I tried to buy some sheers from the JCPenny store and they didn't have the color I wanted in stock. They said they could order them through the store but I wanted to be sure of the color so I went home to think about it. I decided to order the color I wanted through the catalog, ship them to the store and pick them up. The woman on the phone said I could just pick them up. I only live about 10 minutes from the store but figured it would be easier to place the order on the phone than drive back up there. They charged me $14.95 to ship to the store. (I didn't even notice this at the time). When I returned them, they would NOT refund my $14.95. They told me the customer has to pay to ship an item to the store. They said I should have had the store order them instead of me. There isn't a shipping fee if the store orders them. I just got off the phone with customer service and they said they couldn't help me. They just scammed me for $14.95 and it wasn't MY fault they didn't have the color in stock. I could have just had them ship them to my house if I was going to pay for shipping.

Is it unreasonable to expect a refund of the shipping? (I didn't even know they charged me for shipping until I went for the refund)

I can certainly understand you feeling like you were ripped off but in this circumstance, Penny's has every right to charge you. You did, after all, place the order. The only thing you did different was change the location of shipment. But still, expenses were incurred to have the sheers shipped to the store.

It's never anyone's fault when something isn't in stock. Supplies get sold. The only thing you can do is ask the store when the next shipment will come in - or get a raincheck when an item is on sale.

Chalk this up as a lesson learned the hard way.
Sorry

Wouldn't expenses incur if they would have had to order them for me in the store? They still would have to ship it to the store either way. If I would have asked them to order the sheers for me they could have ordered them for free. The package weighed maybe 10 pounds tops! I know they get a volume business discount for shipping. What they probably do is throw my order on the truck with their regular shipments to the store. My sheers came in a paper bag with my name on it. I didn't see any packing material. There was no box. They handled it and shipped it there and charged me $14.95. If they sent the package USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation the cost would be $11.45. If they sent it USPS Parcel Post with delivery confirmation it would only be $9.84. (this is before their business discount) They still overcharged me. I understand that you have to pay shipping if they send it to your house. I don't see any advantage of ordering from their catalog and do an in-store pick up. Why bother? You might as well just go to the store yourself and buy them there. I don't see the convenience. I figure they owe me some bubble wrap or something!

Clare,

I worked in a JCPenney Home Fashions Department years ago. What you experienced is standard policy. Orders placed by a sales representative and shipped to the store for pickup do not incur shipping charges. Sales associates also have an incentive to place orders for customers because they receive commissions from them.

Orders placed by a customer come with a shipping charge, no matter where they are delivered (home or store)...and shipping charges are non-refundable.

Sorry...

I would suggest always having your orders placed by a sales associate, if possible. Not only to save the shipping fee, but some associates are willing to order regular-priced merchandise at sale prices if they know your item will be on sale at the store soon.

Also keep in mind the 14.95 was for shipping and handling. Never will you pay the exact amount that it costs for someone to mail something to you. The fee is what the sender feels is adequate to cover mailing costs as well as packing materials, heck, maybe even the cost of gas it takes to drive to the post office I always thought it was a hoot everytime I'd order something and then when it was delivered I'd see that the postage was several dollars less than what I paid for it.

Best to just sit back and just enjoy your new sheers!

I still feel scammed but I know you and MsSueM are right.

I could have bought a lot of orange gum balls for $14.95!

We get this kind of thing in Alaska alot. Dell often offers free shipping on systems priced at over $400, but that doesn't apply to orders shipped to Alaska or Hawaii because they cannot ship via ground.

Most places won't ship via the U.S. Postal Service, even though for us, the shipment would be sent by air at no additional cost.

Every time I order something, I try to factor in the shipping costs and then compare it to prices if purchased here in a store. Sometimes buying it via catalog, then shipping it is the only answer, but I usually end up buying it locally. I just purchased two new computers locally after checking out the online purchase price with shipping. Buying locally saved me quite a bit over the online deals.

Dwight

For future reference, one thing you might have done would have been to ask the sales clerk to inquire at other JCPs in the area and do a transfer. When I worked in retailing interstore transfers were common and did not cost the customer anything.