Q Talk

[gardensla]

I just spent a bit of time on the Kohl's Facebook page where THOUSANDS of super angry customers have posted about orders placed on Black Friday and still not delivered. Some highlights: orders stuck in fulfillment for 3 or more weeks with no option to cancel; wrong items shipped; customers charged multiple times for the same order (one persons was charged 12 times) with no refund expected for 45 days.

More write about orders cancelled outright (ordered on Cyber Monday and cancelled by Kohls today, 12/20). When a tracking number is provided, that info is outright incorrect. Customers trying to call customer service are holding for an average of 50 minutes and then speaking to reps in foreign countries with language barriers and who have no accurate, current information. Total and epic failure.

All of this is happening because Kohl's CEO chose to outsource to overseas companies many of the vital departments in the fulfillment chain and also elected to use Fedex Smartpost exclusively as their carrier.

Now QVC may not be competitive in terms of shipping costs and they too have been a bit sluggish in order processing and delivery of late (note to QVC-this is usually due to your use of Fedex Smartpost), but when I have a problem all I need to do is call CS and it's solved. No drama, no begging, no ineffectual canned responses. And, all done right here in the USA.

While the Q isn't perfect (after all Amazon is huge just like the Q and they turn orders around instantly and deliver within days), I think I'll absorb their elevated shipping and handling and wait a few extra days for my stuff rather than chase Kohl's discounts, coupons, cash awards!