I cannot believe the experience that I have just had with the online NBA store and I wanted to e-mail you to get this off my chest. They are a monopoly which is why this feedback will probably go ignored. But by the end of today, I will have filed a complaint with the supervisor of NBA.com, posted this article on my blog, e-mailed NBA.com, e-mailed Amazon.com, e-mailed the local paper, e-mailed the local sports talk radio station and sent this to the corporate offices. I am extremely angry and it’s rare to ever see me ever this upset, so this must have been a REALLY bad transaction.
BACKGROUND
In May of 2007 the Warriors were in the middle of their playoff run in the first round and I said to myself I need a jersey! So naturally I go online and I am hesitant on buying any specific players’ jersey because of shaky futures after this season. My thoughts were that Jason Richardson would most likely be traded and Baron Davis with his track record of injuries was questionable to remain. I did the math and I decided not to spend $70 on a replica jersey and go in for the long haul and buy an authentic Jersey customized with my name on it that will last many years to come. It was my hope to even wear this jersey when my corporate team went to playoffs.
The grand total with express 2 – 3 day shipping came out to be $224.64. This is no small chunk of change but for the Warriors I was willing to do it!
The next step was to convince the wife and she graciously allowed me to do so. Warrior fever was in the air and I got approval.
Simple Purchase Process:
Desired Goods -> Cost Analysis-> Executive Approval -> Buy Online -> Procure Product -> Ship to Home
You figure you want to give someone some business so this should be simple right? I don’t think so!
TIMELINES
5/4/2007 – I placed an order for my authentic customized jersey. Here is the receipt of my order.
Immediate Notes:
The NBA Online Store receipt tracker is the worst communication vehicle I have ever seen. Being in the Software industry I think I know a good tool when I see one and this isn’t even close.
- Contradictory Statements - The receipt says it’s “Shipped on May 4, 2007” but then sets the delivery estimate at May 22, 2007 – May 28, 2007.
Being a reasonable person I knew that I should most likely trust the delivery estimate and not the May 4, 2007 date. But a part of me still held out hope that NBA.com could make this product that fast in time for round 2! Like all of us that make online purchases, I checked the front door and the receipt daily, but no jersey and no updates.
- I called in sometime at the end of May to take off the expedited shipping because the Warriors were out of playoffs so I was no longer in a hurry. The operator told me that this product was already invoiced and they could not make any changes, but I could call back for a credit when I got my product. That would mean I would have to receive the product first though!
6/19/2007 – Over 1 and a half months later still no jersey. I called the online NBA number and they said they don’t know what happened to this order and that they would open a ticket and look into it.
7/3/2007 – I get this e-mail below that my order was cancelled!
Cancelled item on your NBA/WNBA Store order
From: CUSTOMERSUPPORT@THESTORE.NBA.COM
You may not know this sender. Mark as safe Mark as unsafe
Sent: Tue 7/03/07 4:08 PM
To:
Dear,
We were unable to ship the item(s) below from order XXXXXXXX
due to lack of availability from the manufacturer. We apologize
for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If we can be of
assistance in selecting an alternate item, please contact us at
1-866-746-7622 or internationally at 1-715-261-9588. You may
also visit our website at store.nba.com. Thank you for
your continued business.
Sincerely, NBA/WNBA Customer Service
7/5/2007 – I call in to check on my order and that is the explanation I got above. They did refund the money but I did not get any alternative! I still have no jersey and I am told they can’t get their hands on one!
SUMMARY
This transaction was extremely upsetting because of the lack of accurate communication, the lack of urgency on client orders, broken processes and no ability to remedy the situation. The facts are that I waited for 2 months while my expectations were that I would have had a jersey in my hand at the latest in 24 days. What is really irritating is that I had to be the one driving and inquiring where the heck my product was. The system was lost and did not feedback to the client! Not surprising since it appears that no one knew, not the phone operators, not the tool and definitely not the system. At the end of all of this I had no solution, no jersey, no option for a jersey and a shoulder shrug and a black hole from the supervisor. So here I am now 2 months out, money returned that I was happy to spend and no jersey for next season or my corporate basketball league. All I have is this letter to share with you all. Thanks a-lot NBA.com, your service sucks.
BACKGROUND
In May of 2007 the Warriors were in the middle of their playoff run in the first round and I said to myself I need a jersey! So naturally I go online and I am hesitant on buying any specific players’ jersey because of shaky futures after this season. My thoughts were that Jason Richardson would most likely be traded and Baron Davis with his track record of injuries was questionable to remain. I did the math and I decided not to spend $70 on a replica jersey and go in for the long haul and buy an authentic Jersey customized with my name on it that will last many years to come. It was my hope to even wear this jersey when my corporate team went to playoffs.
The grand total with express 2 – 3 day shipping came out to be $224.64. This is no small chunk of change but for the Warriors I was willing to do it!
The next step was to convince the wife and she graciously allowed me to do so. Warrior fever was in the air and I got approval.
Simple Purchase Process:
Desired Goods -> Cost Analysis-> Executive Approval -> Buy Online -> Procure Product -> Ship to Home
You figure you want to give someone some business so this should be simple right? I don’t think so!
TIMELINES
5/4/2007 – I placed an order for my authentic customized jersey. Here is the receipt of my order.
Immediate Notes:
The NBA Online Store receipt tracker is the worst communication vehicle I have ever seen. Being in the Software industry I think I know a good tool when I see one and this isn’t even close.
- Contradictory Statements - The receipt says it’s “Shipped on May 4, 2007” but then sets the delivery estimate at May 22, 2007 – May 28, 2007.
Being a reasonable person I knew that I should most likely trust the delivery estimate and not the May 4, 2007 date. But a part of me still held out hope that NBA.com could make this product that fast in time for round 2! Like all of us that make online purchases, I checked the front door and the receipt daily, but no jersey and no updates.
- I called in sometime at the end of May to take off the expedited shipping because the Warriors were out of playoffs so I was no longer in a hurry. The operator told me that this product was already invoiced and they could not make any changes, but I could call back for a credit when I got my product. That would mean I would have to receive the product first though!
6/19/2007 – Over 1 and a half months later still no jersey. I called the online NBA number and they said they don’t know what happened to this order and that they would open a ticket and look into it.
7/3/2007 – I get this e-mail below that my order was cancelled!
Cancelled item on your NBA/WNBA Store order
From: CUSTOMERSUPPORT@THESTORE.NBA.COM
You may not know this sender. Mark as safe Mark as unsafe
Sent: Tue 7/03/07 4:08 PM
To:
Dear,
We were unable to ship the item(s) below from order XXXXXXXX
due to lack of availability from the manufacturer. We apologize
for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If we can be of
assistance in selecting an alternate item, please contact us at
1-866-746-7622 or internationally at 1-715-261-9588. You may
also visit our website at store.nba.com. Thank you for
your continued business.
Sincerely, NBA/WNBA Customer Service
7/5/2007 – I call in to check on my order and that is the explanation I got above. They did refund the money but I did not get any alternative! I still have no jersey and I am told they can’t get their hands on one!
SUMMARY
This transaction was extremely upsetting because of the lack of accurate communication, the lack of urgency on client orders, broken processes and no ability to remedy the situation. The facts are that I waited for 2 months while my expectations were that I would have had a jersey in my hand at the latest in 24 days. What is really irritating is that I had to be the one driving and inquiring where the heck my product was. The system was lost and did not feedback to the client! Not surprising since it appears that no one knew, not the phone operators, not the tool and definitely not the system. At the end of all of this I had no solution, no jersey, no option for a jersey and a shoulder shrug and a black hole from the supervisor. So here I am now 2 months out, money returned that I was happy to spend and no jersey for next season or my corporate basketball league. All I have is this letter to share with you all. Thanks a-lot NBA.com, your service sucks.
11 comments:
Damn them, what kind of business are they running? I guess you need to spend 10 times more in order to be considered a valuable customer!
dang that is terrible! they should offer you a bigger discount than 20%!
Alan, I feel your pain. I'm trying to get an issue resolved with them right now where I actually received two customized jerseys, but the customization was incorrect.
Mine's a little more complicated in the fact that I had already been credited back the purchase price and shipping fees because of delays in getting the items to me in the first place.
Now, the only way they say it can be resolved is for me to re-order at a 50% discount, which in principle doesn't sit well with me because I now have to pay for their screw up.
I'll be posting the story on my own website if this doesn't get resolved soon.
Hey Dave sorry to hear this. Yes I don't know what they are doing over there but there is a very very broken process. Keep talking to their supervisors to get a credit at least for another item down the line.
Wow, I"m looking for a warriors jersey because next week we are going to washington to watch a game and I want to surprise my husband, but after I read your blog, Now I'm afraid we are not going to have it here on time... well, I think I would ask somebody in California to buy it and ship it for me... I guess that's going to be easy...
I'm sorry for your waiting and at the end your lack of jersey...
Hi Ale,
I think the standard NBA store stuff is available, customization is a whole nother story.
Good luck!
Alan
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