After trying to buy something from Harvey Norman recently and being unable to, I have a feeling that I might have been banned, so wondering if it is a thing.
Here's a bit of a Christmas story from the last time I bought something there.
I'll try and keep it as short as possible.
Background
- Happened about 1-1.5 years ago
- Placed an order from Harvey Norman for a laptop online for 2.5k
I arrived there and found out that the laptop had been opened up. I told them I'm not accepting that, they should've told me that it was opened before hand so I don't waste my time coming here.
They then offered to allocate stock at another store since they had none left, which I accepted. I was told that I would get a confirmation from the store they allocated the stock to by phone or by email. I waited for about 1 week, then realised they didn't do squat.
Called up the store and asked what's going on. They said it was never allocated. A bit annoyed at this point, but not enough for me to make a big deal out of it, so I just asked for a refund.
1 week passes and no refund, the store is kinda close to my house and I drive past it pretty regularly. Thought I'd go in to have a chat. After spending ~20 minutes chatting, they tell me that the order was made online and they can't do squat to refund it. They tell me to ask for a refund through their online store. Weird, but I'm still willing to play along with them. They can't provide me a phone number and tell me to use the online form.
Go home, do what they ask. Take over a week before they get back to me, only to tell me that they can't do anything because the item is marked ready to pick up at the store I ordered it from.
NGL, I was pretty furious at this point. I have never been in a situation where the customer is asked to go fetch their own refund (at no fault of my own). I do what they asked, only to speak to a bunch of people who are telling me they can't do anything. But anyways, I send a reply email but heard nothing for 2 weeks
At this point, it has been over 1 month and they're still holding onto my 2.5k.
Drive by their store again, and decided to come in for a chat. Explained to them what happened since I last spoke to them. Literally, they tell me the exact same thing, that they can't do anything about it.
I explain to them why it is unacceptable for them to tell me that they can't do anything, because they don't seem to understand.
i.e.
- The store stuffs up
- Holds onto customers 2.5k for over 1 month at this point
- Tells customer they can't do anything about it
- Refers to the online team, who also say they can't do anything about it and is super unresponsive
- Store still says they can't do anything about it
After explaining that, they say they "understand my frustration" but can't do anything about it.
I was ready to rip someone's head off at that point, but basically starting pointing criticism at them for stuffing up and not take any responsibility whatsoever. This went on for about 40 minutes, manager jumps in at one point and gave the same spiel and brushing off responsibility.
Told them someone need to take responsibility and I'm taking that person's name so I can hold them responsible. I get someone's name and go home.
At this point, I was pretty fed up dealing with their incompetence. My next step would've been to complain to the ombudsman and seek interest, but the refund eventually came almost 2 months later (3 months from date of f up).
Going back to the original question, is getting banned a thing through payment processing?
TLDR:
- Store stuffs up order
- Store says they can't process refund, tells to submit online form
- Online says they can't process refund
- Go back to store, store says they can't process refund
- Spent a shiton of time to convince them that it is their responsibility to process the refund, not customers
- Eventually get refund 3 months later
I had a very similar experience with Amazon recently when I purchased a thermos (THERMOcafe by Thermos). It had scratches, a dent and arrived without any packaging. I was annoyed as you could save a few dollars if you bought a used one from Amazon and paid extra for a new one (couldn't believe they sell used ones - I'd hope they're new returns though). Sent Amazon pictures and asked for them to arrange a courier to pick it up from my house (I don't have an Australia Post all that close by and can't get there because of my work hours) but they said their provider couldn't currently do a pick up and that I'd have to drive to an Australia Post to return it. I complained as why should I have to take time off work and waste my fuel to rectify their mistake for a $15 item - they ended up just refunding it and telling me to throw it away. I then bought another type of thermos from Amazon.
I also had a similar experience buying a pair of Razer smart glasses/sunglasses from Amazon (sent by Amazon US). Paid extra for new ones and a used pair arrived. I was happy to send it back as I had time off from work but Amazon just told me to keep it and they'd give me a full refund (probably because it came from overseas). Not bad as they cost about $130 AUD.