Pressured into Buying a Sword !!!
Apr 24, 2010 20:11:28 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2010 20:11:28 GMT
Greetings all,
Story time... This was my first negative experience purchasing a sword in my 13yrs collecting... I am not too sure regarding Forum Rules in terms of posting the name of said company, so feel free to pm me, or if i can get a moderator's permission, i shall gladly write down the name. I have posted this on another forum throughout its development:
www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=4806
This shall just be a summary. Bare with me, it's a long one
March 2nd:
"Firstly, a little history. I have ordered from this website for the first time this past December, early Dec 2009. My first two purchases (great closeout prices) went smooth and i was quite happy with the transactions. A few days later, i was given a follow up phone call. This seemed out of the ordinary, but at first pretty neat. A company asking me how my experiences were and other swords and weaponay i was interested in - and we chatted about new products and so forth. They then started telling me about this one great oppertunity to purchase an investment sword for a great price. I listened, and said 'no thank you'. They kept on pushing, i tried changing the subject to a different sword - the strategy worked...but... The other sword was one i was 50/50 on. They offered it to me a a similar 'blow out' sale price... At first i said 'no' and continued to tell them i wasn't interested in buying anything. After another 10min of them pushing...i decided it wasn't the end of the world - and at that price - it went from 50/50 (on that one sword) to more like 85/15 - so i decided to say 'yes'... That entire phone conversation took almost 1hour....
Then....that last sword i purchased mid December arrived, but without a certificate and the included DVD bonus and poster. I emailed them the day it arrived - they replied stating it's on it's way. Early January - i emailed them again...they replied saying it's on it's way. End of January - i emailed them again - they replied asking me what's missing? I followed up on that email - with no reply. I waited 2 weeks, and emailed them again...but still, no reply....
Today - as in 3 hours ago - i decided to call them. At first i was worried, since the first 3 (of 5) phone numbers did not work.... However, i finally got in touch with an individual... We discussed the matter at hand - and i got it resolved - they claimed they are sending my missing items - that took 10min total.
This is where it gets interesting.... They asked me for my full VISA information - which i thought was standard, to not only verify my past orders, but also to resend me the missing products. And they started chatting again about new products and my interests. Then, out of nowhere - i was transferred to an individual. At first i thought this was the lady to confirm my order that had to be resent (like last time0. But she started telling me about this one great promo offer. I said 'no' right off the bat (learnt from last time). I even told her that i was given this speech before - and also was clear that i called not to purchase anything, but to fix my order from last time. She reassured me it has been fixed, and continued talking about this deal - and since i'm a student she talked to her VP and got an even better deal. She went on to tell me how it's a great investor piece etc etc. Basically it was 3 signed swords retailing for $50 000, but for me it would be $8 000. I said i just couldn't afford it at the time, and that was it. So she asked me to hold - she came back after talking to her VP again. Since i was in a special category of being a student etc etc etc - they will give it to me the 3 signed swords for $2000. Now, being me, i knew the value of the swords, and the price it costs for these certain actors' signatures....that price seemed reasonable. But i asked her to hold since i needed to check with my bank (just a formality, since i already was going to say 'no'). I got back on the phone...told her 'no', since i already had 1 of those swords, and the 2nd one i was only 50/50 on, and the 3rd sword i like, but wasn't planning on purchasing it for a while. She replied: "It's too late, we already put your order through". So then we starting arguing for a good 20min...(this is already 30min into the phone coversation). Her argument was that being signed swords - it is non-refundable, and that over the past 1hr recorded phone convo, i told her that i wanted to buy these swords. My argument was at first that i never said i wanted to, in addition i told them from the start i called only to fix this old problem, not to buy! My argument (realizing i'll try to play it from their side), changed to - well why can't you cancel my order? The only sent an order through, nothings been done specifically for me that was un-doable at this point in time. So, after much arguing - i asked to speak to her manager/VP. He was in a meeting. We argued a little more. Then her VP walked in the room and she talked to him. He offered me now $1500 for the 1 sword i liked, a newer signed sword, and one more item from their website (neither of which interested me....and their other swords aren't that expensive anyways...). They told me it was a big deal that they refunded me $500 after the $2000 non-refundable order went through - and how this lady i was on the phone with was actually on my side.... So then i accused her of being a pushy salesperson, and pressuring me into a purchase i did not want to make. We chatted for a bit about this... At the time i was thinking what else i could do. If i hung up, my order is still through. If i called VISA to have this cancelled....they could try to sue me (i checked on their website....it did state that these swords are nonrefundable). It would be their word against mine - in an international transaction... So we chatted for a bit...we both calmed down a little. And we came to a compramise - the one sword i liked (but didn't want to buy) for $1000, wet ink signed by the actor with a certificate.... Granted, the offer of 3 swords for $1500 would have been a better deal - but i was the point where i wanted them to have as little of my money as possible, and never shop from them again! And even if the other swords were worth the extra $500 - it wouldn't be worth it for me.... Oh, almost forgot...they offered me free shipping the entire time. Now after i confirmed the order of $1000 - she stated "So in the end, the final cost is now $1200". Apparently shipping isn't free to Canada, but she was kind enough to reduce the $400 shipping charge to $200 just for me.....
Well - that's the summary for the over 1 hour phone conversation i had. I called about getting an order fixed from mid Dec - to now having spent $1200 on a sword that's arriving in 1 to 2 weeks....
*Sigh....
Don't get me wrong - i know it's a good deal, and the money is actually worth what i've bought. In addition, it's a signed limited edition sword...so it is an investment piece - and a sword i contemplated purchasing eventually (but the sword itself is worth under $200).... It's just the principle of the matter that's got me fuming!!!"
Story time... This was my first negative experience purchasing a sword in my 13yrs collecting... I am not too sure regarding Forum Rules in terms of posting the name of said company, so feel free to pm me, or if i can get a moderator's permission, i shall gladly write down the name. I have posted this on another forum throughout its development:
www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=4806
This shall just be a summary. Bare with me, it's a long one
March 2nd:
"Firstly, a little history. I have ordered from this website for the first time this past December, early Dec 2009. My first two purchases (great closeout prices) went smooth and i was quite happy with the transactions. A few days later, i was given a follow up phone call. This seemed out of the ordinary, but at first pretty neat. A company asking me how my experiences were and other swords and weaponay i was interested in - and we chatted about new products and so forth. They then started telling me about this one great oppertunity to purchase an investment sword for a great price. I listened, and said 'no thank you'. They kept on pushing, i tried changing the subject to a different sword - the strategy worked...but... The other sword was one i was 50/50 on. They offered it to me a a similar 'blow out' sale price... At first i said 'no' and continued to tell them i wasn't interested in buying anything. After another 10min of them pushing...i decided it wasn't the end of the world - and at that price - it went from 50/50 (on that one sword) to more like 85/15 - so i decided to say 'yes'... That entire phone conversation took almost 1hour....
Then....that last sword i purchased mid December arrived, but without a certificate and the included DVD bonus and poster. I emailed them the day it arrived - they replied stating it's on it's way. Early January - i emailed them again...they replied saying it's on it's way. End of January - i emailed them again - they replied asking me what's missing? I followed up on that email - with no reply. I waited 2 weeks, and emailed them again...but still, no reply....
Today - as in 3 hours ago - i decided to call them. At first i was worried, since the first 3 (of 5) phone numbers did not work.... However, i finally got in touch with an individual... We discussed the matter at hand - and i got it resolved - they claimed they are sending my missing items - that took 10min total.
This is where it gets interesting.... They asked me for my full VISA information - which i thought was standard, to not only verify my past orders, but also to resend me the missing products. And they started chatting again about new products and my interests. Then, out of nowhere - i was transferred to an individual. At first i thought this was the lady to confirm my order that had to be resent (like last time0. But she started telling me about this one great promo offer. I said 'no' right off the bat (learnt from last time). I even told her that i was given this speech before - and also was clear that i called not to purchase anything, but to fix my order from last time. She reassured me it has been fixed, and continued talking about this deal - and since i'm a student she talked to her VP and got an even better deal. She went on to tell me how it's a great investor piece etc etc. Basically it was 3 signed swords retailing for $50 000, but for me it would be $8 000. I said i just couldn't afford it at the time, and that was it. So she asked me to hold - she came back after talking to her VP again. Since i was in a special category of being a student etc etc etc - they will give it to me the 3 signed swords for $2000. Now, being me, i knew the value of the swords, and the price it costs for these certain actors' signatures....that price seemed reasonable. But i asked her to hold since i needed to check with my bank (just a formality, since i already was going to say 'no'). I got back on the phone...told her 'no', since i already had 1 of those swords, and the 2nd one i was only 50/50 on, and the 3rd sword i like, but wasn't planning on purchasing it for a while. She replied: "It's too late, we already put your order through". So then we starting arguing for a good 20min...(this is already 30min into the phone coversation). Her argument was that being signed swords - it is non-refundable, and that over the past 1hr recorded phone convo, i told her that i wanted to buy these swords. My argument was at first that i never said i wanted to, in addition i told them from the start i called only to fix this old problem, not to buy! My argument (realizing i'll try to play it from their side), changed to - well why can't you cancel my order? The only sent an order through, nothings been done specifically for me that was un-doable at this point in time. So, after much arguing - i asked to speak to her manager/VP. He was in a meeting. We argued a little more. Then her VP walked in the room and she talked to him. He offered me now $1500 for the 1 sword i liked, a newer signed sword, and one more item from their website (neither of which interested me....and their other swords aren't that expensive anyways...). They told me it was a big deal that they refunded me $500 after the $2000 non-refundable order went through - and how this lady i was on the phone with was actually on my side.... So then i accused her of being a pushy salesperson, and pressuring me into a purchase i did not want to make. We chatted for a bit about this... At the time i was thinking what else i could do. If i hung up, my order is still through. If i called VISA to have this cancelled....they could try to sue me (i checked on their website....it did state that these swords are nonrefundable). It would be their word against mine - in an international transaction... So we chatted for a bit...we both calmed down a little. And we came to a compramise - the one sword i liked (but didn't want to buy) for $1000, wet ink signed by the actor with a certificate.... Granted, the offer of 3 swords for $1500 would have been a better deal - but i was the point where i wanted them to have as little of my money as possible, and never shop from them again! And even if the other swords were worth the extra $500 - it wouldn't be worth it for me.... Oh, almost forgot...they offered me free shipping the entire time. Now after i confirmed the order of $1000 - she stated "So in the end, the final cost is now $1200". Apparently shipping isn't free to Canada, but she was kind enough to reduce the $400 shipping charge to $200 just for me.....
Well - that's the summary for the over 1 hour phone conversation i had. I called about getting an order fixed from mid Dec - to now having spent $1200 on a sword that's arriving in 1 to 2 weeks....
*Sigh....
Don't get me wrong - i know it's a good deal, and the money is actually worth what i've bought. In addition, it's a signed limited edition sword...so it is an investment piece - and a sword i contemplated purchasing eventually (but the sword itself is worth under $200).... It's just the principle of the matter that's got me fuming!!!"