Friday, January 17, 2014

Tiger not-so-direct: Adventures in comical customer service

It began with a message from me to tigerdirect.ca, submitted via their website. I had been checking out the Lenovo Yoga 10.1 tablet – including on tigerdirect.ca. 

For days afterward, ads from tigerdirect.ca for the Lenovo tablet (among others) followed me around the web. These two-frame GIFs flickered between the implied regular price with a slash through it and the implied sale price. 

But the regular price the ads gave for the tablet was inflated by 20% above Lenovo's list price. And the implied sale price was ... the list price. 

Even Lenovo was discounting it below list at the time (the 2013 Christmas holiday season). 

I wanted Tiger Direct to know. 

Instead I would become an unwitting straight man in a comedy routine that would involve some 11 emails. 

(NOTE: I've removed redundant text from the email transcript below in order to minimize discomfort and maximize amusement.)


From: baumel@mts.net (baumel@mts.net)
Sent: Dec 28, 2013 12:40:37 AM
Subject: Comments and Suggestions

**
** Message Sent from: TigerDirect.ca website
Name : Syd Baumel

E-Mail : baumel@mts.net

Phone : ()-

Subject : Comments and Suggestions

Message :
Your offsite display ad (on IMDB, in this case) misleadingly gives a list price for the Lenovo Yoga 10.1 tablet of "$383.99." The actual list price of $319.99 is depicted as the sale price.
##sequenceid=27886132013121805061714216163200##

_____________________________

Subject:      RE: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Sat, 28 Dec 2013 11:52:00 GMT
From:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
Reply-To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
To:      baumel@mts.net <baumel@mts.net>


Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting us.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience that may have caused you. We value your comments and rest assured that they will be forwarded to the proper department.

We constantly strive for customer satisfaction and hope this incident will not change your opinion of our company.

Should you have further concerns, please feel free to contact us at 1.800.800.8300 for assistance. Thank you for your time and patience.


Thank you for visiting our website.  We  appreciate your business.  If you have further inquiries and reply to this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address it appropriately.  Please feel free to contact me at the phone number below should  you require any further assistance.


Sincerely,
Felben
1-800-955-1888 ext 492056
TigerDirect.ca Customer Advocate


How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please give us your feedback at <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=347357755"> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=347357755</a>.

_____________________________

19 days later ...

Subject:      Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Thu, 16 Jan 2014 19:29:37 -0600
From:      Syd Baumel <baumel@mts.net>
To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>


Hi,

The misleading ad (see my original email below) continues to follow me around the Web. Here's a screen shot taken moments ago:


As before, the list price of the Lenovo tablet is falsely depicted as $383.99. As you can see, it's really much less: http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/tablets/ideatab/yoga/yoga-10/  Now that I look further, I see you've also exaggerated the list price of the Excite Write. Your ad says $719.99. Toshiba says $599.99 (http://www.toshiba.com/us/tablets/excite/Write/32gb), which is your supposed "discount" price.

My "opinion of [y]our company" is in serious jeopardy - and I've been a customer in the past. You need to correct these errors, because they're false advertising. My next email may be to the Competition Bureau.

Syd Baumel
_____________________________

Subject:      Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Thu, 16 Jan 2014 19:36:45 -0600
From:      Syd Baumel <sydbaumel@eatkind.net>
Reply-To:      Syd Baumel <baumel@mts.net>
To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>


I see your ad also exaggerates the list price of the Samsung Tab, but not by much. Still, that's 3 for 3.

_____________________________

Subject:      RE: Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 01:37:46 GMT
From:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
Reply-To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
To:      baumel@mymts.net


Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your email.

Your email did not contain the details necessary to complete a proper response and to assist you in this matter. Please provide more information, including the order number, so that we may better assist you.
How can we assist you?


Thank you for visiting our website.  We  appreciate your business.  If you have further inquiries and reply to this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address it appropriately.  Please feel free to contact me at the phone number below should  you require any further assistance.


Sincerely,
Edessa

TigerDirect.ca Customer Advocate


How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please give us your feedback at <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350218938"> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350218938</a>.

_____________________________

Subject:      Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:11:35 -0600
From:      Syd Baumel <baumel@mts.net>
To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>


There is no order. If you don't understand the nature of the complaint,
I suggest you pass it up to a supervisor.

_____________________________

Subject:      RE: Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 04:58:26 GMT
From:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
Reply-To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
To:      baumel@mymts.net

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your correspondence.

Please accept our sincerest apologies regarding this issue. We understand your concern.

Please be advised that the original email sent may contain characters that can not be viewed on our systems. Please advise on how you would like to be assisted. We greatly appreciate your understanding on this matter.

Thank you for your time and patience.


Thank you for visiting our website.  We  appreciate your business.  If you have further inquiries and reply to this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address it appropriately.  Please feel free to contact me at the phone number below should  you require any further assistance.


Sincerely,
May
1-800-955-1888 ext 492011
TigerDirect.ca Customer Advocate


How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please give us your feedback at <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350222060"> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350222060</a>.

_____________________________

Subject:      Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:01:31 -0600
From:      Syd Baumel <baumel@mts.net>
To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>


I'm not asking for assistance. I'm documenting - for your information -
persistently misleading online advertising by tigerdirect.ca. You are
the ones who need assistance. I suggest you refer my emails to your
online advertising department and possibly your legal department.

_____________________________

Subject:      RE: Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 06:05:10 GMT
From:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
Reply-To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
To:      baumel@mymts.net


Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your email.

We understand your concern. It is with great concern that we address an incident you experienced with our customer service department. After hearing of this issue, we would like to make an apology on behalf of TigerDirect. We are taking all the necessary steps to make sure that this type of incident does not happen again.


If you want to speak with a super visor, please call us at 1-800-800-8300 for assistance.

Please reply to this e-mail should you have further inquiries.
Thank you for your time and patience.


Thank you for visiting our website.  We  appreciate your business.  If you have further inquiries and reply to this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address it appropriately.  Please feel free to contact me at the phone number below should  you require any further assistance.


Sincerely,
Ericquel
1-800-955-1888 ext 492030
TigerDirect.ca Customer Advocate


How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please give us your feedback at <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350234566"> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350234566</a>.

_____________________________
Subject:      Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 01:41:35 -0600
From:      Syd Baumel <baumel@mts.net>
To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>


I have an uneasy feeling that you still don't understand what the
"incident" is. Do you? Please spell it out (it's in my previous emails,
and I'm not going to waste time repeating it on the phone). Because if
you don't, the "incident" will continue to occur as I surf the Web and
misleading ads from Tigerdirect are served to me (and others). That is
the "incident" - not your customer service department.

_____________________________

Subject:      RE: Re: Comments and Suggestions (#8796-399606888-9848)
Date:      Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:20:39 GMT
From:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
Reply-To:      Tiger Canada <help@help.tigerdirect.ca>
To:      baumel@mymts.net


Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience this may have caused you. We understand your frustration. Item is currently out of stock. You have an option to place a new order and we are willing to provide you a free shipping.


Thank you for visiting our website.  We  appreciate your business.  If you have further inquiries and reply to this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address it appropriately.  Please feel free to contact me at the phone number below should  you require any further assistance.


Sincerely,
Cecilia
1-800-955-1888 ext 5136
TigerDirect.ca Customer Advocate


How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please give us your feedback at <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350238608"> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/sectors/custsurvey/service.asp?ID=350238608</a>.

1 comment:

  1. Welcome to the world of non-service, non-communication and non-quality business practices. I am currently dealing with such a company in a paying customer capacity. There is no possible way to contact a real person, only e-mail, and the one time I accidentally got a real person on the phone, when they realized the nature of my call, (to ask for a refund), they promptly hung up on me. What a world we have created! It would be funny if it wasn't so scary that this is the norm now.

    ReplyDelete