# ZZounds: Ultimate fail (no hate)



## willith (Oct 9, 2008)

Wasn't sure where to put this- figured it'd go under "gear" since that's what I was _trying_ to buy....I know some people have been asking about other places to order besides MF and what their experiences were. So I thought I'd share my most recent experience...


I went to purchase just a 10 band eq pedal from Musicians friend- they're out of stock until the end of the month, so I figured, what the hell why not try some other place that has it in stock.
So I called up zZounds.com, placed the order, said they'd send me e-mail confirmation of the order and another email tomorrow saying it shipped out- easy enough.
Next morning (today) I check my e-mail, and they say there is a problem with the billing information I provided. WTF...so I call them up (call #2) and inquire as to what the problem is. They say the billing information isn't correct. So I **figured** it was the zip code. I live in an area that has two similar zip codes (ex: 01221 and 01121) they both basically cover the same place and can be used (and have been used) interchangably with no problems.
They say "ok...we'll let you know" Sure enough, I get another e-mail from them saying the exact same thing as the first one.
I call them up (call #3) At this point I'm already pretty annoyed by this because I've used the card without problems at least 8 times in the past two weeks...and this has NEVER been a problem. I talk to a girl this time, asking what the problem is- she puts me on hold to try and figure it out. Four minutes later she comes back on the line and says they tried calling my bank multiple times to get it straightened out and that this is a security measure put in place to protect ME. 
I tried to ask her how this was protecting me when I already gave them all my information and was only ordering ONE thing. (I'm assuming people who make fraudulent purchases aren't modest shoppers...but maybe that's just me?)

She cut me off before I could finish and went off on this rehearsed speech- at which point I was finished with them. I asked her to stop talking. She didn't. I asked her again.....and again......and AGAIN to STOP TALKING and to just let me cancel the order. It was the rudest customer service I've ever experienced on the phone.
She finally stopped and I gave her my speech which went something to the effect of "This is the first time I've ever ordered anything from this company. Not only will I never order from here again, but I will tell every person I know, to avoid you at all costs." Being that I go to a music school, I'm assuming I know more people who shop online for music/gear than the average person.
She said something fast about canceling my order and HUNG UP ON ME. I couldn't even ask her to repeat what she said...because she HUNG UP ON ME.

At this point I'm in a less than chipper mood- I call them back and ask the guy who answers to let me speak with his supervisor. He asks my name, what this is regarding, etc. and puts me on hold. He comes back 4 minutes later and says he's getting ready to transfer me...one minute later- I get HUNG (hanged?) UP ON- AGAIN!

I would've called them back, but I had class, so I won't be able to call them back til tomorrow. I got an e-mail about an hour or two later saying that they had in fact CANCELED my order- like I told them to.
So at this point you're probably wondering "why even call them back? Yeah, she was a cunt, but whatever, life goes on." I'd agree with you. However....

I just checked my Bank of America account online and saw this:






After all two emails and three phone calls of them saying they couldn't process the order because of "blah blah blah"......THEY DID IT ANYWAY!! And then they canceled the order too!

So there's my experience....and I should have some updates for you tomorrow.



Cliffs:
-Tried to order from zzounds.com
-Said they couldn't process my order because of "wrong billing information"
- Tried to cancel my order
- zzounds.com cancels my order...and then bills me for it
- Worst customer service ever...hung up on twice.
- Avoid zzounds.com at all costs.


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## zimbloth (Oct 9, 2008)

Yeah most of those places are owned by MF anyways. The only mail order places I like dealing with are AMS and Sweetwater.


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## D-EJ915 (Oct 9, 2008)

zimbloth said:


> Yeah most of those places are owned by MF anyways. The only mail order places I like dealing with are AMS and Sweetwater.


AMS zzounds and samedaymusic are the same afaik, at least their inventories are or seem to be


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## zimbloth (Oct 9, 2008)

D-EJ915 said:


> AMS zzounds and samedaymusic are the same afaik, at least their inventories are or seem to be



...and Music123.


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## D-EJ915 (Oct 10, 2008)

music123 is owned by musiciansfriend...and wwbw and I think there's another one as well


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## Drache713 (Oct 10, 2008)

Okay dude, I work in the orders department at the company I currently work at (overstock and open box electronics). I see and hear about this type of stuff happening all day long, every single day. I'm not trying to defend ZZounds cause it does sound like they had provided you terrible customer service, and for that they are wrong. And I realize you're frustrated with them, but in the end they ARE trying to protect not only you, but themselves too. You have no idea how much companies like this or the one I work at get fucked over or screwed over thanks to fraud, even on little purchases. If I have an order without an address that verifies, you better believe I'm not processing that order. I don't care if it's $2000 or $20, if the address doesn't verify I'm not processing it, it's unfortunate but the world is such a shitty place to live in these days that these type of measures have to be taken.

What they SHOULD have told you to do was contact your bank to see what was up and what address the bank has on your account, more often than not it is the bank's fault and they have the address screwed up or incorrectly put in their systems. Then you could have provided them the bank phone number so they could call and verify the address with them. Blame the individuals for the shitty customer service, don't blame them for the company policy or trying to protect people.

As far as the credit card charge goes, that's a pre-authorization/pending charge. It hasn't been finalized and it will go away within a couple of days. My company does the same thing. I think it's shitty that it works that way instead of waiting to charge the customer until AFTER everything verifies and I disagree with how that is set up, but not much I can do about it. 

Bottom line is, I understand you're upset, and they did provide terrible customer service and could have handled the situation more appropriately and professionally. But try to understand and see things from their point of view, I'm speaking from experience because I'm the guy on the other end that gets the furious calls and e-mails from customers in your situation that are so irate that they won't try and see the big picture and understand things from the other side.


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## willith (Oct 10, 2008)

Drache713 said:


> As far as the credit card charge goes, that's a pre-authorization/pending charge. It hasn't been finalized and it will go away within a couple of days. My company does the same thing. I think it's shitty that it works that way instead of waiting to charge the customer until AFTER everything verifies and I disagree with how that is set up, but not much I can do about it.




That doesn't make sense to me....if they couldn't process the order beyond a point- then how could they run the card and bill me for it? To me, that sounds like "well we went ahead and charged you, and NOW we'll make sure it actually is your card." 

If the billing address was wrong- and they couldn't process the order because of that, then the pending charge would have never showed up. Those charges only show up after the transaction goes through. This happened to me before (that's why I *thought* it was the zipcode again)....but I never had a pending charge from that company while we tried to figure out the problem.

I think since it has already posted- they will have to go back and credit my account. I have NEVER seen a transaction simply "disappear" a few days later. They have to make some sort of transaction to show what took place.

I dunno though, we'll see. Should be interesting....


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## Drache713 (Oct 10, 2008)

willith said:


> That doesn't make sense to me....if they couldn't process the order beyond a point- then how could they run the card and bill me for it? To me, that sounds like "well we went ahead and charged you, and NOW we'll make sure it actually is your card."
> 
> If the billing address was wrong- and they couldn't process the order because of that, then the pending charge would have never showed up. Those charges only show up after the transaction goes through. This happened to me before (that's why I *thought* it was the zipcode again)....but I never had a pending charge from that company while we tried to figure out the problem.
> 
> ...


Dude, trust me. I work with this stuff EVERY DAY. I'm on my way out the door now to go do it again today. Whatever payment company they used may have approved the charge, but the merchant is verifying everything before they "accept" it. See, the store doesn't charge you directly, they have to go through some sort of merchant services to charge the card. The charge was approved, but it hasn't been "accepted" by the actual store/merchant. If they're set up anything like where I am is, they voided the charge and it will disappear in a few days.

Now I'm not agreeing with how that is set up. I personally think that they should wait to put the card through to merchant services until AFTER they verify everything, but like I said before in my previous post I don't get to make up that rule. Just because the charge was accepted through merchant services doesn't mean the information verified, technically none of the information could verify and the charge could go through, your bank is the one that tells merchant services whether they approve the charge or not. So blame your bank for your order being processed without information being verified, not the store.

I'm not trying to be condescending or talk down to you, I'm just saying I deal with this EVERY day, I do this for a LIVING. I KNOW what I'm talking about. And I wish customers (including you) could see and understand my side of things.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Oct 10, 2008)

Well, what happens if this happens at the end of the month and you get charged interest on it? I've had this happen before, and ate about $10-$15 because the exchange rate on the US dollar turned against me, and I got charged interest on my credit card. I actually told then to cancel it because they wanted me to SCAN my credit card, e-mail/fax them a copy, of both sides. That to me is sketchy as hell, and not very secure. Anyways, I ended up telling them to go fuck themselves (in polite terms) after telling them what I thought of their policy, and they ended up shipping it anyways, after I hadn't verified anything. Needless to say I was pissed. I returned the package to the sender, and like I said, I ate the exchange rate and interest on my credit card because I had to wait for the shirts to return to them before I got my cash. I know it's no one individual's fault, but it's still a piss off and makes you not want to order from a company again. I can understand the policy is there to protect the company, but I expect whoever I'm talking to to understand that I'm pissed off because you're probably going to eat some cash, especially if it's an international deal, since they don't sell any cool shit in Canada.

My experience is with a t-shirt company btw, not music gear, but the experience is still similar.


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## HighGain510 (Oct 10, 2008)

While that sounds like a shitty situation, if you were as rude to the girl on the phone as you're posting above (repeatedly saying "stop talking" ... seriously?) I don't blame her for rushing you off the phone. No offense, but I work in a face-to-face IT role which means heavy emphasis on good customer service and interpersonal skills so I know what it's like to deal with people when they are being total douchebags, and while she was wrong to rush you off the phone or hang up I can totally relate to her situation and it sucks for her too. The speech she was reading off is part of her job and if they're monitoring the call and she DOESN'T give you ALL the information, she might get written up and if she doesn't give that information constantly and consistently she could get fired. I believe they have metrics for that kind of thing as a lot of call centers like that do. Just something for you to think about.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Oct 10, 2008)

That's true too, but if a customer tries to interject and talk about something, you don't talk over them. If the customer hangs up, you read the canned response and hang up, it shows you tried, and you can't get in trouble. I worked in a call center for like 4-5 months before doing cold calls, that sucked


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## HighGain510 (Oct 10, 2008)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> That's true too, but if a customer tries to interject and talk about something, you don't talk over them. If the customer hangs up, you read the canned response and hang up, it shows you tried, and you can't get in trouble. I worked in a call center for like 4-5 months before doing cold calls, that sucked



I agree, however if he was getting rude/pushy with the chick and just telling her to do stuff, she still has to finish that little piece of literature. She probably figured he wasn't going to listen anyways! 

Also, not a shot at the OP but I've seen a few of his posts in the P&CE section and he does seem to easily get bent out of shape and jump off the deep end (he told Boober to essentially fuck off yesterday, yet still wasn't banned! ) if someone disagrees with him. Just to put things into perspective, if he came at her with that kind of attitude I feel badly for that chick on the other end of the phone conversation!


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## newamerikangospel (Oct 10, 2008)

I worked in a callcenter for 2 and a half years, then did banking, so the parrellels are quite similar. 

The people you call are doing a job, and while you are frustrated, think about what it is like if someone comes to your job, and treats you like you are stupid. Even though someone may be incompetent, that doesn't mean that they cant be nice. Alot the callcenter reps put up with the stuff like the "stop talking" crap, so that means that you are in a prime position to reap the rewards from these people (think of a girl on the rebound from a bad relationship). Be overly nice to these people, and they will generally do anything they can for you, and possibly pester their supervisors for whatever they can do. You approach makes people run the charges on your card. She may have been able to manually override the information if you were nice about it. But when your angry, they use that power against you. These people can see your address, your card number, your name, and all of the security crap (CSV, bank codes, ect). Do you really want to make one of them spiteful against you? They could ruin your credit history pretty easily (charging your card 3-4 times), and while they will risk their job for it, they aren't held responsible (they cant be personally sued). Respect them a little bit.

And as for the card thing, you get pissed because you couldn't order a $120 thing because of card verification? So how pissed would you be if someone else order $800 worth of stuff using your card, and no one had stopped them? People want to be protected, but never inconvienenced :roll:

Im sorry you feel that you were wronged, but this doesn't deter me from ordering from this company.


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## willith (Oct 10, 2008)

HighGain510 said:


> While that sounds like a shitty situation, if you were as rude to the girl on the phone as you're posting above (repeatedly saying "stop talking" ... seriously?) I don't blame her for rushing you off the phone.


I asked her to stop talking- I didn't tell her to "shut the fuck up" etc.- so I don't understand where your sympathy for this woman is coming from.
If you worked in a call center, then you should KNOW you don't talk over someone REPEATEDLY- especially when they ask you to STOP.




newamerikangospel said:


> And as for the card thing, you get pissed because you couldn't order a $120 thing because of card verification? So how pissed would you be if someone else order $800 worth of stuff using your card, and no one had stopped them? People want to be protected, but never inconvienenced :roll:



The amount of the purchase is IRRELEVANT. On top of that, I don't think you even read the OP. They weren't protecting me, they were inconveniencing me. I don't know of any place I've ordered online that DOESN'T have a policy exactly like this....yet this is the first time I've ever had a problem. I gave them the correct information- they just completely dropped the ball.

BTW- if somebody did order $800 with my card #- I'm only responsible for $50. Get a new card, new account- sure it's an_ inconvenience_, but I'm not out $800.



> Im sorry you feel that you were wronged, but this doesn't deter me from ordering from this company.


ok.


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## HighGain510 (Oct 10, 2008)

newamerikangospel said:


> I worked in a callcenter for 2 and a half years, then did banking, so the parrellels are quite similar.
> 
> The people you call are doing a job, and while you are frustrated, think about what it is like if someone comes to your job, and treats you like you are stupid. Even though someone may be incompetent, that doesn't mean that they cant be nice. Alot the callcenter reps put up with the stuff like the "stop talking" crap, so that means that you are in a prime position to reap the rewards from these people (think of a girl on the rebound from a bad relationship). Be overly nice to these people, and they will generally do anything they can for you, and possibly pester their supervisors for whatever they can do. You approach makes people run the charges on your card. She may have been able to manually override the information if you were nice about it. But when your angry, they use that power against you. These people can see your address, your card number, your name, and all of the security crap (CSV, bank codes, ect). Do you really want to make one of them spiteful against you? They could ruin your credit history pretty easily (charging your card 3-4 times), and while they will risk their job for it, they aren't held responsible (they cant be personally sued). Respect them a little bit.
> 
> ...



This.


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## thecrazyfinn (Oct 12, 2008)

willith said:


> I asked her to stop talking- I didn't tell her to "shut the fuck up" etc.- so I don't understand where your sympathy for this woman is coming from.
> If you worked in a call center, then you should KNOW you don't talk over someone REPEATEDLY- especially when they ask you to STOP.
> 
> 
> ...



It only seems like an inconvenience until the first time you get screwed.

I used to get annoyed because my Bank cancels any ATM/Interac card that was used at a vendor on the same day that any fraudulent transaction ocurred at said vendor. Until somebody in Quebec decided to use my (stolen) card number to deposit $500 in rubber checks and steal most of what I had in my account. The Bank's quick action ensured I got my money back and wasn't on the hook for the bogus deposits.

Ditto for Credit Cards. There's so much fraud floating around (typically for numbers that were stolen at a store then used online) that the vendors have to be anal about things. Yeah it's annoying, but it's for their protection and yours.


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## Daemoniac (Oct 18, 2008)

willith said:


> If you worked in a call center, then you should KNOW you don't talk over someone REPEATEDLY- especially when they ask you to STOP.


 
I work in a call centre, and i also know just how irritating it is when a customer _refuses to listen to something vital you are trying to convey to them, and COMPLETELY IGNORES IT. _Also, asking them to 'stop talking', no matter how 'nicely' you ask is just rude, you start to talk again when you can, even butt in if you have the option, dont just say 'stop talking' or 'stop.' How would you feel if you were speaking to someone, and mid-sentence they just cut you off saying (or to speak over you, loudly saying/shouting) "Stop talking"?_._ I dont know if that was happening, but from what i can tell, you are simply incapable of understanding more than your own side of the story.

Why even post for a multi-sided discussion if you won't listen/TRY to understand?


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## Crucified (Oct 18, 2008)

willith said:


> I asked her to stop talking- I didn't tell her to "shut the fuck up" etc.- so I don't understand where your sympathy for this woman is coming from.
> If you worked in a call center, then you should KNOW you don't talk over someone REPEATEDLY- especially when they ask you to STOP.
> 
> 
> ...



just because you don't understand the fact that it is, in fact, a measure made to protect you, doesn't mean it's not. I work in this industry as well and when people are rude and unwilling to listen and be helped, I don't go out of my way to help you out anymore. These people(yes, they are people) on the other side of the phone are there all day, every day working on the phone and filling orders. They have no motive to screw you and with the banking thing, they have no control over it. If you are calm and collected and simply ask how to get the problem resolved, it will get resolved and hell, the other people on the phone might even do something crazy like talk to their manager and try to do something nice for you because of the inconvenience. However, if you tell them to "stop talking", or are generally rude(i see how you talk to people in this thread, i couldn't imagine what you actually said to the girl on the phone) they want off the phone so they can go about their day without someone trying to make them feel like dirt because something didn't go their way.


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## willith (Oct 18, 2008)

Demoniac said:


> I work in a call centre, and i also know just how irritating it is when a customer _refuses to listen to something vital you are trying to convey to them, and COMPLETELY IGNORES IT. _Also, asking them to 'stop talking', no matter how 'nicely' you ask is just rude, you start to talk again when you can, even butt in if you have the option, dont just say 'stop talking' or 'stop.' How would you feel if you were speaking to someone, and mid-sentence they just cut you off saying (or to speak over you, loudly saying/shouting) "Stop talking"?_._ I dont know if that was happening, but from what i can tell, you are simply incapable of understanding more than your own side of the story.
> 
> Why even post for a multi-sided discussion if you won't listen/TRY to understand?




Oh hey, thanks for bumping this, btw, Why even post for a multi-sided discussion if you won't listen/TRY to understand?




Crucified said:


> just because you don't understand the fact that it is, in fact, a measure made to protect you, doesn't mean it's not. I work in this industry as well and when people are rude and unwilling to listen and be helped, I don't go out of my way to help you out anymore. These people(yes, they are people) on the other side of the phone are there all day, every day working on the phone and filling orders. They have no motive to screw you and with the banking thing, they have no control over it. If you are calm and collected and simply ask how to get the problem resolved, it will get resolved and hell, the other people on the phone might even do something crazy like talk to their manager and try to do something nice for you because of the inconvenience. However, if you tell them to "stop talking", or are generally rude(i see how you talk to people in this thread, i couldn't imagine what you actually said to the girl on the phone) they want off the phone so they can go about their day without someone trying to make them feel like dirt because something didn't go their way.


Aww, the whole world is sunshine and lollie pops and no customer service representative is ever rude- it's ONLY and ALWAYS the customer on the other end- because you know, YOU've dealt with it before.
Let me ask you something- is every call you get the same? Probably not. So you probably wouldn't generalize when describing your job and you probably don't assume that every customer is calling about the same thing everytime. Just like I don't ASSUME every customer service phone operator is going to piss me off when I have a problem (in fact this was the first time ever)....so why do you think it's OK to generalize and assume that every person who is pissed off about customer service is always in the wrong and it was "probably" (that's another assumption word) their fault to begin with? Do you really think it's that improbable for a customer to call when "calm and collected" and then gradually become more and more irritated because of BAD customer support?


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## Crucified (Oct 18, 2008)

willith said:


> Aww, the whole world is sunshine and lollie pops and no customer service representative is ever rude- it's ONLY and ALWAYS the customer on the other end- because you know, YOU've dealt with it before.
> Let me ask you something- is every call you get the same? Probably not. So you probably wouldn't generalize when describing your job and you probably don't assume that every customer is calling about the same thing everytime. Just like I don't ASSUME every customer service phone operator is going to piss me off when I have a problem (in fact this was the first time ever)....so why do you think it's OK to generalize and assume that every person who is pissed off about customer service is always in the wrong and it was "probably" (that's another assumption word) their fault to begin with? Do you really think it's that improbable for a customer to call when "calm and collected" and then gradually become more and more irritated because of BAD customer support?



actually i'm only judging based on the fact that every time you post something it's negative, even when whoever is posting is not being negative towards you. I can only assume that this behavior trend doesn't only exist on the internet. Sure the agent probably could have helped you out a bit more but we'll never know. Also, thanks for the neg rep, it's been awhile.


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## Daemoniac (Oct 21, 2008)

willith said:


> Do you really think it's that improbable for a customer to call when "calm and collected" and then gradually become more and more irritated because of BAD customer support?


 
Yeah dude, i really do. From my experience on the phones as a customer service specialist, generally, the customer calls up really pissed off and we do what we can to abatethat anger and the call ends up ok. That, or 1)we hang up cos theyre being a douche, or 2) thecall is fine from the get-go. I personally havent had a call where it worked the other way around, im not saying that it cant happen but given your attitude, i dont think its likely that it worked that way.


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