Levenger

Full review
Ordered a Sheaffer Prelude Monogrammed Rollerball pen from them, May 15th in order to beat the Graduation Rush for a Graduation May 27th 2006 commencement.

Yes, I researched it among comparable stores & I knew their price was $20 ABOVE the market price for the pen, but I could not locate another place I could get the pen monogrammed upon ordering it. So I purchased it with them via their Online website.

Levenger.com online instructions say that they will send you an e-mail and give you shipping confirmation upon "shipping it" from their warehouse . They also say they will NOT charge your credit card until they ship the item. They don't practice what they tell you in print.

It is now 10 days from whence I ordered it, I have NOT received an email from them,however my AMEX Card was charged the SAME DAY I ordered it (the ONLINE AMEX site confirmed this). According to the CSR they "Mailed" it from their ("in transition shipping department" in Memphis Tenn) May 18th, 3 days later. Huh?
Levenger.com CSR says it was "MAILED" via Priority Mail NOT the FEDEX Ground shipping as they promise on their Online website. The customer is advised to use their $8.00 Special Shipping on pens over $50.upon making the order!
Had I known in advance that this was NOT ground shipping but mailing, I would NOT have chosen it. Levenger is charging double the price for USPS Priority Mail which costs $3.85 but they charge you $8.00 !
What is so special about this??? Except that Levenger.com makes double the amount on shipments!
The US Postal Service says Priority Mail is a usual 2-3 day but a maximum of 7 day service for mailing items.

If you choose Rush Service offered on the Levenger Website which is 2-4 day service; (after a 1-3 day processing time) the charge is $13.00. So they offer 7 day service for $13 !!

It is now one week from the day they said they mailed it, we have not received it at a street address in NW, Washington, DC. What kind of C-R-A-P is this? Levenger.com customer service agent said that I did not check the box for shipping confirmation upon ordering it so they have no tracking number for the package ? &^%$#@!?
What kind of policy is that? It only costs .50 cents for USPS delivery confirmation. Now what happens if my pen gets lost in the mail? They have no way to track it?

The check box for shipping confirmation is located within the same box that says you want Levenger.com to constantly email you for sales at their stores. No one I know wants another SPAM source,thanks but no thanks. You are right no one would check that box,intentionally.

Unknowing to Levenger.com I also ordered 2 Sheaffer Prelude pens from Sam's Club.com on the same day as I ordered it from Levenger.com, however they were MPT (multipurpose Ballpoint/highlighter pens) one for me & one I was getting for the Graduate to accompany her Monogrammed Rollerball pen. I received both of those pens in 3 days from Sam's Club in Arkansas; shipped UPS ground ! They [Sam's] charged $7.75 for HONEST UPS ground shipping.

Price of shipping is not the problem here,honesty is. Had Levenger.com been upfront about mailing instead of ground shipping I would have elected for faster; more expensive service. As a previous reviewer noted, I have a problem with their honesty when it comes to how they allege they will do it one way in print, then they end up doing it differently in practice.

I will update this report to let you know exactly when I receive the pen. [All of the following information was found out after I made 2 telephone calls to the Customer Service Department.]5/26/2006 Today I looked at the BBB.org
rating on the company, it was UNSATISFACTORY due to some of the same issues discussed here. Should have come here before I bought, next time I will !

Update:
June 2,2006 Item came via a box that had priority mail stamp on it, however box did NOT have a postmark on it, to tell you when it was actually mailed. Was mailed from a private suite address in Memphis Tenn. Item took 15 days from time of order to be delivered. Had I known that, I never would have opted for the 'special shipping' listed in their catalogue. What a ripoff.