Shipping is Not Improving--Returns are Surely Compromised
4 years ago
We all know that Fragrancenet's shipping is abysmal although I have yet to discover why this has to be so. Recently, I tried paying for delivery in order to expedite shipping during this very hot and humid time of year, but it did not help.
I placed an order more than a week ago and paid for 2 Day Priority shipping. It still took a week to get my order. USPS did deliver within its timeframe for Priority packages, but it took a week because Fragrancenet took so long to actually get the package into USPS's hands. It ended up arriving around 6 p.m. on a Saturday after a week's wait and after it sat in the USPS jeep the entire day in TRIPLE DIGET TEMP with very high humidity. I am returning it unopened.
I placed the same order all over again last Sunday evening. I figured if I placed the order on Sunday, then it would be sent out on Monday. This time, however, I took no chances. I paid for overnight delivery. The order was placed last Sunday, and they claimed to have shipped it on Tuesday (two days to ship out an overnight package!), but that is not what really happened. They did not actually ship on Tuesday.
Instead, they simply provided the tracking number on Tuesday but did not get the package to the carrier until sometime Wednesday night (yesterday evening) Tracking never updated AT ALL until this morning (Thursday). To top it off, they shipped it via UPS instead of FedEx. What is the difference?
Well, almost any package I expect via FedEx arrives by noon on delivery day. This is not so for UPS. UPS prioritises all of its deliveries to businesses. Residential deliveries are only made after each day's business deliveries are completed. Hence, I am unlikely to receive my package today before 6:30-7:00 p.m. which means it sits in a hot UPS van in triple digit temp and high humidity the entire day again.
I belled Fragrancenet for the first time yesterday to tell them I am not happy with their deliveries even whence I pay extra for delivery. They told me the package would be delivered yesterday and credited back the delivery charge which in and of itself does not stop my order from sitting on a boiling hot, BROWN coloured delivery van (dark colours absorb heat much better than light colours, so I have NEVER understood why UPS chose to paint its vans brown especially given their drivers do not have AC. It is inhume for them to work in these temps with no AC.). Well, that was not true!
Fragrancenet customer service bases its assertions on the date the package is assigned a tracking number, but the packages do NOT actually go to the carrier on that day. It takes them two days at least to get it into the carrier's hands. I was told that they have a new warehouse now on the west coast which should help delivery time. Orders to destinations on the west side of the country will ship from Nevada, if the perfume is in stock there, so many deliveries will arrive sooner than if shipped from Deer Park, N.Y. Now, are you ready for this??
It turns out the new warehouse is in Reno, Nevada! Temps in the Reno and Las Vegas areas are some of the hottest temps in the country!!! After all, it is a desert!!! Now, the perfume is stored in what has to be an unbearably hot warehouse in Reno and then shipped via USPS or UPS (the two slowest carriers) from one of the hottest locations in the country! You could try to avoid heat and humidity damaged perfume by not ordering from May through October, but you might still end up with damaged perfume if your perfume has been sitting in their warehouse in Reno even for only a few weeks, much less a few months, before you purchase it.
Personally, I do not think this is an improvement AT ALL. If they actually, seriously wanted to improve, they would have chosen a warehouse in a much cooler climate, e.g. Washington state, AND they would use FedEx over USPS and UPS because FedEx although not perfect is head and shoulders above USPS and UPS. I was so chagrined to hear this.
The upshot for me is that I would rather pay more for my perfumes at department stores and know I am getting a much fresher, better preserved product. From now on, I will order my perfumes from department stores around the Christmas holidays wherein there might be some discounts. I hate to pay department stores so much more for my perfumes, but in the final analysis, it will be worth it, especially for more expensive perfumes. You are not getting a bargain at 30% to 37% off retail prices if you are getting perfume stored in Reno, NV and shipped via USPS and UPS.
Anyway, I now finally know why last year around the holidays my Fragrancenet order came from Reno instead of Deer Park, N.Y. Try as you may, you cannot win with Fragrancenet. Paying for 2 Day Priority shipping does not help. Even paying almost $20 for over night shipping on one bottle of perfume does not help. This was the last straw! I have had it with Fragrancenet!
By the way, the expensive bottle of perfume that took a week to get here despite being sent 2 Day Priority Mail is going back via FedEx Smart Post. That means it will UNDOUBTEDLY take 10 days or longer to make it back to Deer Park, N.Y.
So, whoever buys this bottle will be buying a bottle that has traveled in triple digit temps and high humidity for at least 17-18 days before it is put back in stock. Unbelievable for a vendor who is WELL AWARE that heat and humidity severely compromise perfumes's performance. Caveat Emptor, babies.