Just Because...: Redeemed From The Trenches: HSN...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Redeemed From The Trenches: HSN...

Well, after the Priceline Debacle, I have to give kudos to where kudos is due. Gateway is STILL in the doghouse but you know what - HSN did right by moi.

After publishing the last blog, I decided to call HSN and find out what's holding up the whole process of the Battery Return. No surprise that Gateway still has not yet alerted them to the return. No surprise that Gateway, rather than sending it overnight, sent it ground and that, in and of itself, would have violated the terms of the return contract with HSN if I had not kept my paperwork. No surprise that Gateway didn't give them the "top secret code" that I had to lose my mind to get which is their internal reference. Thankfully, I have the little "tracking" slip that the FedEx Kinkos gave me (Gateway doesn't let you just go to a Fedex Facility - it HAS to be a FedEx Kinkos that closes early and won't be open on weekends for shipments) and through the wonders of CSR Angels: Michelle and Senior Supervisor Debbie, they both raised hell over at Gateway and *viola.* All of a sudden, Gateway said "Oh yeah - we got that ummmm... 2/15/08" Dingbat - I sent it back 2/11/08 and explained it to Debbie of the hoops that Gateway insisted I go through to return everything. And, I had the paperwork to back me up - timestamped and everything. Debbie didn't waste any time. Gateway was out of pocket.

Debbie took care of me and I did tell her what an ace they had with Michelle as a CSR. She really is a pro. Gateway should take notes from them. Again, like I said, good job deserves recognition. Bad job calls for retraining. Horrible job - let's not go there. Your gal needs to keep the blood pressure down. And, HSN believes in customer retention so she's going to talk to her higher-ups about the drama that way they can avoid that in the future. She's also applying the credits so that it can finally be taken care of (and USAA processes quickly so your gal will have the money in a flash).

In the interest of full disclosure, at the end of everything, Debbie did also give me a coupon for a future purchase which, under protest from me and refusals of "That's not why I called", she insisted on putting it on my account. Note that the coupon did not pull them out of the doghouse - the actions of Debbie and Michelle did. I buy other things from HSN like entertaining stuff from Colin Cowie, Huggable Hangers and Terry Lewis leather jackets (delish!). I don't go crazy spendy there, but I do browse from time to time.

And, looking out from above, my putting it out there of wanting a blue Fujipix digital camera for the trip. Not finding one in any store around town for reasonable prices (or colors - c'mon ORANGE? Do I look like an orange gal?) led me to find a lovely gem on HSN's site which I did get for the Philly trip (because y'all need pictures, right?). Plus, I applied cash back and the coupon which led it to be MUCH lower than Circuit City was wishing for. Already HSN had it for $60 cheaper than the one I saw in the store and so I upgraded my shipping and it will be here Monday. I was going to purchase it anyways but I was still on the fence.

Am I pleased with HSN - you bet. They weren't the idiots. Am I livid with Gateway still - yes, but I'll work through it. Will it affect me buying a Gateway again - sure. I refuse to deal with idiot customer service and sadly the Gateway call center was missing a few marbles. However, I'm not going to penalize HSN for the actions of one vendor. They are applying my credit which evens everything out.

Bad Day turned to Good Day. And, I'll be damned if I'm not going to make a lemon drop martini out of lemons when life hands me a big bowl.

Labels: Blog 365, Cash Back, Guilty of Idiocy, Redeemed From The Trenches, Shopping, Soapbox

Posted by Lys :: 7:28 PM :: 2 comments

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Thursday, February 21, 2008