Lynn of Pacifica, CA, writes:
This is a copy of a letter I sent to Office Max about the incident I would like to report to you. It outlines the whole, exhausting experience. I am providing this because I wanted to offer an opposing view to the "Office Max as good guy" listing.

I will not purchase from Office Max ever again and I thought your management group should know why. On Thursday, November 18, I placed an order with your on-line system. At that time, I was quoted a delivery of 11/19. I confirmed this via your 1-800 number with a customer service representative because it was very important that I receive the order as promised on 11/19. (On the positive side of this story, I was impressed with the ease of ordering on-line and the courtesy of your 1-800 customer service staff.)

I stayed at my office all day Friday waiting for the delivery and finally, at 5:00 p.m., I called the 1-800 number to find out what happened. They informed me that the package was put on the truck and that I could receive my order as late as 8:00 p.m., Friday. I needed to leave my office briefly and so I left a note on my door asking that the driver deliver the package to a designated location. When I returned, the package had not been delivered.

Because I needed my supplies on Friday (not Monday), I cancelled my order. I needed these supplies for a project I was completing that weekend. The 1-800 customer service representative apologized and said that she would cancel the order but -- because the order was already on the truck -- it would be delivered to me and that I could refuse the order. I told her that I would not be at my office to receive the delivery on Monday and she indicated that your driver would not just leave the order on my doorstep (an order which is valued at $ 142.78).

When I returned from off-site meetings Monday, late in the day, the package was on my doorstep, unattended. Anyone could have stolen this order from my doorstep. Luckily for Office Max it was still there.

You should also know that your driver's notation on the packing slip indicated that the road to my location was closed on Friday (and that was the stated reason for my not getting my needed supplies on Friday as promised.) That's a very interesting reason in view of the fact that the UPS and the US Postal Service trucks were both able to get deliveries to me that day. Also, I don't understand why I was able to leave and return to my location on Friday when the Office Max truck could not.

The packages which should have been picked up on November 30th are still here. I have made two additional phone calls to get these packages picked up -- the latest call I made directly to your Hayward distribution center. Again, thankfully your customer service staff are courteous. It certainly makes the situation somewhat bearable. Still, it doesn't make up for the fact that I didn't get my supplies when I needed them and now about a half an hour of my time has been wasted making phone calls concerning this order which benefits neither Office Max nor myself. (Not to mention the extra 15 minutes to write this note to you.)

I have heard two other things that give me concern, and I imagine would also concern Office Max: (a) the Hayward Distribution Center has a reputation among the 1-800 customer service staff as being unreliable and (b) the credit to my account will be slow in coming and I will need to "stay on top of 'them' to obtain my credit" -- 'them' being your Hayward facility(according to your 1-800 customer service representative.) If these problems are common knowledge to your staff, why have they not been corrected?

Please be advised that I do not plan to "stay on top of" anyone at Office Max. I've invested as much time as I plan to on this problem. I expect that this letter will constitute all of the "staying on top of" the problem that is necessary -- because I expect you to solve this problem and "stay on top of it" until it is resolved. Please respond to this e-mail in writing, indicating that you will see to it that these packages are picked up AND that I get a credit to my account within two weeks. Thank you, in advance, for your close attention to this matter.