Does an order confirmation absolve a merchant of responsibility?
January 19, 2015 11:28 AM Subscribe
I ordered heavy, cast iron materials for a construction project. I made an initial order, and then a follow-up.
The first shipment went to the correct shipping address, which was different from the billing address. When I made the subsequent order, there was no discussion regarding where to ship. It was like, now send us item x. The second item was sent to the billing address.
This is a 40 pound item that was shipped overnight priority, so the shipping cost was substantial. And the item now needs to be returned, so I will incur additional shipping expense. The merchant claims that because they sent an order acknowledgement before they shipped, which indicated where the item was headed, the cost of the original overnight shipping and return shipping is on me, because I did not call to have them re-route the shipment. I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment, I discovered the error when the shipment arrived at the wrong location.
These items were charged to American Express, so I can dispute the charges. My question: is the merchant correct? Does the order confirmation absolve them of responsibility for what (I perceive) to be an error on their part? Was it my responsibility to review the order acknowledgement carefully and get back to them immediately?
My hope is that the information I obtain will assist me in framing the dispute when I contact American Express.
I am hoping to hear from mefi’ers who have specific knowledge of the standards for these types of transactions, as opposed to those who wish to offer their own sensibilities regarding who is right or wrong.
This is a 40 pound item that was shipped overnight priority, so the shipping cost was substantial. And the item now needs to be returned, so I will incur additional shipping expense. The merchant claims that because they sent an order acknowledgement before they shipped, which indicated where the item was headed, the cost of the original overnight shipping and return shipping is on me, because I did not call to have them re-route the shipment. I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment, I discovered the error when the shipment arrived at the wrong location.
These items were charged to American Express, so I can dispute the charges. My question: is the merchant correct? Does the order confirmation absolve them of responsibility for what (I perceive) to be an error on their part? Was it my responsibility to review the order acknowledgement carefully and get back to them immediately?
My hope is that the information I obtain will assist me in framing the dispute when I contact American Express.
I am hoping to hear from mefi’ers who have specific knowledge of the standards for these types of transactions, as opposed to those who wish to offer their own sensibilities regarding who is right or wrong.
At my company, the billing address is static and the shipping address is case by case, if that makes sense.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 11:51 AM on January 19, 2015
posted by lakersfan1222 at 11:51 AM on January 19, 2015
If they sent over an order acknowledgement and you didn't read it, that's on you.
Correct. You didn't state a delivery address, so they defaulted to the one on file (which happened to be the billing address) and they sent you confirmation of where they were going to send it before they sent it. You had all the information but didn't give it to them, basically, and if you make someone else assume, you take responsibility for the accuracy of their assumption.
I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment,
It wasn't an error on their part, though - you didn't give them a shipping address, so they took the default address (which is standard practice). If you had, and they'd wrongly delivered it, then you'd be right in disputing the costs and the return costs, but this is entirely on you. You didn't give them the information in the first place, had the means to spot the error before it cost you anything, but didn't do your due diligence. You dropped the ball, basically.
Sorry, but this one is on you. I do these kinds of transactions on a regular basis and it is always the customer's responsibility to ensure the details you send to the supplier are correct. They had no way of knowing the second item went to the same place as the first and no 'alternative shipping address' specified means ship to address on file in every transaction I have done.
I am hoping to hear from mefi’ers who have specific knowledge of the standards for these types of transactions, as opposed to those who wish to offer their own sensibilities regarding who is right or wrong.
To be honest with this disclaimer it kind of sounds to me like you know you're in the wrong, but you're hoping for some supporting evidence from some 'standard'.
posted by Brockles at 12:02 PM on January 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
Correct. You didn't state a delivery address, so they defaulted to the one on file (which happened to be the billing address) and they sent you confirmation of where they were going to send it before they sent it. You had all the information but didn't give it to them, basically, and if you make someone else assume, you take responsibility for the accuracy of their assumption.
I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment,
It wasn't an error on their part, though - you didn't give them a shipping address, so they took the default address (which is standard practice). If you had, and they'd wrongly delivered it, then you'd be right in disputing the costs and the return costs, but this is entirely on you. You didn't give them the information in the first place, had the means to spot the error before it cost you anything, but didn't do your due diligence. You dropped the ball, basically.
Sorry, but this one is on you. I do these kinds of transactions on a regular basis and it is always the customer's responsibility to ensure the details you send to the supplier are correct. They had no way of knowing the second item went to the same place as the first and no 'alternative shipping address' specified means ship to address on file in every transaction I have done.
I am hoping to hear from mefi’ers who have specific knowledge of the standards for these types of transactions, as opposed to those who wish to offer their own sensibilities regarding who is right or wrong.
To be honest with this disclaimer it kind of sounds to me like you know you're in the wrong, but you're hoping for some supporting evidence from some 'standard'.
posted by Brockles at 12:02 PM on January 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
there was no discussion regarding where to ship
This is not true. The order confirmation was the discussion. Both parties made assumptions, which wasn't great, but they did communicate their assumption to you before acting on it.
posted by lesli212 at 12:07 PM on January 19, 2015
This is not true. The order confirmation was the discussion. Both parties made assumptions, which wasn't great, but they did communicate their assumption to you before acting on it.
posted by lesli212 at 12:07 PM on January 19, 2015
Was it my responsibility to review the order acknowledgement carefully and get back to them immediately?
Yes - the order confirmation is to make sure you both agree on the details.
posted by soelo at 12:09 PM on January 19, 2015
Yes - the order confirmation is to make sure you both agree on the details.
posted by soelo at 12:09 PM on January 19, 2015
I guess I don't know how to answer this without asking, what else did you expect them to do? Let's do a little gap analysis on their process.
Receive order for shipment to specified shipping address.
If there is no shipping address, assume same as billing address.
Send confirmation to customer.
If no objection from customer, ship.
Seems like it happened exactly as planned. Now, that's not to say there's no improvement that can be made. After all, an unhappy customer is to be avoided no matter whose fault. They could make you explicitly write something in for shipping address like "same as billing address" and call if you don't. They could hold up your shipment until you send them something in writing confirming the shipment information (but I'm not sure that would have helped, if you didn't notice the error.)
I don't think it's unreasonable (to the point of being responsible for the cost) on their part to assume no specified shipping address means "same as billing address." It would be much more dangerous (plus involve extra homework) for them to assume a shipping address you used last time for who-knows-what reason.
Ask for a credit on your next order, maybe they'll be nice because it's kind of a joint communication fuck-up. I wouldn't count on it though. Add to your OWN shipping procedure a note that if shipping address is not the billing address, CALL and confirm with the shipper. And lesson learned: when someone sends you something to verify is correct, verify it is correct.
posted by ctmf at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2015
Receive order for shipment to specified shipping address.
If there is no shipping address, assume same as billing address.
Send confirmation to customer.
If no objection from customer, ship.
Seems like it happened exactly as planned. Now, that's not to say there's no improvement that can be made. After all, an unhappy customer is to be avoided no matter whose fault. They could make you explicitly write something in for shipping address like "same as billing address" and call if you don't. They could hold up your shipment until you send them something in writing confirming the shipment information (but I'm not sure that would have helped, if you didn't notice the error.)
I don't think it's unreasonable (to the point of being responsible for the cost) on their part to assume no specified shipping address means "same as billing address." It would be much more dangerous (plus involve extra homework) for them to assume a shipping address you used last time for who-knows-what reason.
Ask for a credit on your next order, maybe they'll be nice because it's kind of a joint communication fuck-up. I wouldn't count on it though. Add to your OWN shipping procedure a note that if shipping address is not the billing address, CALL and confirm with the shipper. And lesson learned: when someone sends you something to verify is correct, verify it is correct.
posted by ctmf at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2015
The merchant claims that because they sent an order acknowledgement before they shipped, which indicated where the item was headed, the cost of the original overnight shipping and return shipping is on me, because I did not call to have them re-route the shipment.
That is correct.
I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment, I discovered the error when the shipment arrived at the wrong location.
That's on you.
My question: is the merchant correct?
Yes.
These items were charged to American Express, so I can dispute the charges.
Don't. Just don't.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
That is correct.
I did not see the error on the order acknowledgment, I discovered the error when the shipment arrived at the wrong location.
That's on you.
My question: is the merchant correct?
Yes.
These items were charged to American Express, so I can dispute the charges.
Don't. Just don't.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:21 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
My hope is that the information I obtain will assist me in framing the dispute when I contact American Express.
Yeah, this is probably not going to fly. Taking your second order as a discrete transaction, they did exactly what you asked them to. (And did not do what you failed this time to ask them to.)
Maybe if you had been shipping to the same address for 20 years you'd have a case for "same as always" being a reasonable assumption, but 1 transaction does not make that happen. And I'd still be on your case for assuming anything in a business transaction, when it's just as easy to verify everything.
posted by ctmf at 12:39 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this is probably not going to fly. Taking your second order as a discrete transaction, they did exactly what you asked them to. (And did not do what you failed this time to ask them to.)
Maybe if you had been shipping to the same address for 20 years you'd have a case for "same as always" being a reasonable assumption, but 1 transaction does not make that happen. And I'd still be on your case for assuming anything in a business transaction, when it's just as easy to verify everything.
posted by ctmf at 12:39 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I work in a field where we make repeated orders to vendors all the time.
Absent a long and very trusted relationship with a particular vendor over months if not years, I would always assume I needed to clarify details like shipping address. And even then, I'd probably say something like "Shipping info is the same as the last shipment," I wouldn't just leave it to chance.
I'm not in the habit of double checking quotes for this sort of information, so I feel your pain on not catching it in time. But, yeah, by not specifying the shipping address and not catching the mistake on the quote, there's nothing for it. These things were your responsibility, and you didn't do them, and now you have to pay to fix the screwup.
posted by Sara C. at 1:36 PM on January 19, 2015
Absent a long and very trusted relationship with a particular vendor over months if not years, I would always assume I needed to clarify details like shipping address. And even then, I'd probably say something like "Shipping info is the same as the last shipment," I wouldn't just leave it to chance.
I'm not in the habit of double checking quotes for this sort of information, so I feel your pain on not catching it in time. But, yeah, by not specifying the shipping address and not catching the mistake on the quote, there's nothing for it. These things were your responsibility, and you didn't do them, and now you have to pay to fix the screwup.
posted by Sara C. at 1:36 PM on January 19, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 11:48 AM on January 19, 2015 [5 favorites]