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.

60 Comments

  1. UPDATE:

    I just received an email from a Crocs Supervisor confirming my order would arrive tomorrow, not today as promised in yesterday’s “expedited” warehouse processing.

    My left foot does not approve!

    1. They did not process your order because they thought it was fraudulent ????

      Plus everything else …………

      How on earth do they stay in business ?

      Really sorry I recommended them now – give me your shoes sizes and I can get you some “copys” in the marker and have them to you before the real ones !

      How totally frustrating for you.

      1. Yes, this is all your fault! SMILE!

        I’ve had so many people rave about Crocs over the years — and then your final recommendation — pushed me over the edge to go ahead and buy.

        So far, 100% of everything they’ve told me has not been true. I am not confident in any of the future promises they made coming true without me having to fight them.

        Why spend so much money and be treated so poorly?

        Yesterday morning, I was specifically told by the overall Supervisor that she was expediting my order to the warehouse for shipment yesterday to make up for the “fraud” delay — plus she was giving me back the shipping charges. She said it was early enough in the day — 9:20am Eastern my time — that there would not be a problem getting that done. She also promised to email me status updates during the day.

        Five hours later, and no status updates, and seeing no change in my order status, I called back — and even though that Supervisor was there, she would not get on the phone with me — and I had to talk to a lower Supervisor who made her own promises.

        My order wasn’t ready for shipment until 9:30 Eastern my time last night. That’s way past pickup for any overnight delivery window.

        1. It really does suck . I had a quick look at the website – they cost nearly ten times as much as my “knock offs” I bought in a “Chinese shop” – I got excellent service and I could if I wished have worn my shoes home.

          Yes I agree you are paying for the name – but if paying for the name means you get crap service, accused of fraud and lied to constantly – you are not going to do that more than once – AND you are going to tell everyone else not to bother !

          I really, really hope that they are good for your feet when they finally arrive !

          1. Hi Love!

            I appreciate your background on the Crocs knockoffs. I wonder how hard they are to copy? Crocs.com are having a big sale, so Janna went a little bonkers with excitement!

            I don’t mind paying for the name as long, as you suggest, that the customer service matches the excellence of the product in the field. Crocs appear to be based in Colorado and California, and I often have the feeling we’re having a culture clash between West Coast laidbackedness and East Coast hyperrealism. SMILE!

            http://bolesblogs.com/2010/01/05/to-go-east-or-west/

            During each phone call, I told them I was writing a Crocs review — they didn’t seem to care — and so now they have this article in their favor.

            The fraud thing really does bother me. So you think someone is using my credit card fraudulently and you don’t tell me or my card company? Hmph!

            I am a little scared to try on the new Crocs if they actually show up tomorrow! I may instinctively kick them off into the street!

  2. UPDATE:

    I replied to the morning email from the second line Supervisor who told me the shipment was arriving tomorrow and not today and provided a link to this article.

    The sub-Supervisor just replied and said her Supervisor said the delivery can’t be expedited any further — but, because of the inconvenience — they would offer me a free pair of Crocs.

    I accepted her offer! I wonder if the free pair will arrive tomorrow? SMILE!

  3. I could well imagine their might be an east west thing going on – when service here is not what I expect I have to remember I am no longer in England and “things” are different and I have to embrace the Portuguese style and not hold on to English ways. However Crocs are a multinational company – they charge international prices and should provide international standards of service. I do hope you included the crocs hash tag on your twitter update – sweet smile

    Hope the free pair fit one of you and are not acidic green !

    1. Oh, I didn’t know they were international. Then there’s no excuse, really. They need a better and faster shipping system for special orders. Overnight delivery can never mean two days, but, it seems, to them, it does.

      Twitter and some other social services are auto-updated by WP.com. Google+ and our dedicated Facebook page are updated by my own hand. I don’t think WP.com does hashtags… but I do! SMILE!

      It will be interesting to see if they have a default “free Crocs” or if I get to choose. Can’t wait to find out!

  4. UPDATE:

    They let me pick my free shoes!

    “Overnight Delivery” in 1-2 days.

    As I recall a previous conversation about shipping, Crocs tends to sort of place the blame on FedEx for the “overnight” part of the delivery dyad.

    I ship a lot with FedEx, and I know they deliver overnight… if the package is ready by the cutoff time.

    I am getting the sense that Crocs’ 1-2 days for “overnight” is more indicative of their processing than FedEx’s.

  5. UPDATE:

    Oh, no.

    I just checked my original order and it looks like Crocs cancelled FIVE out of the SIX shoe orders. Only one pair shipped. I. Cannot. Believe. It.

    1. No excuse for poor service – ever and no excuse for blaming your their bad practice on Fed Ex – I get stuff shipped to me Fed Ex from the UK and it is here in rural Portugal at me door less than 48 hours later – sometimes within 24 hours.

      What a nightmare …………. really is hopeless …………

      1. Now I’m told that the five cancelled shoes, actually did ship — and they appear “cancelled” because the order was too large to fit into one box.

        Huh?

        Unfortunately, nowhere in the Crocs online system does it show you shoes really are not cancelled, and did, in fact, ship, so you have a fret attack wondering why you were charged full price for only one shoe out of six.

        I’m confused by the whole process, really. None of it makes any sense to me.

        I have now just learned another lesson: Only order one pair of Crocs at a time! Large orders seem to overwhelm their system and cause customer confusion.

        We’ll see what, if anything, actually arrives tomorrow!

        1. they need to take lessons from Amazon who manage to multi-ship multiple orders all the time …………….

          I don’t know if I dare put my head above the parapet tomorrow ……..

          1. I think all online companies should offer premier service and shipping — and charge extra for it! You want it fast and incredible? Pay up!

            Okay, I will!

            When I want something online, I like to get it ASAP, or I just might as well hop onto a train and head in NYC and buy something with the same amount of hassle, but wasting a day in transit.

  6. @ David – The whole idea of on-line shopping is that it gets to you faster – saves you time – or saves you money – so far Croc’s do not seem to be able to do that . I hope they are reading and learning from this – I also hope they realize just how large your readership is!

    1. The sub-Supervisor I’ve been dealing with since yesterday, and now through today, is a delight. She is transparent and clear and she tells me the truth the first time, so I appreciate that. As I told her on the phone yesterday, I understand why they have her on the front line — and why the main Supervisor I spoke to on the phone earlier in the day stays in the background.

      The sub-Supervisor told me in email that their system is not set up right to break up big orders into multiple shipments and that’s why I was seeing the cancellations of the shoes in my account. I don’t understand why they have it set up that way, but I appreciate knowing what’s going on because it does have the ring of truth to it because it’s so stupid for a multi-national company to manage big orders that way.

      The “cancelled” shoes are Janna’s — so if they don’t show up tomorrow — there will be one hot, shoeless, woman looking, for the first time, for blood other than mine!

        1. Yes, I’m still waiting to see if everything the sub-Supervisor is telling me actually happens now as promised or not. She seems confident everything is on track now, though.

          Oh! Yes! Croc blood will be everywhere! Janna keeps telling me, “Today, tomorrow, does it matter?” I say, “Yes, promises matter.” I can’t wait to ask her if “Cancelled” matters or not. Harr!

  10. I know! I think the HQ is in Colorado, but the warehouse is in California — so you can’t just walk over the the warehouse to get an update like you could in the old days.

  11. Oh yes, it is always easy to blame a derelict computer, that excuse has replaced the “oh, we have a new trainee who is still in the learning stage.”

    It is interesting that they didn’t notify you if they suspected fraud. What is more interesting is how we have a harder time honestly using our cards, but criminals on another continent can rack up bills on our cards with the greatest of ease. This has happened to us at least three times. We go to check out of a hotel in a country we live in and our card gets declined because we didn’t notify the bank we would be traveling and the payment request looks suspicious. Yet our card number can be used repeatedly over several days in a far away place we’ve never been (someplace in Russia) and somehow that slips by. Go figure.

    Perhaps once you slip your feet into those shoes, you’ll realize all the frustration was totally worth it. (?) SMILE

    1. Excellent point! Blame the technology, not the people behind the technology!

      You’re right about all those credit cards being stolen. The solution is to only pay cash — which is more dangerous in everyday life to theft than carrying around plastic.

      I know some customers at restaurants — a lot of the fraud happens in those establishments because so many people touch the card, or have access to the swipe results — will demand to go with the waitstaff to watch as the card is swiped into the computer; but that doesn’t mean anything because there are still a multiplicity of ways to burn the card between the computer terminal and the payment end and the smart thieves wait a few days or weeks before striking to make it harder to pin down where, exactly, in the pipeline the theft happened:

      http://bolesblogs.com/2011/11/08/someone-stole-my-credit-card/

      Speaking of credit card charges, I see some strange pending transactions from Crocs in my account that don’t make sense. I’m not sure why those charges are there or what they actually represent. I guess I better go find out what’s up…

      1. Oh no! You need to get that sorted out with Crocs right away. I am really disappointed with that company. I will think twice before purchasing from them.

        And you reminded me of an incident from a few years ago. We had used a credit card in a restaurant ( a card we rarely used) and a few days later there was a transaction for $700.00 to Western Union on it to someone in Cuba. We could only trace it back to the restaurant. We filed a fraud claim and were credited, but it is very frustrating to go through all that.

        Good luck getting everything sorted out with Crocs.

        1. I really am stunned that nothing is going right. Why do I have a feeling I’ll have to work a month on this to get all the money and refunds and discounts sorted out?

          I feel for you on that $700 charge! I’m glad we’re protected, but you know the card companies hate having to eat those fraudulent charges.

          1. Yes, it is bad for the card companies to have to pay those charges. Unfortunately, I’;m not sure your average criminal sees it this way. They think no one will get hurt because the companies will pay out the fees, but in the long run it hurts all of us.

          2. I agree! The criminals see the whole process as quick and fast money.

            CHIP and PIN is coming soon — 2015 or so in the USA. That should slow the easy rate of faked cards. That technology also may press more direct-to-consumer contact in the realm of a wallet robbery — but the bad guys would also need your PIN to get your money.

  12. David,

    There’s a physical Crocs store on the Upper West Side — 270 Columbus Ave between 72nd and 73rd. Really nice location, and you can look at the actual shoes before you decide if you want them.

    Sorry you had a negative experience with them!

  13. UPDATE:

    I received an ominous email from Crocs this morning telling me that one of Janna’s boots was, actually, indeed: CANCELLED. I don’t know why this was just discovered now.

    Two Crocs boxes are supposed to arrive today. I wonder how many shoes will actually be in there?

    1. Yes… it will never end…

      I forgot to mention in my update that the sub-Supervisor was authorized to offer us a SECOND pair of free shoes of our choice for overnight delivery because of the cancelation snafu for Janna’s boots… so that’s good, I guess, if it all works out in the end…

        1. That’s a fine point. Yes, the free shoes are fun, but I would have preferred to be done with it two days ago if their system had worked.

          So free shoes #1 are coming Monday and Tuesday should have free shoes #2 arriving. Then it becomes a lengthy credit card tangle with what was charged and released and then re-charged and credited back and refunded. Not looking forward to that tsouris!

  15. UPDATE:

    The original order of Crocs are here! Five pairs of shoes.

    They have a strong smell.

    They are super lightweight.

    They are REALLY BIG and WIDE.

  16. I have just got home after boring day out ……….. Yeah they have arrived – phew – not sure I should ask what they smell of – are they too big and wide for your feet – have you tried them on, are they comfortable ………. the suspense has been killing me all day …………..

    1. Glad you’re back!

      They smell like new rubber. It’s pretty stinky. The first thing Janna said after visiting the Crocs store in Queens is that the place stinks. We are hoping the smell will fade as the shoes age.

      Yes, they’re massively big — the Crocs boots I have are a perfect fit — so, I just have to realize “this is how these are” and live with it. Went for a walk with them and I felt a whole new calf muscle set in action, so that’s a good thing. I just can’t get over the feeling that they’re going to slip off my foot…

      Crocs are made in China! So I don’t know if there’s a difference between a Chinese knockoff and a “Made in China” label. SMILE!

  17. I am sure the smell will fade – or another one will mask it !

    I guess they are roomy inside – but I love that as it lets my feet breathe !

    Oh goodness they are made in China ??? We are so going to have to compare Crocs too !

    1. Oh, I hope no other smells mask this smell — then I’ll really be in trouble. SMILE!

      Yes, these are the roomy ones, and I knew that going in — these are the Crocs that everyone loves — and they’re built to be big:

      http://www.crocs.com/crocs-size-chart/fit-guide-landing-v2,default,pg.html

      I’m used used to tightly-lashed shoes and I like to wear socks. These Crocs seem to work better with bare feet, so I may just be brave enough to go sockless out into the cruel world.

      Yes, “MADE IN CHINA” stamped right on the bottom! I was sort of shocked.

  18. Ah I think mine are a one size fits all type – they are roomy and no pressure anywhere on my feet. After sneakers and socks they did take some getting used to. Mine have nice massage nodules on the sole too so you always get a massage as well. Living where I do I would not be without mine – they are so easily washable too.

    Very disappointed in the Made in China ……….

    1. Yes, roomy. Mine have subtle, patterned nubbins in parts of the footpad. I will have to wear them and get used to the feeling of foot freedom!

      1. Foot freedom – think that is why I like them so much – spent most of my childhood barefoot where I could

        1. We weren’t really allowed to go barefoot as kids — much too freedom-seeking, I think. SMILE! I will have to get used to the new room in the foot box!

  19. UPDATE:

    Both free shoes replacements arrived today.

    Janna’s “Crocs” look slimmer and more stylish than mine. That’s a good thing.

    My “Crocs sneakers” look fun and they feel great and they are super lightweight. Love these shoes! Plus, they have the Crocs nubbins inside, so that’s a major plus.

    Now we wait for the refunds and credits. All charges have been posted.

  20. Glad you love the shoes – hope all the refunds and credits are also sorted and they have learned from the experience

    1. As far as I can tell all the credits and refunds are back. It’s hard to know for sure, though, because there’s still a large “pending” transaction from Crocs that might post to my credit card any day now. As well, the credits are skewed due to the one boot that did not ship, so I have to figure out the new percentages…

  22. you know the drill this time – just order one pair – then use the discount coupon the next day for the rest – GRIN !

  23. Pingback: Chasing Cobblestones: Underfoot and Smothered in Asphalt in the Jersey City Heights « Boles Blogs

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