Awareness Strategies Inc.

It appears your package was lost in the mailI see you spoke with our Customer Service Manager and she issued a free replacement order today, with Express shipping to get your order there in time for the holidayWas that solution acceptable to you?We do not have voicemail on our main toll
free numberCan you please respond with the number you called where you left a voicemail? I also checked our email management system for an email from you and do not see any emails from the email account we have on fileHow did you submit your inquiries?

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:Calendars.com has still not addressed my primary complaint: developing a proactive mechanism to reimburse those customers overcharged by calendars.com's flawed sales tax application system over the last many years When this complaint has been resolved to my satisfaction, I will be glad to "sign off" on their solution to this very serious matter As I've stated all along, the money owed to me by calendars.com is of little concern to my expected outcome of their fraudulent activity
Regards,
*** ***

The customer brought to our attention that California does not allow businesses to charge sales tax on shippingIn actuality, the law states that if the vendor’s cost of shipping is more than the cost charged to customers, the retailer must charge sales tax on the difference between the cost the
vendor incurs and the cost charged to the customerAs explained to the customer, our website would require costly development to accommodate this functionalityAs such, we ceased to collect any sales tax on shipping in California, yet will continue to remit tax on behalf of our customers.Over three years, this customer incurred cents sales tax on shipping on his orderTechnically, the amount would be reduced by the difference between our shipping cost and the cost we charged the customer. This additional cents was remitted to the state of CaliforniaWe are uncertain how long this tax law has been in place with CaliforniaIt’s possible not all of the customer’s orders are eligible.In an attempt to appease the customer, we sent him an order for free, valued at $We are also sending the customer a check for the total tax charged on shipping because we have no effective way to determine how much we were charged to ship his order.Any over collected taxes were remitted to the state of CaliforniaAs such, any other customers who express concerns will be directed to contact the California State Tax Assessor to determine how to obtain a refund from the state directly.We made every attempt to appease the customer, and address his concerns when he made us aware of the issueHowever, we have been unable come to a mutual agreement about the best way to handle his concerns about other customersWe have not received any other complaints from any other customersTo the best of our knowledge, this particular tax law applies to California residents onlyTell us why here

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Regards,
*** ***

The item the customer ordered was in pre-order status until it was checked into our warehouse on Friday, September 18thOnce pre-order items are received, it takes 1-business days to get them to the appropriate bin for shippingThe customer's order shipped on 9/22/15, business days after her
pre-order item came into stock.When ordering, the item's stock status appears on the product detail page and in the cart. When items are time sensitive, we recommend ordering items that are in stock instead of pre-order or back-order as arrival dates for pre-order and back-order items are estimates.We are happy to issue a full refund for the product's cost upon receipt of the productPlease follow our return proceduresYou can find our return policy at returns.calendars.com.We are sorry for any confusion caused.Sincerely,Christi Graybill

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***.There appears to be some technical defect somewhere in the communication because the business says they cannot find my email, although I did send them an email inquiry (screenshot attached)The business is correct that one of their representatives called me yesterday--although, curiously, I never received a confirmation email from them about this communicationHowever, I did receive an initial email confirmation dated Dec2, Therefore I find it incomprehensible that the business says they do not have my email in their fileThe business proposed to send the item via express mail, which, if completed, would be satisfactoryI will call the business to seek mutually satisfactory solution.
Regards,
** ***

Dear Mr***,Thank you for your request to be removed from our promotional mailing listYour email address has been removed from both the *** and *** promotional lists.I do not show any previous requests to be removedWhen you say you have made multiple requests, did
you click through the link in the promotional email, call a customer service agent, or email us directlyIf you emailed, can you please forward a copy of this email to ***I would like to investigate why it was not ingested into our email system originally.Additionally, I will forward your email address to our Director of Digital MarketingShe runs the email program and will ensure you are removed permanently.I am very sorry for any inconvenience caused

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:Shipping was supposed to free!! I will not pay $for shippingYour website is the real cause of thisI am quite computer literate and I found your website very convoluted and very difficult to navigate. As of 7:32pm 12/19/my Paypal account shows a charge of $to Calendars.com on 12/17/and credit of $on 12/18/I do not expect to see any further entries from Calendars.com to my Paypal account. I will not order anything from Calendars.com ever again
Regards,
*** ***

Hello, I am sorry you had a negative experienceI have issued a refund of $21.39, which is the cost of the two calendars plus taxI will also alert the publisher of your complaint about the quality of the paper.Thank you for your business.Sincerely,*** ***VP Operations & Customer
Service

Thank you for your replyThe calendar was a gift to thank you for bringing the issue to our attention so we could address it, as well as an attempt to appease and compensate you for any inconvenience caused by the multiple contacts you made over several monthsAll of this occurred leading up to and during the busiest part of our retail year, as you know, yet we did our best to promptly address your concerns by removing all sales tax charges from shipping for CA, even though we will still remit the sales tax owed to the state.I will check to see if the check has been cutIf not, I will mail you the money myself

Hello Mr***,Apparently, the product you were attempting to purchase was posted on a blogWe had a run on the product selling all sets in a really short period of time; faster than our inventory jobs could update, apparently. Additionally, PayPal put three of your payments in Pending
status to be reviewed. Because the orders were placed in rapid succession for large amounts, they triggered PayPal's fraud algorithmThree of the orders never downloaded into our system as a resultThe other order downloaded after the inventory had been completely decimated by other buyers. Not only did we sell through all of the inventory allocated to the Ecommerce store, we also sold through all the inventory allocated to our retail locationsIt was a hot seller to be sure!It is not our practice to prioritize web orders over eBay ordersWe want to keep our customers happy no matter which channel they come through!***, the agent with whom you spoke yesterday, was able to get PayPal release the payments to us so that we could issue refundsThe refunds for all four orders were issued yesterday.The transactions are:*** - $1150*** - $1610*** - $1840*** - $230I have asked our game and toy buyer if we will be able to purchase more of these setsIf we can, I will have *** get in touch with you before they go live on the website or on eBay. We are all very sorry for the mix up.Sincerely,*** ***
** *** ***

Dear Mr. [redacted],I was only able to locate one order for you, [redacted].  The PayPal transaction number for that order is [redacted]. Is it possible you saw the authorization and the settlement? The charges were as follows:Calendar - $6.99Shipping - $6.00Sales Tax -...

$.54Total - $13.43Unfortunately, I am unable to cancel your order as it has already shipped. If you wish to receive a full refund, please follow our normal return instructions at returns.calendars.com.Please log in to your PayPal account and see if the authorization has dropped. If there is a second charge, please provide the transaction ID and we will be happy to issue a refund.Thank you for your assistance with this matter.Sincerely,[redacted]VP Corporate Operations

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

We are very sorry we were unable to fulfill your complete order or notify you in a timely fashion. Sometimes, the orders go on hold for several days while they attempt to locate additional inventory. I suspect this was the case with the Anaheim Ducks Wall Calendar.I am going to see if I can find a...

pristine copy in our returns. Please call my direct toll free at [redacted]. We are happy to issue a replacement for the other item in your order with free Priority shipping. Sincerely,[redacted]VP Operations

Hello,I am very sorry you had such a negative customer service experience. That is ridiculous and will be brought to the attention of their manager.First, I am happy to issue a refund for the $7. I will have our Operations team take care of that today.  We typically only offer complimentary...

labels when there is an error or the merchandise is damaged or defective.We had a callback service last year that was unreliable. I will commit to researching and, hopefully, finding another before our peak season next year.In regards to your question about offering free return shipping in our Amazon shop, I am not certain we can realistically and still remain a profitable business in that retail space. I have not had the same experience as you with my Prime membership and return shipping. When the issue is a preference issue, I have always had to pay. I will commit to researching this further. I suspect those who are offering return shipping are working that cost into the cost of the item so their margins are covered.  From a business standpoint, it comes down to cost; our cost to purchase the item, stock it, pick it, ship it, sell it on Amazon, etc.  Our current goal is to offer the most competitive pricing. If it is determined we need to work return shipping into the equation, the strategy will change.Thank you for all of your very thoughtful suggestions. They are appreciated.Sincerely,[redacted]VP Operations

I am very sorry you were not treated well. Because your order has not shipped, you were not charged for the order. It appears your order was cancelled by one of the agents with whom you spoke. Did you request that your order be cancelled?I have issued a complimentary order that will be shipped...

to you with Express Shipping. Our Customer Service Manager will reach out by phone to discuss the way your order issue was handled.Our Fulfillment department has been overwhelmed recently by the quantity of orders. However, things seem to be calming down now. Your order should ship out today or tomorrow and arrive by Monday or Tuesday.We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.Sincerely,[redacted]VP Operations[redacted]

Hello,Your shipping charge of $7.98 has already been refunded.  Please allow your bank up to 5 days to post the refund. I will submit a separate request for the sales tax of $2.45 to also be refunded. Please allow us 2 business days to process your transaction and 5 business days for...

your bank to post the refund.In the future, you will be charged shipping and sales tax unless you have a promotional code to remove shipping. We have to remit sales tax whether or not you actually agree to pay it.

Revdex.com:
Dear Revdex.com,Thank you very much for so promptly taking action on my complaint. I received this morning a message that a $3.49 has been refunded to my bank account. I checked my bank account, and I found the first part of my refund already posted (yes, US Bank are great in processing refunds.) As of the $3.49, it was the charge for the gift wrap up of the calendar. It obviously will show later in my account.I DO NOT LIKE the response of the company that they had any message stating their business was on Christmas vacation. If such a statement was there, I am reasonable enough not to complicate my life and other people's lifes, and would go to the neighboring PETSMART and buy the calendar 'with black cats only' that my neighbor mentioned to me he was looking for.As of still receiving the package today as predicted by [redacted], I am in the mode 'Wait and see." I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is somewhat satisfactory to me. I am still a little disappointed that I wasn't made aware of this earlier on and I won't be ordering from them again.
Regards,
[redacted]