Absolute joke, total rip off, and a huge scam!
I placed an order costing £52.26 (products totaled £45.15 and shipping was £7.00). I came home from work to find a note from Royal Mail saying that my parcel could not be delivered as I needed to pay an extra £17.65 in customs charges!
I am absolutely outraged.
Surely at some point between selecting to view the items in £GBP, entering my contact details, placing an order with a UK address and even from my computer's IP address they would see that I am based in the UK and adjust the shipping fees accordingly. They clearly raised the shipping to £7.00, so why not put the rest of it on there too and specifics to their UK customers that it would cost £24.65!
I have been speaking to a rather useless person in Customer Service who's response was clearly scripted. I asked to take the matter further and requested contact details of the management team, so I could write a formal complaint to which she replied, "I do not have a manager's direct email, we just take all complaints here and forward them ourselves" See transcript below.
(15:24:28) Visitor Okay, can you please pass me the contact details of your Line Manager then?
(15:24:59) Nicolette I do not have any direct contact details for management, again we take all complaints and information here and forward them for feedback
(15:25:48) Visitor Right so you don't have a manager? A team leader? Someone that pays your wage?!
(15:27:00) Nicolette I never said that we do not have a manager, we just do not have direct contact information. As I have stated previously, we forward all complaints from our customer service department as representatives that is what we are here for
(15:27:55) Visitor Okay. Im going to ask one more time, I'll try and make it easier for you... I would like to speak with your manager.
(15:28:35) Nicolette Unfortunately I do not have one to transfer you to
(15:29:04) Nicolette I am sorry I do not have one available at the moment
(15:29:18) Visitor Did you or did you not just say 'I never said we do not have a manager'
(15:29:33) Nicolette Yes, we do have a manager but they are not available at the moment
(15:30:04) Visitor You do not have to transfer me immediately, all I would like to know is their name and email address so I can write a formal complaint
(15:30:21) Visitor When are they likely to be 'available'
(15:31:09) Nicolette We do not have direct emails for management, however you can send us an email to our customer service department, which is also a formal complaint such as this and we will forward it
(15:31:19) Nicolette I am not sure when one will be available
(15:32:31) Visitor This has got to be the biggest scam I have ever seen. I am absolutely outraged. How on earth could management not have an email address?! What on earth do you do all day?!
(15:33:45) Nicolette This is what the customer service department is here for, we take all complaints and try to assist as best as we can. I have taken your complaint and I will be sure to forward it.
(15:33:46) Visitor For your information, I have sent a message to Scottt Rudolph and Michael Rudolph respectively and will be mentioning this appalling customer service.
(15:33:58) Nicolette I understand, I am sorry again for the inconvenience
I have since received two emails with the transcript attached, both from different members of the "Customer Service team," (Kiara H and Ali A. - judging off other reviews it seems these are made up names too) yet from the same email address (customerservice@pipingrock.com), so who knows!
They have 39 likes on their Facebook page, and calls cannot go through to their customer service number, so it really is a huge scam. I doubt their products will be legit either!
Stay away from this site!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend