This first part is just a recap of our first experience with Misfits Markets. Part of that problem was not their fault (except that they chose to use FedEx instead of UPS). If you have been reading the blog from the beginning, you know how we feel about FedEx. FedEx delivered it to a neighbor's house, marked it as delivered at our door, and I had to go searching for it. The only reason we got our package that day (three and a half hours after it had been delivered, and was sitting on our neighbor's back step, with fish and shrimp in the package, starting to thaw) is because Rich has an inside connection with the local FedEx office through his work at the airport. I was given the option of going to get it from the neighbor myself, or waiting another five to seven hours, for the driver to finish his route and come retrieve it for me. With fish and shrimp in the box. Then, after I went to go get it, Misfits simply marked it delivered again, as though everything was just fine. I filed a complaint about the shipping issue and also asked for a refund on the shrimp, which had begun to thaw, and shipping costs. This was Thursday around 1:00 pm. The company is based in UT, which is only an hour ahead of us. I did not receive anything but an automated reply all of the rest of Thursday and all of Friday. They also did not preserve my skipping of the next shipment for the next week (because I was planning on ordering the following week), so if I had not checked and cancelled it again, I would have been charged automatically, and sent a shipment of their own selection. The shipping mistake was not their error, but how they have failed to respond most definitely is.

They did contact me on Tuesday (five days after the problem was reported, three business days later) with a refund of the purchase of the shrimp, and an offer to help correct some of the other issues. They did not offer to refund the shipping, even though the shipment wasn't delivered to our home, and would have sat at our neighbor's house for at least nine to eleven hours, had I not had Rich investigate, and then gone out myself to get the box. Again, the shipping problem was not their fault, but I was dismayed that it took three full business days, and five days total, to contact me at all.

We gave them another chance, expecting that at least the local FedEx would take more care to have it delivered, which they did. I did not order any seafood, though. This second package is the only one to arrive at our home, and with no problems.

We had yet another problem with Misfits Market on our third order. Our package was supposed to arrive last Thursday. We now track it carefully, especially after our first experience. FedEx showed it as arriving between 9:00 am and 1:10 pm. Then, they showed it arriving by 3:50 pm. Then, by the end of the day, and later by the end of the next day. Then they said there was a package exception and that it was returned to the local FedEx. Then they reported it as undeliverable. Yet again, Rich had to contact them directly, because we heard nothing from Misfits, after we contacted them. FedEx told him that the box was dripping, and they contacted Misfits, who told them to throw away the box. Notice that Misfits still hadn't contacted us. Two days after this, we received notice of a refund being made which did not include a refund of shipping, but still no actual contact from the customer service who, according to the auto-reply will answer in about 24 hours (it has taken more than 100 hours both times we had problems).

Out of three orders and shipments, only two actually made it to our home. Their customer service is abysmal, and I will no longer be using their service or recommending it to anyone. I was hoping people might have a recommendation for a similar company, who does not ship with FedEx, and knows something about customer service and communication (and reading for comprehension). After two out of three boxes had problems (both with delivery and product issues) and didn't actually ever arrive to our home, and both times we had problems, Rich had to use connections with the local FedEx office he has through work, with not a single word from Misfits, and Misfits taking more than four days to get back to us about the problem, they actually had the nerve to offer us a $10 credit to give them another shot. They still owe us money from the shipping on both of those boxes. I told them that we had already given them two more chances, and out of three orders, only one arrived at our home and had no problems. Besides that, independently of these issues, they have raised the minimum order from $35 to $55, which is often too much even for our large family (because I am looking for items that are priced better than we can get here and that we can use within two weeks before they start to deteriorate), while not exactly upgrading their customer service standards.

Their customer service response time is miserable and their solutions are worse. If this were my company, I would have replied within one business day, two if there was some great delay, and offered a new box, as close to the original order as possible, with free shipping, swallowing any higher costs in the order or refunding any lesser costs, if the customer were willing, and a complete refund, including shipping if the customer were not - especially on a second foul up of an order. Their lack of communication is execrable. They did not refund our shipping even when they did refund our box fee, and it took me pushing for that to get them to agree to that. They only offered me that measly $10 and a plea to give them another chance, along with a comment that I would lose my perks with them if I cancelled. Why would I want "perks" with a company that thinks 33% success good enough? Surely, we are not the only people who have had trouble with them. I do not understand how they are maintaining a company with such poor customer service, communication, and evidently, no pride in doing a job well.

Labels: Fed Ex, Homemaking, Misfits Market, Tales from the Kitchen