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June 8, 1999 I called Damark to place an order for a couple of items from their latest catalog. Since I have been buying from Damark on a semi regular basis for 12 years, I wasn't expecting there to be any problem. Little did I know at the time that something had drastically changed at Damark since my last order. To start with, it took me 35 minutes to order 2 items. That should have been my first clue. I called primarily to order a Fantom Vacuum Cleaner which, according to Ann, is the dream machine of dirt busters. I was stuck with a salesperson named "Edgar" who was a very nice man, but who knew absolutely nothing about how to take a customer's order. He told me it was his "first day on the job" (the kiss of death to any transaction that takes an IQ higher then that of a rock). I had the catalog in my hand, and all the pertinent information necessary to place an order, and "Edgar" still put me on hold repeatedly while he went off to find someone to show him how to work his computer terminal. My second item, a golf cart cover, was just as difficult for "Edgar". He did not ask me one single question that he did not have to re-ask me at least 6 times. I was forced to repeat my name, address, phone number, etc. over and over again. I also wanted a cordless headset telephone that was in a prior catalog, but after waiting for "Edgar" to find it for over 10 minutes I told him to forget it. I explained that I did not have time for him to be trained while I waited on hold and instructed him to just give me my total on the two items. He did and I was told that order # 42415899 would be shipped the next day. Almost two weeks later a box arrived from Damark with, you guessed it, the telephone inside. "Edgar" must have finally located the item after I hung up and decided to add it to my order of his own accord (I have since found that Damark salespeople work on commission) Since I had already replaced my cordless headset with one from Radio Shack, I asked Ann to call Damark and have them issue a call ticket for the un requested item. I had been very clear with "Edgar" that I only wanted the vacuum cleaner and the golf cart cover but he decided to add the phone in later so I had no intention of paying return postage for the item.. Next Damark put the wrong address on the vacuum cleaner even though the golf cart cover managed to arrive ok (all three items were shipped in separate boxes; how thrifty). Ann's new electric broom blessed by the Goddess was returned to Damark after a quick tour of the Peninsula. At this point Ann called Damark and spoke to "Vicki" in the Kansas office. "Vicki" said she would issue a call ticket for the phone, but that she could not re send the vacuum cleaner because Damark had listed the wrong billing address so American Express refused the charge. I have instructed American Express that no items may be ordered on my card and sent to any other address then mine without a call from me giving a special code; a security measure I recommend to all. "Vicki" told Ann that I would have to call again and resubmit my charge card info. By this point I am not a happy woman, but I decided to give Damark one more try. Any company can have a bad hair day. Ann really wanted that shiny new vacuum cleaner and I had found a few new items I wanted in the catalog supplement that was included with the golf cart cover, so I called Damark once again. After
explaining my situation to "Debra" she told me that she could take my order
for the new items but she could not help me with the call ticket for the
phone, which "Vicki" never issued as promised. I told "Debra" that
I was not ordering any additional merchandise until the current problems
we were having were resolved. "Debra" said she would transfer me
to Customer Service, and then promptly hung up on me.
So, Damark now puts half trained employees in charge of your order then does not have one single person in Customer Service available to take care of the mess they have made. Lovely, that should go a long way towards ensuring repeat customers. Fortunately, American Express has a very good dispute procedure. I am simply refusing the charge for the phone AND the Damark membership renewal fee that "Edgar" added to my card! Damark is welcome to issue a call thicket for the item they mistakenly sent to us. We will not be dealing with Damark again and American Express will be instructed not to accept any further charges (like membership fees) from Damark. Any catalogs we receive from Damark will be put in a envelope and mailed back to them postage due (a good technique for getting off a mailing list you don't like). When I
did a web search for info on Damark, what do you know, 3 out of the first
5 hits on HotBot were complaint pages. We have linked to them below
for your viewing pleasure. Spread the word. It is essential that
those of us who are doing most of our consuming via mail order share our
experiences with each other (gotta love those E-Bay profiles). Damark
will have to change if it wants to survive. On this transaction alone Damark
lost
plus new items from the supplement 12 Collector's
Daggers With Animal heads $9.99
x 12 = $119.88
That's
a total of $534.13 lost on one order! Add to that all future
lost orders and membership fees and you have a right tidy sum that Damark
will not be getting from us. Ordinarily, we search the web
for consumer info BEFORE we order from a company but we have been dealing
with Damark since before we had computers. Somebody needs to be fired
and somebody needs to be hired to fix the mess that somebody has made of
Damark.
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