipped due to awaiting stock. Now why should I have believed them anymore? I lost total trust in this company. I have never had a company do this to me.
Needless to say, I responded with a NO, I do not want the merchandise.
I now have my credit.

I'm happy to see that some have had good experiences with Meritline, I hope it continues for you.

God Bless and Happy New Year!!

[Savant]

Now I am not directing this at the original poster or anoyone else who has had problems with Meritline, but I think some people tend to forget the old adage "you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar."

I've worked as a General Manager for a firm that dealt with the public, and as a result I've dealt with disgruntled customers. It's a fact that no matter HOW good people say a company is, there WILL be people who have problem with them. It's the law of averages.

However, the biggest mistake I have found people make in trying to resolve problems is that they get abusive and/or demanding right away, when all they had to do is just be polite and persistent. Instead of letting your anger get out of control, approach the situation from a calm and logical perspective.

First off, no legitimate business wants to piss off its customers. Any manager worth his/her salt will KNOW the statistics: A customer that has a GOOD experience with a company will tell on average 18 other people about it. A customer that has a BAD experience with a company will tell on average 21 other people about it. So good customer relations makes for good business.

I've dealt with people who've had 'issues' of one sort or another. If they are polite and courteous with me then I will do everything I can to help them out. However, if they are rude, demanding and generally are an *******, then I will do the minimum required and I won't do them any favours.

Some tips: (for online or offline ordering)

*Read the store's return policy BEFORE you buy. Know what their terms are and what they will or won't do if you want to return your purchase. Don't complain later if there are restocking fees and they are clearly listed in their store policy.
*No matter what you buy, always document your order process. Be it emails or order receipts. Throw out nothing until you are 100% sure you are happy with your purchase.
*If you have a problem, DON'T have an 'attitude' when you call the company. If that means taking a break to let off steam beforehand, then do it. Never contact a company when you are mad. It only screws you over in the end.
*When using email it's easy to save them, however if you are making phone calls, GET NAMES. When the rep answers, just ask politely "Hi, whom am I speaking with? When they answer, politely greet them by name, give them your name, and continue with your concern.
*Don't expect postage refunds. If you drive to the store, buy something, and then drive home, only to find it defective, then drive back to the store, does the store refund your gas or wear and tear on your car? Of course not. Unless the store sent you the wrong items, don't expect to get a postage credit. If they give it, fine, but most do not. (see note on return policy above) If this is an issue for you, try and choose a company that has free shipping.
*If you don't get satisfaction, KEEP YOUR COOL! Remember, the person you are talking with just works the phones, they didn't fill your order. So don't take your frutstrations out on them. Instead, politely ask to speak with a supervisor or manager. When you ask, ask for the NAME of the supervisior in case they transfer you and you get voice mail.
*If you're doing the voice mail shuffle and not getting through to who you need to, write them a letter. (not email) Try and use the name of the supervisor you got earlier, and send it via USPS Priority Mail. Flat rate envelopes only cost a few bucks and attract attention. If you don't have a name to address it to, mark it attention GENERAL MANAGER.
*If you still haven't received satisfaction you can look into charging back your credit card (if you used one) but be advised that SHOULD arrange for return of the product before you do so. Otherwise the company could take you to small claims court. (they would win since you can't keep the product AND keep your money) If you are going to charge something back, first attempt and arrange to return the product to the company. Once you start a chargeback make sure to contact the company and arrage to have the items returned. If you do mail back product, ALWAYS use traceable mail.


Anyway, just some tips from my experience on the other end. I use the above when I deal with companies and I never have a problem.

Regards,

Savant

[sitlet]

very good advice

[Wetmonkey]

Pre credit authorization happens all the time, last time you went out to a meal you card was pre-authorized, prior to a merchant machine being batched out for the evening your account is pre-authorized. You can see this transaction if your bank offers online services like BofA, and wellsfargo(USA)
Fast solution
I personally would stop screwing with meritline and contact your credit card company. They will temporarily credit your account and deal with the company first hand, then final post when the smoke is clear. Everyone hates it when the credit card companies get on your back.

[Regal]

My Meritline order was a the best I seen.

I placed a order for a 25 pack of Ritek G04 dvd-R's I got a e-mail the next day saying it was shipped and a UPS tracking number.

I even e-mailed them back saying it was great doing business with them and they replay right back saying "Thanks for choosing us...etc...etc..."


But anyways I had no problems ordering through Meritline at all.

Oh also they sent me a free cd holder/case (that was nice of them).

I plan on buying some more G04's. They simply kick a$$ buring with my TDK burner.

[unloaded]

If you guys haven't already, you should post your opinions of them (good or bad) here--> http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1331.html
I usually won't buy from anybody if they don't have a decent rating. Just for comparison here's Rima's ratings--> http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2551.html
Guess which one I shop at 8)

peace.
unloaded

[jolo]

stangyamahar1,

Thanks for your post !! I think it is important that we share our negative experiences with a vendor's customer service, especially is we are being ignored, but stangyamahar1 what I particularly liked is that you mentioned your positive experience with who I think is the best on-line vendor is the business NEWEGG.COM. I think we need to do more of that. I personally have worked in IT for twnenty years and sometimes I feel that the we are doing our best job when no one notices us, but when there is a problem, they sure do find us. I personally greatly appreciate comments from customers when things go RIGHT and we do a good job.

I have to say that I ordered once from Meritline once and will never do it again. I received some blank DVDs which were not packaged as advertised as well as order some CD/DVD labels which were on sale. There is a difference between being inexpensive and being cheap trash. These were the cheapest garbaage labels I have ever seen, packaged like crap and do not match the form that is supposed to fit the label. I have never had that happen with vendors like Neato, Avery, Memorex, etc. I e-mailed them about it and I received no response. No big deal, I know never to use them again.

I also urge people to look at programs like pricegrabber.com and many others where customers can rate vendors. Newegg does have great pricing, but I have ordered from them when prices have been less elsewhere because for me, the most important "cost" of an item is the support at the end of it. I don't have the time to chase down customer support, play games with companies that don't invest in supporting their customers and I totally understanad that mistakes and problems will occur with everyone. Like I said, it is how those mistakes, problems, damaged merchandize which might not be the distributors fault, but I feel is their responsibility to fix for thier customers.

I am going to start a new topic on this because I want to mention soem items that are not specific to Meritline. There are good vendors out there and I urge people to not just look at the lowest price of the item. Many times the lowest priced distributor can become the most expensive one in the long run.


Join

[jolo]

Savant,

I have to compliment you on your comments. Especially keep your cool. Give the people on the other end of the phone a chance to help you out. No one likes to be treated poorly and I have found that a simple, "Please Sir/Madam I have had a problem with an order and I would greatly appreciate if you can help me out with it"
Sometimes it is amazing what people customer service people, who are like all of us, will do for you if you give them the space to help you. Appreciation, calmness, not letting the frustration due to poor treatment from the vendor get taken out on the customer service rep on the phone. Believe me, most will understand if a company has problems and usually when it does you can look at the top level people for that.

One thing I do disagree with you about Savant, is that I do expect postage to be paid for if I receive damaged good or a get delivered a wrong order. I won't deal with vendors who do not do that. I understand the analogy, which is a good one about driving to a store. But when you are dealing with mail order and have to wait, sometimes weeks for something to be rectified, and if it might cost you anywhere from $5 to $50 more to fix a problem that is not the customers fault, it should go down as a cost of doing business. The top mail order shops stay that way because they understand that this isa cost of doing business when using mail order as well as turning a negative into a real positive and loyalty to a customer.
I have worked with vendors that cross-ship items, given me an account number to call to get up courier to pick up my damaged merchandize, etc. This recently occured with a GREAT Vendor, Bissel with a problem with a rug cleaner that I had. GREAT service and I wound up purchasing a vacuum from them after that and will be loyal to them for ever for that.

Sorry, just send it back to us and you pay for the shipping and we will pay for the exchange back to me is not good customer service. Not only does it cost money for the postage, but the time that it takes to get another one back to you sometimes costs more.

I have newegg take care of me that way as well as PC Nation with a monitor,.

[Savant]

Well said Jolo. All too often people take out their frustrations on the poor customer service person when all they are doing is working for a living like the rest of us. It's not like they run the company. Most people wouldn't believe the crap they have to put up with from abusive customers.

As for shipping costs, I DO agree with you in regard to problems that are the STORE'S fault. So if they send you the wrong stuff, yes they should credit your postage. If it is damaged in transit then they can put in a claim with the carrier and get the postage refunded (plus replacement costs), which again means that postage should be free. If they send a person merchandise and the person just "doesn't like it" then why should they pay for that? People need to remember that margins are RAZOR thin in this industry, and to keep costs low they have to cut all unnecessary costs whenever possible.

Look at it this way, would you rather pay MORE money for your product so that a store can build in the cost of paying for people's postage on something when they get it and don't like the colour? I don't want to pay for that. People are far to quick to try and take any advantage to screw the company when all it does is raise prices for everyone. I don't want to pay more for goods because some moron dropped the product when they took it out of the box and then claimed that it was damaged during shipping.

The way I see it is that I will be responsible for item when it reaches me, and the store can be responsible for it prior to that. I don't rip them off and they don't rip me off. Everyone wins.

In any case, people can always check the return policy and see if they will have to pay to return merchandise that was not a shipping error.

What I thnk we're both saying here is be a smart buyer. Know your store and their policies and if you find a place you like then stick with them.

Regards,

Savant

[shutterbug]

Personally, I'm glad you spoke up Tommy. Forums can be a great place for the little guy to level the playing field when you have a legitimate complaint and all else fails. It's always good to hear the pros and cons of dealing with mail order/internet vendors. And I say this as I wait for Monday for my 1st order to arrive from them (placed 12 days ago, but I'd attribute the delay to free shipping & the holidays).

1st thing that came to mind when I read your post was *backorder*. I've had plenty of computer & electronics dealers play that game with me over the years. They'll charge your credit card for an out of stock item, then wait for their next shipment to fill it. With the Point-of-Sale systems companies use today, there's no reason for them not to know their stock levels within a few. Any honest dealer will notify you, place your order on backorder if you agree, then charge your credit card when the item is shipped.

[tommyoz]

1st thing that came to mind when I read your post was *backorder*. I've had plenty of computer & electronics dealers play that game with me over the years. They'll charge your credit card for an out of stock item, then wait for their next shipment to fill it. With the Point-of-Sale systems companies use today, there's no reason for them not to know their stock levels within a few. Any honest dealer will notify you, place your order on backorder if you agree, then charge your credit card when the item is shipped.

Yep!! That's it, you got it.

[dlathem]

Well, I wish I had found this forum thread prior to my order of Ritek 8x DVD+R media. I find it interesting that the folks at Meritline revealed on December 17th that they had been informed by Ritek that media had been mis-labeled. I placed my order on December 20 (via Yahoo) and it was not actually processed until Monday December 22 many days after Meritline was informed.

They did not get the order out for several more days. I received it on January 5th. It was the wrong media, like many of you have experienced. I was actually able to talk with a person at Meritline that evening, but when I aske if they would pay return shipping since it was their mistake I was put on hold and that is the last time I ever talked with anyone at Meritline.

I have sent email to them, I have left 6 or 7 voice mail messages, I have posted on their forum and sent a PM to a person there.

Yesterday, I called all during their business hours and never got anything but a busy signal and the voice mail. I guess they all left town...perhaps to celebrate the year of the Monkey.

I am really POed that they knowlingly sold me media that they had been informed was not the correct media. When I spoke with the person at Meritline on Monday night there was no admission of the problem. I actually had to convince her that the part number on the sticker was correct, but the media inside was not. I had to work very had to get her to understand the nature of the problem. Either she had not been told about it or was playing dumb. Obviously, there was no offer to refund me the difference in the price of the media I ordered and what I received plus 10 percent.

I had a poster on another forum point me to a Better Business Bureau site for California where they do not have a good rating. I have done business with these folks before but there was no problem with the transaction. I guess I will have to check everything more carefully in the future.

I wonder what the folks who sell them the products they "sell" are beginning to think about this. Why would anyone want Meritline to sell their products if they treat customers like this.