One more thing:
They arranged for the pickup and shipment- AND they provided you with instructions. Did those instructions state that you needed to obtain a receipt?
Instead of "I neglected to get a pick up receipt" your position should be "their agent picked up the item and failed to provide a receipt, furthermore they failed to inform me they wanted me to demand a pickup receipt from their agent".
You are being incredibly patient- some might say to a fault?
I'd charge it back, provide a bullet proof rationale- when the credit card company sustains your chargeback, I would shop for a unit elsewhere. Northstar has made it abundantly clear what they think of your business.
Thank you, this is was sound advice and I used it today.
The logistics guy called me and I assured him it was his problem as I did everything exactly as he asked. This guy asked me everything again, had to actually ask if he had paper and a pencil this time because it was at least our 4th or 5th phone call and I was done repeating myself. After we spoke I let him know I would only be working with NorthernTool after this and to speak with them as I had told him to do so before.
I called back NorthernTool and worked with the same Rep and Supervisor. I must say if there is any consolation, I at least don't have to work with anyone new and they understand everything. After I provide my update, they asked for the logistics guy as I guess he never even reached out to them, even though I provided their info on every call. Talk about a huge communication gap. The rep was very kind and asked if she could have 1 hour to gather the data, call the logistics guys boss and call me back.
After about 30 mins she called back and asked for the picture of the pallet that I had taken. She said that the logistics guys boss is going to have someone search the warehouse for this pallet to see if it shows up, however since the work day was almost ending she wouldn't have an answer until tomorrow.
I let them know how I felt about this situation as now I have a few necks to choke. I let the rep know that they have 24 hours to resolve the issue and refund my purchase or I will go the way of the credit card.
So will wait and see what happens, the clock is ticking on their end now. NorthernTool is still a decent brick and morter store if you can work directly with the store, but after this ordeal, I'm never shopping there again. More business to Harbor Freight. From the beginning they should have just mailed out a new one and collected the old one at a later point.3
Once you tell the customer service rep you're going to do something that would end up costing northern more money, they're a lot more accommodating to you. I've found that out at most companies.
Chargebacks cause them to give you a full refund as well as pay a fee for the bank's effort, so northern would have paid for the shipping company, for the pressure washer refund, the bank's fees, and would be out the product and the time their employees spent on all of this.
They care a lot more about their problems than your problems, so make it become their problem.
Yup, it's sad that it had to come to this, especially from a frequent customer, but more and more businesses seem to not give a ****. Lose 3 but 4 new customers mentality.
Very true... Unless instructions explicitly say that, how is a common person supposed to know? When you drop off a package at the post office, it just goes in a slot and it's just the good faith that they will deliver it. When UPS picks up a package they just scan it and go... (Well... Unless it's insured for $1,000 or more, then it is tracked very very carefully in their system with a complete chain of custody. But those are rare exceptions for most people.)
This is exactly what I'm used to. If I have to return an Amazon item I just set it on the porch. I'd even be willing to bet if it was stolen Amazon would refund the money anyways. No signiture and I'm not there.
I vaguely remember someone commenting (on GJ?) about a year ago that the store locations operate as separate entities from the online store site for customer service.
If you called the online site, they directed you back to the local store and that was as far as they would help the customer. These were also people who traveled ~1-2 hours to p/u their stuff to save shipping.
This may be, I called their main customer service hotline and was given a rep. So I'm working with someone from their HQ I'd assume.
This sounds like such a nightmare, just commenting to leave you some moral support RSVR!
Hah thanks! Though it was ordered almost 2 months ago, this actually was a Father's Day gift from my wife. She knew I wanted this one. She also feels terrible about this. Hopefully they can just refund the credit card promptly and I can go find a local place for a comparable pressure washer.
