I’m looking for some thoughtful (and polite) feedback to make sure I’m not in the wrong here.
I bought 4 bottles of 2009 Hundred Acre, using a 10% first time buyer’s discount, at Benchmark Wine Group (www.benchmarkwine.com). They asked if I wanted anything else at the time I ordered, because the 10% was a 1st time purchase deal only. I said no. I asked them to hold the wine due to weather for ~10 days, and then e-mailed them the morning they were supposed to ship before they opened, asking if I could add to my order and use the 10% discount. They said no problem, just call them to finalize.
I called and explained that I wanted to purchase more wine and add it to the existing order to the first woman who answered the phone. When I mentioned the discount, she said the discount was only available for my first order, and I told her that this was my first order. She asked me to hold, and I waited for about 3 minutes, when someone else answered the phone.
The second woman with whom I spoke called me “Richard” (as opposed to my name). She told me that she took my original order, and that she couldn’t apply the coupon because it would be a whole new sales number, and the system wouldn’t accept it. I told her I had received the e-mail that said I could use the 10% discount, and read it to her. She then asked me to hold, and put a third person on the phone.
Unlike the first two, the third person had a tone of attitude in her voice, and said that she could not apply the 10%. I mentioned that this was my first order, and that the wine was still at Benchmark. I also mentioned the 10% confirming e-mail. The woman essentially said the person who e-mailed me didn’t know what she was talking about (i.e. that this order was from a while back), which I found unlikely given I sent it before they opened for business that day, but possible. She then reiterated the concept of the new sales number, and I said, “Look, this is purely a customer service issue. This is my first time buying from you, and we are only talking about a ~$50 discount. You haven’t shipped the wine, and it’s still sitting there. I’m not sure why the 10% couldn’t be applied as this is all a first-time order.” She argumentatively stated that I would already have the wine if I hadn’t asked Benchmark to hold it, and again stated she was unable to apply the 10%. Because of her attitude more than the lack of discount, I then mentioned that I would simply like to cancel my order.
The customer service person next informed me that Benchmark would charge me 5% for the cancellation. Incredulous, I asked why, given Benchmark still had the wine, and had been holding my money for almost 2 weeks. She told me the credit card company would charge Benchmark this amount for reversing the charge. I knew this to be a false statement, and said “I’ve never heard of that.” She then backtracked and said Benchmark now needed to put the wine back in its inventory and remove it from the packaging. At least at that time (they may have changed their site, I don’t know), there was nothing about either the 10% or the 5% policy mentioned anywhere on the website.
I then took the time to explain the situation in a fairly lengthy, non-personal or argumentative e-mail to the Vice President of Operations. Apparently she was traveling out of the country when I sent it (but did not have an out of office reply on). Around 9 or so days later, when I did not hear back, I e-mailed her again. She apologized for the delay and said she’d get back to me by close of business the next day. That was January 28, and I’ve still received no response from her or the owner, who I also e-mailed directly.
While a $50 savings would have been nice, it became a matter of principle once I got the person with the attitude on the phone. Benchmark didn’t owe me anything, but I felt the whole way this was handled showed a complete lack of customer service (I actually felt like their enemy and not their customer) from the “lowest” employee to the “highest.” Any thoughts?