by Dan Perkins
You might think
that an extensive and well organized office
supply website would be a key indicator of a
company's capacity to deliver quality service
and products. But as we found out, that's
not necessarily the case.
Last month, we
were looking for an office product that we
discovered had been discontinued by the
manufacturer. Our search for a replacement
led us to DiscountOfficeSupplies.com,
which reportedly offers a similar product at an
attractive price. I was sufficiently
impressed with the website and the fact that it
guarantees customer satisfaction, that I decided
to place an order. My decision was
reinforced by the company's invitation to
participate in an online survey regarding our
purchase experience.
The order wasn't
large, but I was relieved to know that a needed
item would soon be on its way.
The order was
placed on February 18, 2008, and the only hint
of a dark cloud came when I recalled a notice
that appeared before the close of the
transaction stating that the actual amount
charged would vary from the estimated purchase
amount because local taxes had to be calculated.
Before going any
further, let me offer this bit of advice, if a
website cannot calculate the taxes and shipping
charges before you conclude the session, it
might not be an ideal site for your business.
Instead, purchase your office products from
Sam's Club, Office Max, Office
Depot or Staples because they are
able to tell you the exact amount of your
purchase, inclusive of shipping and taxes,
before you approve the transaction. As we
discovered, DiscountOfficeSupplies.com is
unable to do the same.
Within two days of
making our purchase with
DiscountOfficeSupplies.com, I noticed that
our online bank account showed a charge to my
account that exceeded the amount of our purchase
- plus my estimate of taxes - by about five
dollars.
I called
DiscountOfficeSupplies.com and was told the
larger amount was a debit-hold on my account to
cover local taxes and that the actual amount
would soon appear on the account. The
service representative assured me that the extra
charge was what gas stations do when purchases
are made with a debit card. I told the
representative that I often use a debit card to
purchase gas and have never had a charge that
differed from the actual purchase amount.
A day or two
later, I received an email with a tracking
number and charges for taxes and shipping.
It's important to note that my bank account
showed two different debit amounts for this
transaction before it finally matched the amount
on the invoice. Dealing with three bank entries
over a four day period was sufficient grounds
for us to decide to never again use
DiscountOfficeSupplies.com; but that wasn't
the end of the matter.
It is now March,
and we still have not received our purchase
items. We have initiated a stop payment on
the purchase and have placed another order with
another company; and while our experience with
DiscountOfficeSupplies.com might not be
typical, it was sufficiently frustrating to
warrant this article.
If you like
uncomplicated online purchases, then I urge you
to avoid the hassles we encountered with
DiscountOfficeSupplies.com and stick with
companies that truly value your time and
business.
THE END
