MemorySuppliers.com

On July 8th, Deb and I got married, and the only problem I had leading up to it was with MemorySuppliers.com. I wanted to get something unique and useful for my groomsmen, and what I came up with were some custom engraved metal usb thumb drives. I did not know where to get anything like this, Googled it, and came up with torrent of suppliers. I weeded out the ones that didn't have customization, metal styles, and online ordering. This narrowed it down to two companies that could take my order, one company offered the same metallic style in 4GB and the other only offered up to 2GB. MemorySuppliers.com was the one I was going to order from. Next I did a Google search on this company to see if I could find any bad news about them (I'd never heard of them after all), and I didn't really find anything substantial.

This is the style I wanted:

On June 18th, I went to the Metallic PL - Waterproof page (http://www.memorysuppliers.com/usbfldrstplw.html), and placed my order for 8 units of 4GB Silver. I then received an email confirmation that looked like this:




Since I've never done business with this company, I thought all was well... but all was not well. Almost 2 full days later I received a call from Paul to confirm my order. The site states that you will He stated that there was a setup charge for orders less than 25. This was not indicated to me at all in the order process, so I told them not to print them, just ship the blank units to me. I also told him that I needed these absolutely no later than July 6th, and he indicated that this was possible. After that conversation I received an email confirmation from Paul, with an invoice in it... this would have been fine, but the invoice was blank. I emailed Paul immediately that the invoice was blank, and received no response. After another full day, I called Paul, and told him that the invoice he sent me was blank, and that I wanted to add on another unit. He sent me another invoice, this time with the correct information (so I thought).

Several days pass, and I never receive a tracking number, confirmation or, shipping notice. I call Paul up again and ask him what's up, and he said it had been shipped. I ask for the tracking number, he says he'll email it to me. I never received another email from Paul.

On June 28th, I finally receive the package, and to my dismay, all of the units are plastic, and don't even look like the style on the page that I filled out the order form on! Now I'm starting to panic, because I have about a week left to get this done. I called the company at 7pm est time and I actually got someone to talk to (Liz), I informed Liz that the wrong style was shipped to me and I needed a replacement asap. She confirmed that she could ship me a replacement within 7-10 business days (this was too late for me). She stated that they do not have any stock of the model that I wanted, and have to have them shipped from China. I said that's no good, and they offered several metal styles that were much more expensive than the ones I ordered, and I told her that I would let her know what I choose to do. Later on June 29th, I sent her an email:

Hi Liz,

I am not going to be able to take advantage of any of the offers you gave me. Unfortunately with the holiday in the middle of the week, I don't think there will be enough time to have my items shipped, and engraved before July 6th. I will have to find something else locally.

I will be returning the shipment for a refund. Is there any other info I need to include to ensure that a refund is given, and that I am not given a replacement item? I noticed the -RPL in the RMA number, will I need to change that to something else?

Thank you for all of your help with this problem,

David Cilley

She then replied:

David,

Please ship the units back for credit, thank you for your patience!
If you have any further questions or if I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 800-979-9707 x 225 or via email and I will be glad to help.

Thank you,
Liz ...

I shipped them back at my own expense ($7). Now, I noticed that she completely sidestepped my questions, but I figured since she did not say "replacement", I was fine with "credit". It's still Friday the 29th, and I don't have a groomsmen gift. I decided go to ZipZoomFly.com and order 9 Corsair 4GB Survivor drives, and have them over-nighted (which means I should get them by Tues or Thurs because of the weekend, processing, and July 4th). ZipZoomFly delivered! I received the order on Tuesday, and I was able to take them all to a local engraver on Thursday! Wooooot! All set right? Wrong.

On Thursday, July 5th, I got this email from MemorySuppliers.com:

David,

Attached is your Invoice for replacement units. We appreciate your business and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us toll free at 800-979-9707, option 2 for custom sales.

Thank You,
Liz ...

I replied:

Liz,

I sent you an email earlier that specified that I wanted a refund. It is entirely too late for me to use the drives you are invoicing me for. I needed them by July 6th 2007.

Please do not send me a replacement, and please refund the payment to my credit card.

Thanks,
David

I never received another email from Liz.

On Friday the 13th of July, while on my Honeymoon, I was sent an email from MemorySuppliers.com that stated this:

Dear David,

The order was shipped with the DHL tracking # of 190 **** ***.
Please do not hesitate to email us back if you have any questions regarding your order and we will be glad to help.

Thank you,
Helen

Wow! I got a tracking number! Oh wait, I didn't want a replacement... I wanted a refund or at least credit, so I thought. On July 22nd I got home from my Honeymoon, and found two DHL notices that they tried to deliver a package. Monday morning, DHL called me and said that they tried to deliver the package... I stated that I was on my Honeymoon and asked who the package was from. The operator stated the box was from Hong Kong, and said "usb memory promotional items" on it. I instructed her to refuse the package.

I then called up MemorySuppliers.com to find out what to do next, the guy on the other end stated that there are no refunds given for custom print jobs. I told him that I did not get them printed at all, and according to the wording on the website and on the invoice, I should be entitled to a refund. He stated that the 30 day money back guarantee (which is directly on the page that I ordered from) did not apply to custom imprinted orders. I then explained that I did NOT get them imprinted. He held firm on the no refunds. I then informed him that there is a guarantee on the web site for delivery dates too, which they failed to provide me with. He said that it does not apply, and that I need to pay for the flash drives. He also said that on every page, and every invoice, it states that custom orders are exempt from these guarantees. Here is a screenshot of the guarantee I found on the bottom of the page from which I placed my order (I read this thoroughly before I placed the order... it made me feel like I should do business with them):

Nowhere on the above order form does it state that this order is non-refundable or non guaranteed. Also, here is a screenshot of the invoice statement (notice that it indicates that it's not returnable if it's been printed):



I guess I will have to deal with my credit card company on this one... I'm still not happy, they missed my deadline, and it's been less than 30 days since I got my first shipment. MemorySuppliers.com's online order forms never indicate setup fees, or what model you're purchasing, the sales team doesn't seem to care about small orders, and in the end, they do not live up to their guarantees.

Do not do business with MemorySuppliers.com.