When a person is in pain, they will go to any lengths to help ease the suffering. Ever since my unfortunate Times Square Tripping accident, my left foot has not quite been right.
I’ve had a touch of Plantar fasciitis since the accident and that gives me a bit of heel pain when I walk — and I walk a lot! A couple of weeks ago, I also wrenched the middle toe on the same foot during a hurried Yoga session — where I learned the hard way to always be present and breathe.
I’m obsessively on the lookout for good and proper shoes, and I’ve heard a lot about Crocs being a great and comfortable shoe. I never stepped a foot into the mouth of the crocodile because Crocs were hard to find, and because I hate ordering shoes online.
It often takes forever to get shoes delivered — even if you overpay for overnight shipping. Crocs.com, I discovered the hard way this week, are no better than the Payless when it comes to getting the right shoes on your foot in the nick of time.
I placed my large Crocs order online — three pairs of shoes for me and three for Janna — and I paid an extra $50 dollars for FedEx overnight delivery. Those two things were my first, and foremost, most fatal mistakes.
My third mistake was placing such a large order in the first place because 10 seconds after I placed the order, I received a coupon for 20% off MY NEXT ORDER from Crocs, and I had two weeks to use the coupon or lose it!
Lose it?
By placing such a large initial order, I already submarined $61.98 in a lost 20% discount!
After two days of waiting, my order was still “processing” with no delivery in sight. I always thought paying extra for overnight delivery moved you up in the delivery queue to get better and quicker customer service.
I was wrong.
Yesterday, I picked up the phone and called Crocs to find out why my order hadn’t been processed.
After waiting on the phone for 15 minutes, I was finally connected to a Supervisor who told me my order was automatically flagged as fraudulent because it was over $200. She had no idea why I wasn’t called to confirm the order — oh, boy, this really was poopy Payless all over again:
I’d never had a problem with ordering from Payless.com before, so I picked up the phone to find out why my order was cancelled and why nobody at Payless had let me know my shoes would not be arriving today.
I spoke to a Customer Service agent who told me I was not allowed to know what happened to my order.
She told me the security department cancelled my order and that was that. I asked to speak to a Supervisor so I could make a formal complaint about the way my order was cancelled.
The Customer Service agent told me a Supervisor would tell me the same thing.
If I hadn’t called Crocs to inquire, it seems my order never would have been processed.
I was told my order would be expedited to the warehouse for delivery tomorrow. My shipping would be refunded for the delay — we’ll see if that happens or not.
Later in the day, when I called to check on my order, it was still “processing” and I was told by the front line phone answerer that my order would be delayed two days longer “because of fraud.” I said I would just like to cancel my order.
I was placed on hold again for 10 minutes as yet another Supervisor was summoned to tell me that my order was already in the warehouse and ready to ship. She had no idea why I had been told my order would be delayed another two days because of fraud. I would have the shoes in hand tomorrow.
Since that Supervisor was friendly and helpful, I decided to share with her my concerns about being a first time Crocs online customer.
1. If Crocs thinks my order is fraud, why aren’t they protecting me and emailing me or placing a notification for me to call in via my online account area? If I am a fraud, I won’t call in — but if I am a legitimate sale with a sore and throbbing foot, and if I’m checking my order status every 10 minutes, then I will be instantly responsive to a request for order verification. If Crocs are proactive with fraud detection, then they need to be just as proactive in protecting their customers by letting them know their fraud suspicions.
2. While I appreciated the free shipping, I was concerned that my 20% coupon had only been given to me after my order was placed. That suggested to me that in future dealings with Crocs.com, I should order something really cheap and then wait 10 seconds for a larger coupon award to arrive in email. She said she would credit my order the 20% off, but she could only do it after the order shipped. We’ll see if that happens or not.
Late last night, I received an email from Crocs customer service telling me that my order would ship, IN THE MORNING, and that meant it would not arrive today as promised.
I don’t understand the how or why Crocs does business — the final Supervisor told me their computer system crashed earlier in the week and they were severely behind in order fulfillment — and while I appreciated that honesty, I wished that had been shared with me during my first phone call because information like that can help take the “non-communicative” heat out of the conversation.
I have no idea when the Crocs will arrive. FedEx says today by 8pm, but I see the box hasn’t left California yet. Will the shoes arrive tomorrow? Or will it be Monday? Or…
Whatever the case, I already hate the shoes because I absolutely loathed how Crocs treated me. I had to do all the heavy lifting to get any answers out of them and I don’t like spending $350 with a company and being treated as if I’m a criminal when I’m not.
I’ll keep you updated in the comments stream for this Crocs story as it continues to unfortunately unfold.