Have I Been Scammed?

[Scubacollie]

Hi All, first post on these forums.

I ordered an Otterbox on Saturday for my Galaxy Note 2, and immediately after ordering i received an email confirming receipt of my order and confirming the order no.

I then went to that email on Wednesday evening and see a hyperlink for 'check your order status'.

I followed this link, typed in my order no., surname, and postcode, but it couldn't find my order.

I then sent an email to their customer service department and received a quick response within an hour which basically said 'I'm very sorry to hear that you had not been updated already on the progress of your order. I did some searching and was not able to find any orders under your name. When you placed the order, did you receive a confirmation email with an order number? Thanks, have a nice day!

Two things smell regarding the above, firstly i had already advised them on the email form that i had received an email confirmation, and secondly i had to quote the Order No. on the email form so he's asking me to confirm two things that i have already confirmed at the start.

So, i emailed him straight back, confirming the order no. and i had received an email, and i also forwarded a copy of the email i received back to him, and also sent another email via their Support email page, however to date i haven't received a response since....

The money has been taken out of my bank account, so my question is has anybody else experienced any similar issues?

The main reason i ordered directly from Otterbox was because i didn't want to risk not getting the item or getting a fake Otterbox, but i must admit i now wish i had ordered from Ebay or Amazon......

The only option i now have is to phone them (an international call rate!), which i would rather not do, as i don't want to add even more expense to an already expensive piece of plastic.....

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! That sounds frustrating. But Otterbox is one of the best known case companies in the US, so my guess is that you're not being scammed. Where do you live? It's entirely possible that when you sent your email, it may have already been too late at the Otterbox office for anyone to respond.

Give them another day, but it wouldn't hurt to be persistent (but polite!). It's important to save that email order confirmation. I would also send them a copy of your bank statement showing the transaction. If it was an Electronic Funds Transaction, there ought to be a name associated with it.

 

[Rukbat]

They're located in Colorado. I don't know if they're in the recent flood area, but that could mess them up for a while if they are. (Some buildings that used to be in that area don't exist any more - even the streets that they were on don't exist any more.)

 

[Scubacollie]

Thanks guys for your responses.

I am in the UK. I've received another email from them this afternoon 'Thank you so much for contacting us! I am so sorry for the confusion. We did receive your order on September 30th, it began the shipping process on October 1st and your order is currently in transit to you. Again i apologise for the confusion. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns'.

So looks like it is on its way!

Strange how its still not showing though on the 'check status' link......doesn't recognise my order no. or my post code.....

 

[B. Diddy]

Maybe it has to do with the international nature of the transaction?

 

[Scubacollie]

Still not received, sent another email to Otterbox stating my disappointment with their service, I have never experienced such poor level of service from any company before like this, makes me wish I ordered it off Ebay now.....

 

[B. Diddy]

It's only been 4 days, though--how are they sending it? If it's going overseas and if you're not paying a lot of money for expedited delivery, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a week or more to get to the UK from Colorado. When I order something in the US, it can take upwards of 2 weeks if I pick the free shipping option.

 

[Scubacollie]

I ordered it on 30/09....

 

[B. Diddy]

Oh, I know that's when you ordered it--but from your email exchange with them, it sounds like they might not have processed the order until you made light of it to them on 10/4.

 

[Scubacollie]

Although their email and my post above is dated 04/10, they state in their post that my order was received on 30/09 and shipped on 01/10.....

 

[Rukbat]

That's one week. Surface shipping from the US to the US can take 8 days. (UPS Ground is 3-8 days.) Colorado to the UK? Two to three weeks wouldn't surprise me. And if it gets hung up in Customs in the UK, add whatever that takes. (And you know how fast government agencies can be.)

As long as they responded and gave you a shipped date (a tracking number would have been nice too), I wouldn't get too worried.

 

[Scubacollie]

Hi Rukbat, im in the UK and apparently my item comes from Ireland.....its been 8 days now.....at least they have responded again this evening and have told me to allow between 8-10 days.

Just worries me that my order doesn't exist on their website.....

 

[Scubacollie]

Still not hear 10 days now and counting....

 

[Scubacollie]

Arrived about 1745 tonight!


Delivery note inside stated order date 29/09 and shipping date 30/09 but date on outside of envelope stated 07/10.....which I think is most likely.

Still im just happy it has arrived, I was worrying as only just paid ?170.00 to have the screen replaced due to dropping it and have been carrying it around like an egg about to crack for the last 2 weeks!

 

[Rukbat]

Great that you got it, and that a company I trusted, while they may have miscommunicated a bit, is still honest.

Enjoy it.

 

[Scubacollie]

Cheers Rukbat yeh well happy with it, its definitely the best phone case ive ever had, fantastic product!