Is anyone else experiencing stores making mistakes this year?

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Its nuts because myself, my sister, and my parents have enountered this just int he last few days.

My parents bought a couple things from Kohls and walked out to the car scratching their head then my mom realized they were not charged for something.
They went back in and paid for it.

My sister ordered something for her daughter and 2 of the same thing came. She's taking it back to the store.

I ordered some clothes for my nephew and I got several emails apologizing for the shipment delay and they said it would ship out today. I got it in the mail today and I was not charged for it and it seems as though I'm going to receive another package at some point.
I can't even get a hold of this company right now because they are so behind and their customer service on the website isn't working and the phones are so jammed up I can't get through.

One other thing is I bought a few things from ShopDisney and the payment was pending on my Disney Visa which is usually the case until it ships.
Today when I was looking to see if I was charged for the other store I noticed the ShopDisney was no longer pending but also not in the activity section.
I have not gotten any email saying its delayed or not coming etc so its like what the heck is going on here lol.

Anyone else having crazy issues like that this year?

 

[StarWarsGirl]

It's a busy time of year and stores have to hire a lot of temps to support the extra work, plus their full time people are overworked. It's a recipe for making mistakes.

Amazon has been perfect with my purchases this year, though, so score 1 for them.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It's a busy time of year and stores have to hire a lot of temps to support the extra work, plus their full time people are overworked. It's a recipe for making mistakes.

Amazon has been perfect with my purchases this year, though, so score 1 for them.

Oh I also had an Amazon order cancelled but I was able to buy something similar so I guess it wasnt too bad. Gotta love prime shipping though.

 

[SSH]

I agree - Amazon has been great - even though I don't have prime and have to wait longer than you guys. But omg - walmart is driving me nuts.

Ordered something 3 weeks ago online with store pickup - was supposed to arrive last week. Got an email "don't come to the store yet - shipment delayed". Heard nothing else since - unfortunately, you can't cancel onsite like you can with Amazon if they haven't shipped yet. But the real kicker - the stupid item is on their website in stock and ready for pickup same day in a couple of hours!

Someone please explain to me how the heck they're filling new orders on the exact same item immediately, but ignoring customers who ordered weeks ago and are still waiting? Chatted and emailed - reps were useless. "Sorry you're experiencing problems - thanks for shopping WM" Wouldn't do anything.

Unbelievable.

 

[MinnieM123]

I agree - Amazon has been great - even though I don't have prime and have to wait longer than you guys. But omg - walmart is driving me nuts.

Ordered something 3 weeks ago online with store pickup - was supposed to arrive last week. Got an email "don't come to the store yet - shipment delayed". Heard nothing else since - unfortunately, you can't cancel onsite like you can with Amazon if they haven't shipped yet. But the real kicker - the stupid item is on their website in stock and ready for pickup same day in a couple of hours!

Someone please explain to me how the heck they're filling new orders on the exact same item immediately, but ignoring customers who ordered weeks ago and are still waiting? Chatted and emailed - reps were useless. "Sorry you're experiencing problems - thanks for shopping WM" Wouldn't do anything.

Unbelievable.

Kinda makes you just want to go out and buy gift cards instead!

My hunch is that the stores did not ramp up staffing levels enough for the Christmas / holidays shopping season. Seems like some of the brick and mortar, as well as online retailers, are a bit overwhelmed with the demand. There's really no excuse for that. (Note: I've read in the past that many merchants make up to 50% of their yearly sales during the last 2 months of the year, due to holiday shoppers.) So the "rush" is nothing new at this time.

 

[muddyrivers]

I have mostly been reliant on Amazon but Amazon has failed me with one item. I have Prime so had a guaranteed delivery date of December 12. Day came and went with no notice of a delay. I check the order status on their website and delivery date updated to December 13 or 14. Both days have come and gone. I chatted with support and was told in almost unintelligible English to wait until December 16. Keeping my fingers crossed but planning for another Christmas gift to buy in lieu of this one.

 

[erasure fan1]

My hunch is that the stores did not ramp up staffing levels enough for the Christmas / holidays shopping season.

That is correct. When you are going after a profit goal, payroll is the first thing to be cut, especially in retail with Christmas closing out the year. Also, places are having to pay more just to get people in. So higher pay, equals less people hired. Society still hasn't figured out what it really wants out of retail. They expect that every store should price match every online price. Therfore, in order to maintain margin, less people on staff.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Kinda makes you just want to go out and buy gift cards instead!

My hunch is that the stores did not ramp up staffing levels enough for the Christmas / holidays shopping season. Seems like some of the brick and mortar, as well as online retailers, are a bit overwhelmed with the demand. There's really no excuse for that. (Note: I've read in the past that many merchants make up to 50% of their yearly sales during the last 2 months of the year, due to holiday shoppers.) So the "rush" is nothing new at this time.

Yes, the excuse is that where you were paying peons minimum wage a few short years ago, you're now paying those same peons $15.00+/ hour for the same quality of work...so much for the "you get what you pay for" argument. Errors will continue to increase when you're hiring temps without the infrastructure to train them properly. You want to order something now and pick it up in store or have it delivered in 2 hours...something's got to give.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Quick update.
Part of my Disney order came a qhile ago and I was charged for that portion.
I noticed I was charged with the other portion on the 18th but still had no shipping update for that portion.
Finally today I decided I just had to find out what was going on since they were Christmas presents and I ordered before the deadline Disney had set for those items to receive them by Christmas.
I spent 50 minutes on hold which I have never had to do in my life.
I found out that portion would not be coming until DECEMBER 30TH!
Of course I was upset. I asked for compensation and I was told I could get a refund of 25% for that portion of the order.
She realized that was not all that much of a discount since that portion of the order wasn't terribly expensive so she also gave me a $20 code for my next purchase that will show in my email in 3 days.
I think its fair but still upsetting with less gifts under the tree for my family to open.

 

[disney4life2008]

Its nuts because myself, my sister, and my parents have enountered this just int he last few days.

My parents bought a couple things from Kohls and walked out to the car scratching their head then my mom realized they were not charged for something.
They went back in and paid for it.

My sister ordered something for her daughter and 2 of the same thing came. She's taking it back to the store.

I ordered some clothes for my nephew and I got several emails apologizing for the shipment delay and they said it would ship out today. I got it in the mail today and I was not charged for it and it seems as though I'm going to receive another package at some point.
I can't even get a hold of this company right now because they are so behind and their customer service on the website isn't working and the phones are so jammed up I can't get through.

One other thing is I bought a few things from ShopDisney and the payment was pending on my Disney Visa which is usually the case until it ships.
Today when I was looking to see if I was charged for the other store I noticed the ShopDisney was no longer pending but also not in the activity section.
I have not gotten any email saying its delayed or not coming etc so its like what the heck is going on here lol.

Anyone else having crazy issues like that this year?

Wait you weren't charged and you paid for it? Why

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Wait you weren't charged and you paid for it? Why

Are you talking about my parents experience I shared?
Because my mom had an attack of conscience.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

And now the package did come in time. So I wonder if they are shipping it again???
Yikes this has been quite the ordeal.

 

[Stripes]

I agree - Amazon has been great - even though I don't have prime and have to wait longer than you guys. But omg - walmart is driving me nuts.

Ordered something 3 weeks ago online with store pickup - was supposed to arrive last week. Got an email "don't come to the store yet - shipment delayed". Heard nothing else since - unfortunately, you can't cancel onsite like you can with Amazon if they haven't shipped yet. But the real kicker - the stupid item is on their website in stock and ready for pickup same day in a couple of hours!

Someone please explain to me how the heck they're filling new orders on the exact same item immediately, but ignoring customers who ordered weeks ago and are still waiting? Chatted and emailed - reps were useless. "Sorry you're experiencing problems - thanks for shopping WM" Wouldn't do anything.

Unbelievable.

Amazon has a fantastic system of checks and other redundancies to help eliminate mistakes. A lot of mistakes are caught by Amazon’s technology.

Similar systems are used in stores that have a sophisticated Omni channel fulfillment system.

 

[Stripes]

Its nuts because myself, my sister, and my parents have enountered this just int he last few days.

My parents bought a couple things from Kohls and walked out to the car scratching their head then my mom realized they were not charged for something.
They went back in and paid for it.

My sister ordered something for her daughter and 2 of the same thing came. She's taking it back to the store.

I ordered some clothes for my nephew and I got several emails apologizing for the shipment delay and they said it would ship out today. I got it in the mail today and I was not charged for it and it seems as though I'm going to receive another package at some point.
I can't even get a hold of this company right now because they are so behind and their customer service on the website isn't working and the phones are so jammed up I can't get through.

One other thing is I bought a few things from ShopDisney and the payment was pending on my Disney Visa which is usually the case until it ships.
Today when I was looking to see if I was charged for the other store I noticed the ShopDisney was no longer pending but also not in the activity section.
I have not gotten any email saying its delayed or not coming etc so its like what the heck is going on here lol.

Anyone else having crazy issues like that this year?

Hmm. I used to work for Kohl’s. With regard to your sister that received two of the same items, did she get charged for both? Sometimes a customer will leave something in the shopping cart and not realize it’s still in there when they go back to the item and hit “add to cart” again. If not, someone probably grabbed two instead of one by mistake and were rather careless when they were shipping them out. Kohl’s has people working 24/7 on fulfilling online orders in stores and distribution centers around the country. Often people aren’t very attentive at 3 am. (Yes, even when your Kohl’s store is closed, there are still people working inside particularly during the holiday season.)

With regard to your delayed shipment, 99% chance that’s because initially the system sent your order to be fulfilled at a relatively close store whose inventory showed they had the product in stock, and it turned out they didn’t have it (when people steal, our inventory count doesn’t change). In order to expedite the shipment and prevent further delays they send the order to a distribution center where inventory is much more accurate and product is easier to locate, but it‘s often much further away, and distribution centers receive a lot of orders.

Not making any excuses for the company. I’m just trying to think of reasons why this might’ve happened.