Office Depot

Full review
I had ordered a wireless router from officedepot.com on 9/16, and I was quite pleased to find there were two rebates for the router, so I could get it for $50 off.

My order went through, and gave me a scheduled delivery date of 9/19, it even included free shipping! Needless to say I was happy with the deal I was supposed to be getting.

The next day, I told my boss about the deal, and he was interested in the same product, so he tried to order one. By the time he got online to order it on 9/17, they were on backorder. Luckily mine, when ordered, said it was in stock.

On 9/17, my order said that it was no longer processing my order and the status was now 'shipped by 3rd party vendor'. I was confused that they didn't give me a tracking number, but I was still happy.

9/19 came and went, no package was delivered. I thought there might have been shipping delays with the storm (Hurricane Isabel), so I figured it would be sorted out. 9/20 came and went, still no package. I was starting to get upset.

I e-mailed customer service on 9/22 giving them my order number, etc. to ask if they had any information regarding my order.

On 9/23, not getting any response to my e-mail, I called their customer service line to see if they could help out. I talked with a pleasant lady saying that she would flag my order and send it to one of the departments that investigates late deliveries. She said they would be in touch with me within 2 hours. She made sure she had the correct contact number for me, and I hung up.

I didn't receive a call within the two hour window, or at all for that matter. I come into work today (9/24) and I have an e-mail stating that the order has been voided because their vendor was out of stock of the routers. They also stated that they tried to call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx, but they said it was a disconnected phone number. After confirmation of my phone number on the day before, they had managed to mix up two numbers in the area code. Furthermore, the e-mail that I received had all my customer information on it, including the CORRECT telephone number.

This brief dealing with Office Depot tells me that:
1. They can't keep track of their stock, because they also sell from 3rd party vendors whos inventory they aren't aware of.
2. They have horrible customer service, promising to call me within two hours and not calling at all.
3. They incorrectly stated that my shipment has been sent from the vendor, when it obviously has not.

This has been the only organization (online or off) that has failed to give me even adequate customer service. I've had things happen like this before, but the solution was always quick, and never left me feeling so frustrated before.

I'd advise you to look somewhere else before buying on officedepot.com, especially if it is a particularly high-demand item.