It isn't often that the displeasure of dealing with a company compels me to publicize the experience, but guess what, boys and girls? :)

So I decided it was only right that I fly a US flag at my home, and so being the compulsory shopper that I am, hopped on Amazon to fulfill my need. After reading flag reviews for a while (didn't want to buy anything too cheap or made in China!), I opted to purchase from a company called "Charleston Wholesale" who hosts an Amazon storefront. As shopping experiences go, I was checked out in no time flat, not having noticed that the shipping address Amazon defaulted to was my PRIOR address! So the weeks go by. Knowing the efficiency of our beloved US Postal system, I waited patiently. A few days beyond the maximum delivery date posted to my order status, I then contacted Charleston Wholesale to let them know I had never received the item and to ask if they would send a replacement. They promptly responded with a generic email informing me that the item had been delivered two weeks prior. It was then that I noticed my error and realized that some lucky recipient now had my flag. I decided at that point to roll the dice and see if Charleston Wholesale had a sufficiently big enough heart and/or level of customer service that would endear me to them enough for them to send me a replacement flag anyway. I did not expect that they would, and I openly admitted my mistake to them. They replied promptly again, only this time their correspondence had taken on a tone of such condescension and rudeness that I found myself provoked enough to let them know about it. What followed was an exchange of several more messages that only slipped lower on the civilization meter until I finally opted to simply count it all as experience and leave Charleston Wholesale and whoever their bitter, rude "customer service" representative was to their own devices.

Here is the dialog that occurred between myself and Charleston Wholesale:

From: Dougie
Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 10:20 AM
To: Charleston Wholesale

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
Hello there. The flag I ordered never arrived. I've waited a LONG time! Can you please get a flag to me ASAP? I ordered this one at the same time as I did a Texas flag from another vendor and my house looks VERY out of balance with only a Texas flag flying. PLEASE.

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
 
MI75091201125020002
969004255308128420

Delivered On:
    Thursday,  05/17/2012 at 4:50 P.M.

Package Delivery Date:
    05/17/2012
Package Destination:
    SAN ANTONIO, TX, US 78249
Package ID:
    MI7509120112500289655
Package Identification Code:
    91029690042308128420
Package Sequence Number:
    021716120325221
Package Status:
    Delivered by Local Post Office

SAN ANTONIO, TX, United States  05/17/2012  4:50 P.M.  Package delivered by local post office
 05/17/2012  10:09 A.M.  Received by the local post office
 05/17/2012  8:34 A.M.  Package out for local post office delivery
 05/17/2012  8:24 A.M.  Package sorted by local post office
 05/17/2012  6:27 A.M.  Received by the local post office
SAN ANTONIO, TX, United States  05/16/2012  10:20 A.M.  Electronic Shipment Information Received for Package by Post Office

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
The shipping address indicated in the order is incorrect. It should be:
Doug Boude
111 blabla st
blabla, TX 00000

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
Order Information
Order Date:  05/10/2012
Web Order ID:  519951
Order Number:  1125020
Customer PO#: 
Ship Via:  Mail Innovations by UPS
Tracking:  UMI MI7509120112502000289655
Ship To
DOUG BOUDE
111 Old Address St
SAN ANTONIO, TX  000000-1111  US

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
 
The address you gave Amazon to ship to is the one it was delivered to.

Order ID: # xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx

DOUG BOUDE
111 Old Address St
SAN ANTONIO, TX  000000-1111  US

What is the order number for the Texas flag you ordered, we can fix this problem quickly for you.

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
 
Looks like it was my mistake about the address that Amazon defaulted for my order, I do admit that. Is it possible to have the item reshipped to my correct address, or should I attempt to retrieve the delivered item from the erroneous address? It's in a very bad neighborhood, I'm fearful of my safety going there. I appreciate the high level of customer service I have come to know from Charleston Wholesale. Thank you for your consideration.

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
If you are unable to provide the order number for the Texas Flag, then we can't help you can we.

We sent our merchandise to the address you gave and paid postage to send it and it was delivered.

This is in an upper class white neighborhood and that address belongs to a 189,000 home. You should get the flag from the people you sent it to.

Per Amazon: The buyer is unable to receive the order at the address provided

For reasons of account security, we cannot permit buyers to change their shipping addresses after an order is placed. Feel free to ask the buyer to place a new order with a valid shipping address.

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
 
Wow, that was kind of a dicky response. The order number we have been discussing is in the subject line of every message we've exchanged. If you are somehow unable to see that number (as I am), you certainly did not ask me to provide it.
I'm not sure what demographics you are using to make your assumptions about the neighborhood, but "predominately white" does not indicate a good neighborhood (profiling?), and taxable home value does not indicate the affluence of renters in that area (groups of college kids renting homes?).
If you are unwilling to help me with this situation, you need only say so. I'm quite offended by the tone of your response at this point. I may be "only an irritating customer", but I have a fairly large voice.
So, what do you say? And no need to repeat the obvious ("we sent to the address indicated, it was delivered, bla bla").
Awaiting your response with much anticipation,
Doug Boude (rhymes with 'loud')

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
Your not irritating, your out of line.

We asked you to provide the order number for the Texas flag that you received from the other vendor. The one you have on the wall.

When you provide that information ...then we can help you with your problem.

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars
 
You continue to reference a Texas flag that I never ordered from you. To quote my original message: "...I ordered this one at the same time as I did a Texas flag from another vendor...." I bought the other flag from a friendly vendor, not Charleston Wholesale.

Thank you for your time (you've probably spent the money I paid you in time to reply to my messages). I believe I'll just eat the time and money I spent on your flag, leave feedback, and chalk this one up to experience.

Do you have a web site of your own? A Twitter account? A facebook page? Googling you turns up absolutely nothing.

Thank you for the complementary behavioral analysis, too; much appreciated.

Doug Boude

RE: Shipping inquiry from Amazon customer Dougie (Order: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx)
From: Charleston Wholesale
Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 11:35 AM
To: Dougie

Order ID: xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxx
1 of U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft - American Made - Embroidered Stars

Now go take your meds like a good boy Dougie.

(I filed a formal complaint against them with Amazon, then messaged them to let them know I had done so and that I had shared their correspondence with the entirety of Earth. They must not have liked that, because I then received a very lengthy message, again through Amazon's messaging system, that was a copy/paste of legal jargon telling me to cease and desist from harassing them. I will spare you the legal jargon, but there are some highlights of that message that are entertaining. They follow for your entertainment value.)

You have just been served legal notice: 6:04 PM EST, 06/05/12
[my ip address]
[my blog url]
05 June 2012

You are ordered to cease and desist from any further defamation or harassment of Charleston Wholesale through any site, any relative, friend, neighbor, acquaintance, or haunt including:

[brief list of web sites, including Twitter and Facebook]

[copy/paste of a Tweet in which I replied to a follower who wanted to know if a merchant had really acted in the manner I described]

[copy/paste of Amazon's policy about customers who use the wrong shipping address on an order. LOL]

"We just made our money back plus 9999.00 from your behavioral analysis as you say. Gee, THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW>>>>>>>>>>>>FREE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANKS AGAIN!"

[more legal jargon about online harassment]

"Now Blog This..................Dougie"

Aaaaaaand....I did. :)

My two cents: DON'T DEAL WITH CHARLESTON WHOLESALE ON AMAZON!!!!

Just so you know, my friends, you do not have to tolerate treatment such as that seen above. You have several recourses available to you, all of which I have taken advantage of. First, you can and should file a complaint with the company who provides the storefronts. They do not want nor appreciate their representative vendors marring their reputations. In this case, I did just that and received a full refund PLUS ten bonus dollars for my trouble.

Next, you can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Using their online complaint system is a breeze. The BBB WILL investigate all complaints and keep you in the loop as to what's going on with it. Worst case, since the BBB is to the business world as the credit bureaus are to the private world, your complaint will be a matter of record against that company for a long time.

Lastly, you can file a complaint against them with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC maintains a very large database of these complaints that is utilized by literally thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement authorities worldwide to look for patterns of activity. The FTC will likely not investigate your complaint (not that I could tell, anyway), but it WILL be a matter of record for all the world to see.

Charleston Warehouse, man, you should have just been civil to me. I would have accepted a "no" response to the re-shipment and not thrown a fit. I told you I was loud. Live and learn, eh?