Coastal.com Coastal Contacts Dishonest, Poor Customer Service, Low Quality Products Vancouver, British Columbia

22nd of Feb, 2013 by User214491

Coastal.com is a dishonest, deceptive company. The customer service representatives and managers are rude, dismissive, and dishonest. If there is anything you grasp from this review, please let it be that this company, and it's employees are very dishonest, rude, and dismissive. They treat customers like trash, all the while pretending to care about the inconvenience their lies, horrible customer service, and poor quality products cause to you as a customer. DO NOT be fooled by their fake empathy, apologies, or fake caring. They truly do not care. Actions speak a lot louder than words. Their actions are dishonest and unethical, hinging on criminal. They pulled a bait and switch shipping scam. I don't know what they do in Canada but promising customers one thing and providing another is called baiting and switching and it's illegal. I belong to an association which offers a benefit club to it's members. The benefits are discounts for products, services, and sometimes other memberships (Sams Club, Costco, etc.) A few weeks ago the benefits club sent me an email advertising an offer from Coastal.com. The offer included a free upgrade to overnight FedEx shipping. If one did not opt for the free upgrade your items were still supposed to be sent FedEx 2-3 day ground shipping. The offer also included a free pair of eyeglasses to new customers. (More on that later.) I picked a pair of glasses (free pair - you get what you pay for!) and began the checkout process. Once at the checkout I noticed there was no way to upgrade my shipping to overnight shipping at no extra charge, as advertised. I connected to a customer service rep via the website's chat feature. The rep told me that Coastal.com was not honoring their advertising for the free upgrade to overnight shipping. Apparently Coastal.com had neglected to contact FedEx BEFORE offering this upgrade. When they did contact FedEx, Coastal.com learned that it was not to their advantage to honor the upgrade. The customer service rep offered me a $5 discount for the "inconvenience." I accepted. I should have run like hell, but I felt that at least they were trying to make it right. I was told to order the glasses and then email the rep with the order number. The rep told me that after he received my email he would apply the credit to my order and that my card would only be charged for $5 less than the order amount. A few days later I checked my bank account and learned that Coastal.com had put an authorization on my card for the full amount, without the discount. I contacted my bank. They told me that I needed to contact the merchant (Coastal.com) about the issue because they can only authorize what the merchant sends through. I emailed the rep at Coastal.com. She never responded. A day later I returned to the website and entered the chat area again. I got the same rep. I told her about what happened. She began to argue with me saying that the bank was wrong. I told her that I was calling the bank and filing a dispute. I disconnected the chat and called the bank. The bank took my complaint and told me that they were sending me an affidavit to file a formal dispute against Coastal.com. In the meantime a supervisor from Coastal.com called me. She again told me that the bank was wrong and that Coastal.com has a way of changing an authorization amount AFTER it has hit your card. She assured me that I would receive the discount. She also told me that she was going to try to upgrade my order to overnight shipping. She told me my glasses were being shipped FedEx 2-3 day ground on 2/18. she gave me her email and advised me email her with any problems. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! You would think I would have learned my lesson about Coastal.com reps answering emails after the first rep never responded to my email. A few days passed and I went into my account at Coastal.com to see when my order was shipping out. Their system showed that my order was shipping out on 02/19 and was not expected to reach me until 3/5 and that it was being sent via USPS--not FedEx. I emailed the supervisor asking her why their system was saying something completely different than what she told me. The supervisor never responded. Three days later I called Coastal.com. It was 2/18 by that point. I was given the runaround. The supervisor I asked for was not in, she was unable to take calls, on and on. I told the last rep I spoke with I was going to contact their corporate office. I did call but no one answered the switchboard. No big surprise there. At this point a second supervisor calls me about an hour later. She's all empathy and she's going to fix this matter, so she says. She tells me that my glasses should be there that very day, 2/18. I explained to her that 2/18 was President's Day and no mail was going to be delivered. Sarah, the supervisor insisted it would. OR the next day, 2/19, at the very least. I asked her why the glasses were sent from their lab in Washington state via USPS rather than FedEx, which is what the advertised, charged me for, and promised. Sarah told me that USPS is faster than FedEx. Maybe in Canada, but not anywhere else on the globe I'm aware of. 2/19 arrived and no glasses came. I emailed Sarah and advised her my glasses did not arrive. Sarah wrote back that she would check on the matter to see what was going on. I asked her in my follow up email why they kept lying about my glasses. I told her they are a horrible company, and they are. She tried telling me that my glasses were going to arrive later that day. I advised her that my mail had run for the day and the mailman was not coming back. I called the post office and gave them the USPS tracking number Sarah had given me. The manager at the post office advised me that the glasses had never left Coastal.com's Washington lab. A shipping label had been created, however, the item had never been put in the mail. The manger told me that the item could take another week to arrive. He advised me that the item was sent regular mail. Sarah wrote me back, chastising me about my email to her. She told me that she didn't intend to lie to me. She was only reading me what was on the screen. She also complained about the meetings she has to attend and her schedule AND having to deal with my issue. I wrote her back telling her that she has a lot of nerve to get offended and chastise me when Coastal.com caused the whole issue. Sarah wrote back and admitted that her email had a "tone." I told her at that point that I think someone from the corporate office should be brought in. The next thing I know my phone rings. It was from an unknown number. I did not answer. I listened to the voice mail and it was Tanner from Coastal.com. He wanted to talk about the situation. I work full-time and go to school full-time. I'd been emailing back and forth and trying to track the glasses with the post office for an hour. I was tired and I was pretty disgusted. I declined to call Tanner back. The next morning I checked my email before leaving and saw an email from Tanner. I decided to deal with it when I got home. Later I read the email and Tanner apologized for their poor performance, etc., etc. I wrote him back. I gave him feedback about my experience and the quality of the glasses I received. A word about their glasses. HORRIBLE. The frames I got from them are the worst frames I've ever owned and I've worn glasses most of my life. The frames are thin CHEAP metal frames with a horribly ugly design on the sides of the frames. The glasses are called PERSPECTIVE. Never order these glasses. They're the ugliest, cheapest, most uncomfortable glasses I've ever owned. The lenses were DEAD ON. Whoever they use for a lab are great. The frames: HORRIBLE. Tanner told me the frames are their "house brand" and stated he had not gotten too many complaints on them. The only way that can be possible is because people are not ordering them. You get what you pay for, but still...those frames are not fit for human use. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Tanner told me that he wanted to offer me another pair of glasses "on us." I accepted his offer. I thanked him for his generosity and admitted that I'm embarrassed by the look of these glasses. They are also very uncomfortable. I purchased light weight lenses, however, the glasses are heavy and give me a headache. Tanner made his offer three days ago. He has yet to respond to my acceptance. I doubt if he will. I have moved on. I found Zenni.com which is another website for online glasses. Zenni's selection is much larger than Coastal.com's. I will be placing an order with them. The moral of this story: When a company lies to you again, and again, and again, RUN. Don't walk, but run to the nearest exit. Don't look back. Coastal.com is a dishonest company. Their products are not on par with other online eye glass retailers, and they are dismissive and rude. You get what you pay for. Any company giving away free glasses should be an warning siren. Don't be fooled the way I was. I don't have vision insurance and thought I could save a few bucks. I did save a few bucks but wasted a lot of time and now own an ugly, cheap, uncomfortable pair of glasses that I have to replace anyway. Shame on Coastal.com and shame on me for falling for their desperate scam for customers.

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