It's $6, and maybe someone made an honest mistake!

This post was edited by millworkman on Fri, May 16, 14 at 21:16

If he had said they made a mistake, I would not be mad at all. He simply said that this error had "never happened before", & to go ahead and pay the $6 and he would send me the $6. I thought that was an odd response. Anyway, I had already refused delivery and told the man. He said it was probably still at the P.O., they're "so slow". Well, it had left the P.O. already to be sent back. I asked for a full refund bc frankly, he just sounded a bit shady in his reactions. I just felt that if they could not be trusted to fulfill this sample order as promised, what else could go wrong?

Well, just got off the phone with Steve, he claims he never got the package back that I refused delivery on several weeks ago, said the P.O. must have "lost it". He won't refund the $12 I spent to have three tile samples shipped to me. I'm going to file a complaint with the Arizona BBB.

This post was edited by suel41452 on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 13:26

Over $6? Wow.

It's not the $6, it's the shady way Steve does business. If I ordered tile and half if it arrived broken, I'm perfectly confident he would claim I broke it.

Over $6, heck yes! As a business man, he knows the value of a happy customer, if he was willing to loose a client and his reputation over $6, how can you be certain he wouldn't take the money and run? He simply doesn't care. I don't want to put my money in a business run by someone who doesn't care.

The good news is I found the exact bone-colored, beveled 3x6" subway tile at Home Depot (sold on their website, it's not sold in their store)! It's Jeffrey Court "Pearl White" for 4.99 a sq. ft.! Definitely not white, a nice bone color! And no shipping charge, yippee!!

Followup: I filed a complaint with the Arizona BBB, but Anchor Bay Tile did not respond to the BBB's repeated inquiries. After months they gave up & decided they deserved an F rating.
Today, at long last Anchor Bay Tile refunded my $12 along with this curious note to PayPal:
"Refund for AnchorBayTile Order # 8985 placed on May 10th, 2014. The samples box was returned to us empty. To provide good customer service we will refund the samples charges in spite of this Post Office error. Thank you"
Now, I refused delivery on the box and our mailman sent it back unopened - how did it get empty??? Post Office error? So they're saying the postman stole the samples??Really weird company. I'm just happy to get my money back, though.

Thanks, Mayflowers. It wasn't about the money per se, just that I felt they were lying. If they were operating in good faith, they would have had a plausible explanation for the BBB instead of blowing them off.
Honestly I had forgotten about the whole episode until today when I got the PayPal message.
I just didn't want someone else to have a bad experience, possibly involving a large amount of money.

You did the right thing by keeping after this guy. I bet he doesn't act so unconcerned the next time. I bought an electric toothbrush on no more rack . it broke within about two weeks. This brush was priced at the company website for over $100.
They would not give me a refund. I called the company and they said no more rack should refund the money and said if they refuse tell them to call us and ask for supervisor. No more rack wouldn't do it and kept saying it had no warranty. I told them I would never do business with them again and would not read anymore of the e-mails they sent me. Then later a facebook page for the manufacturer popped up and I went on and told my story so everyone could see it. I got an immediate response from the company and they sent me a new toothbrush and a tooth whiteing pencil. So it does do some good to complain when you think you have been treated unfairly. I told them if it had been Target or Walmart they would have given me a refund or another brush at once. Anyone who thinks you need to "grow up" is wrong. If we all stick together we can help each other get a fair deal. Thanks for keeping on keeping on.
Jane

I would bet that he got the tile back just fine but didn't want to admit it after trying to give you the runaround.

Anyway, thanks for posting. There are so many sources for things online these days and it's not always easy to know who's trustworthy.

Thanks, scozzaro and spanky md!

The BBB gave them an F rating for this? Shouldn't one question their rating system if one customer complaint over a $12.00 error could net a company an F rating? (not that I ever paid any attention to their ratings system in the first place). I wonder if they will give him an A now that he has issued the refund or if they will make him pay for the privilege: Pay to be a member, get an A.

Here is a link that might be useful: 20/20 investigates Better Business Bureau

This post was edited by jellytoast on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 8:34

I don't know anything about this other than what was written here. I do agree that it would have been worth the while of the guy to make nice and just resend the tile samples and refund the postage. I get why he's cranky--people "lose" tile samples all the time, because they want to keep them, or use them for a free tile. When you place a full order with a company, they don't mind when you keep the samples, but they do have to pay for them.

I once asked to borrow a setup board from a nearby store on a totally unbusy weekday, since they didn't have a loose sample. They were reluctant, took a photocopy of my driver's license, and ran my credit card through an imprinter. I told them it would only be an hour. I drove it home and checked it, and it didn't look good at all, but I did take ten minutes to answer a phone call. When I got back to the store 45 min. later, their mouths hung open and their eyes bugged out. I said, "I'm sorry it took so long--I had an important call." They said they couldn't believe I brought it back. It was a display. It's not the kind of thing you keep for awhile. They said that they figure when someone says "an hour" they mean a week from next Thursday, if ever. It's sad.

That's no reason for the guy to take it out on a client, however. He could charge a refundable deposit if he's getting ripped off, and still be nice to customers. However, the story sounds more like the mailman is the real culprit, trying to pocket $6, then keeping the tiles...was it your regular mailman whom you trust?

"However, the story sounds more like the mailman is the real culprit, trying to pocket $6, then keeping the tiles...was it your regular mailman whom you trust?"

That must have been some desperate mailman!

I can see why he was cranky too. All that was necessary was to pay the remaining $6 postage mistake and contact the company about the discrepancy. I am certain they would have taken care of the error with a photocopy of the receipt. This has happened to me and has never been a problem. While aggravating to get hit with unknown shipping costs (which I don't like to spend much on), if you are dealing with a company (not an ebay seller or something), they are used to handling these mishaps and take care of them as they arise. I see no reason whatsoever that wouldn't have been done here also. Once you start refusing delivery and sending it back you are costing the company unnecessarily wasted time and money.

No one heard the exchange with "Steve", only one version posted on the net. And I agree - all lost faith In regards to the BBB who would assign an F to a company for something like this; or even hear a case over $6-$12 (that sounds more personal than business related). I can hereon out consider their reviews and credibility meaningless, as they provide no real details. Good to know.

The Anchor Bay Tile website still has the following info regarding buying sample subway tiles:

Samples cost $2.50 per sample. Shipping for samples is a flat $4.50 per shipment. (Regardless of the amount of samples, the shipping is $4.50.)

Well, I ordered 3 different-colored sample tiles for a total of $7.50 plus $4.50 shipping for a total of $12. I still don't understand why I was asked to pay an additional $6. I wouldn't have ordered 3 samples if it would have cost me $18.
However, each of you are entitled to your own opinions.

There was an error. Next time, if you don't want to chance paying and resolving later, ask the PO to hold the package until you contact the company. I think they hold packages for about 3 days before returning to sender.

The shipping terms are clear on the website, so no reason they would hold you to more. They must have a special bulk rate and somehow things got mixed up. Now with a marketplace seller on ebay or amazon, you could run into trouble without clearing things up beforehand.

It seems likely that the shipping department simply neglected to stamp the package with the proper postage. It sounds like a mistake, not an attempt to cheat a customer.

Companies are not always notified if there is a BBB complaint. He might not be a BBB member. If he's not he would have to pay to join to respond and might not have thought it worth it over a $12 compliant.

The F from the BBB was not because of the complaint, it was because the company completely blew off the BBB when contacted about the complaint. Makes perfect sense to me.

Maybe these particular tiles were big/heavy. Who knows at this point...

BBB is a total scam, just like Dun and Bradstreet...as long as you are a paying customer and pay for all the silly reporting that they offer you get a great rating, as soon as you stop paying you are dropped down in points/grade

What a strange story this is....why not pay the $6 and deal with them directly?

"The F from the BBB was not because of the complaint, it was because the company completely blew off the BBB when contacted about the complaint."

Obviously the BBB puts as much thought into their F ratings as they do their A ratings. Fail to respond to an inquiry about "delivery issues" (their words, not mine) that they have NO RIGHT to make and they will give you an F?? Sounds like a bully to me. A telemarketing PITA bully. I wouldn't respond to them either. Their rating system is meaningless and this example illustrates that perfectly.

This post was edited by jellytoast on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 8:33

I don't know about the BBB in Arizona, but here in Roanoke, VA good companies DO respond to BBB complaints with their own side of the story. Very often it is the consumer who seems to be unreasonable ... and the reader can make the call as to who is at fault.
schicksal, these subway tiles samples were 3"x6", not very big & heavy.
ajc71, I was a bit in shock about the extra $6 the postman said I owed, and that wasn't part of the deal. The postman suggested I refuse delivery, and I agreed. The company made the error, not me.
When I called Steve immediately after the incident, he was not in the least apologetic for his company's error, sneeringly said I should have paid the extra $6 his tone implying I was being ridiculous and mockingly said he'd send me a check for $6, & I should get the package back from the PO because "the PO is so slow, I know it's still there".
I considered doing that and I did call the PO, but they had already shipped it back. I called Steve back and told him that, and I asked for a refund. He said "IF I get them back" (like he didn't believe he'd get them) he'd refund my money.
That story of his that the "box was empty" I believe is false.
But maybe there are a bunch of Newmans running the Arizona POs.
But like I said, each is entitled to their own opinion.
If I ran a company & made an error like that, I would immediately apologize to the customer for the extra shipping charges and resend the 3 tiles according to the original deal, or give the customer a full refund, their choice. But that's just me, I guess.

I think you handled it well. I know it's not about the money for you. I am not one to suck it up just because the amount I've been cheated out of is small. I think that's what has contributed to the deterioration of service and quality in many parts of business today. People have a defeatist or don't care attitude, so the businesses get away with it and it becomes modus operandi. You know that old saying "You teach people how to treat you". I'm sure this isn't the first time the old penny pincher has sent out tile with postage due.

Thanks, Mayflowers.
And maybe I didn't make it clear, but I didn't file a complaint with the BBB right away. A month after sending back the samples, I called Steve. He claimed he never received the box at all. It was only after he said that that I filed a complaint with BBB. Now his claim is the box was empty.

Great link to the 20/20 investigation on the BBB. Even the Attorney General of CT states the BBB is not an organization people can trust or have confidence in. The review system is a sham, which they demonstrate undercover how it works. Paying their exhorbitant fee of $400 to join will restore a grade to an A! Companies are held hostage, their grades are for ransom. Even five star Wolfgang Puck and the Ritz Carlton blow them off and refuse to play their money extortionist game.

Very enlightening expose. Quite a racket. Thanks for posting it.

That's not how the BBB in VA works!
Tons of businesses are NOT BBB accredited and have A+ ratings. That is because they've had no customer complaints that have not been resolved.

BBB works that way everywhere, just google BBB scam and read all about it

It is like all these "best of" magazine issues that come out.....there is no best of anything, it is all about who is the best paying advertisers in that particular magazine

For a business to receive ONE customer complaint for such a small amount of money and then receive an F rating simply because they did not respond to the BBB's inquiry should be considered criminal. They bullied this business and when they didn't respond, they took it upon themselves to give the business an F. Not for cheating a customer, but for FAILING TO RESPOND TO THEIR INQUIRY. Not a B, not a C, not a D, but An F!!! That is just absolutely ridiculous.

The BBB is not the IRS. It is not a government organization ... there is no law that says a business has to respond to their inquiries. The BBB made their own rule: do what we say or suffer the consequences. The BBB claims to be regulating businesses when there is no one regulating them. The BBB is a scam. Whether or not they give some unaccredited businesses A's is irrelevant. Their grading system makes no sense, offers not a stitch of concrete evidence to customers, is completely made-up, and has no guidelines, as is evident by this example.