ComplaintsforGrimco Inc

• Initial Complaint

  03/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Made a purchase with this company that was time sensitive. The wrong materials were sent to me, one of which was damaged. I immediately took photos and contacted my rep to advise that not only did they send an incorrect roll of material, but one was badly damaged in shipping. Upon receiving the images, the rep offered a refund for the damaged material and advised if I could use any of it, to feel free to, and that he'd issue a return shipping label so they could swap out the incorrect material for the correct material. Great. The correct material arrived a day later than promised, which ended up costing my company a significant amount of money, but in the end - we decided to let it be water under the bridge. Accidents happen. A month later I am contacted by Grimco's Accounting team, stating I owe them for an outstanding invoice. I advised that there should be no such invoice and explained the situation to them. After receiving a canned response I went through the entire story in detail and explained that the credit they were seeking to be reimbursed for was in fact a credit for the damaged materials (that cost more than the credit I was given) as a courtesy in exchange for not shipping a damaged roll of material back and forth. After another canned response where I felt unheard and bullied, I explained that in no way should I be expected to pay full price for damaged materials. 11 days went by and after several emails, phone calls, text messages, ect - I finally heard back from "*** **" and was asked to call back. She immediately went into a customer service script of "I'm sorry this happened but your account has been sent to collections and your account with us has been permanently disabled". I explained the story from top to bottom and asked what I possibly did wrong to deserve this treatment, only for the same scripted apology and eventually "everything that can be said about this has been said and i don't believe there's anything to add", and the call ended.

  Business response

  04/21/2023

  Good afternoon.   The customer ordered 2 items on our website.  Grimco shipped one of those items incorrectly.    The other item that the customer ordered was damaged in transit.    The customer was under a deadline so we told the customer that he could use the portion of the damaged roll if needed and that we would issue credit for whatever portion of the roll that was unusable.    We sent him a UPS call tag for the roll that we sent him incorrectly.    That roll was returned, and credit was issued.    The conversation between Grimco and the customer broke down when he would not return our numerous calls about the damaged roll.   He sent several emails that were long and complicated.   We just needed to talk the situation through with him but all of our efforts failed.   In the end, we had no choice but to turn him over to our collection company to collect.    Grimco takes great pride in working with our customers and we go above and beyond to work through any situation but when a customer is unwilling to communicate, we have little options.    In the end, I believe this customer thought that he should not have to pay for any of that damaged roll even if he used a good portion of it.   Keep in mind, we never sent him a replacement roll for the damaged roll because I believe he used what he needed from the original damaged roll. Had the customer wanted to send the whole damaged roll back to us, we would have issued credit in full. 
  ***** **** ******* *** *** ********

  Customer response

  04/21/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I believe they still don't have an accurate understanding of what happened in this situation. The damages were severe, and I was only able to salvage enough for the job I was working on from the roll, with maybe 3 winds on the core afterward. I did not receive more than a couple of phone calls from them, both of which were immediately responded to with a text message or an email explaining that I don't have great reception in my workspace, I'm often caring for my son (a high risk premature child who requires special care), and that I prefer email communication over phone calls - especially as I already had an issue where the rep had said things on the phone that the Accounting team didn't seem to be aware of. By communicating how I feel most comfortable and in a way that leaves a trail of documentation, I felt more protected and more able to communicate my issue to them. To them, this is "long and complicated", but I've done my best to outline the issue as clearly and concisely as I possibly could. 
  
  In this instance, they believe I should pay full price for this order. The amount of the refund they gave me was $100 short of the cost of the full price of the material. They are now asking for all of that back, which means I would have paid 100% of the cost for materials that I was only able to use a small portion of. I sent them pictures and emails from my rep to confirm that I was offered a credit. They claim "we had no choice but to send them to collections" is inaccurate. In fact, I had contacted them repeatedly, and for 11 days had radio silence from them before being connected with "***" once I reach BACK out to see what the status of this situation was. Clearly anyone in my shoes would have a tincture of frustration, especially when the company seems unwilling to have any bit of communication that wasn't "pay us the money" or eventually "it is what it is, it stands where it stands, and nothing is changing at this point" as *** put it. 
  
  I felt that the $100 short of the full roll that I was refunded WAS my payment for the amount I was able to use. I paid $500+ for that vinyl, and only received a partial credit of $400 back. I also had to spend time, gas, ect to manually haul the incorrect roll that was sent to me. They didn't send a door tag. I don't know anyone who works/spends time correcting others mistakes for free - but I did it as I thought it was the right thing to do. 

  I'm sorry if you don't feel comfortable with the way I communicate, but my situation is my own, and it's what works for me. I prefer email communications and I like to be heard, even if that means coming across and "long and complicated". I'd rather spell out my thoughts, feelings, and experience than leave it to interpretation. 

  All I want is my account back, and for this entire issue to be water under the bridge. I want the collections agency gone, and I just want to move on. Grimco admitted to making mistakes in several decisions along the way. I am unaware of what mistake I've made to be put in this situation, and I think it's telling that Grimco has shown no sympathy in this entire back and forth. If you really pride yourself on being great to your customers, you're not showing me an ounce of that, whatsoever. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Customer response

  04/21/2023

  Again, they're asking me to pay back the amount they refunded me. I paid full price. I received wrong material AND damaged material. I was told I would be refunded for the damaged material (and to use what I could), and to return the incorrect material (which I did). They shipped the correct material, and I returned the incorrect material. I received a refund in the amount LESS THAN the purchase price. A month later they want that refund money back. My response is that if I paid that back, I would have paid 100% of the cost for materials that I was only able to use a very short amount of, due to damages in shipping (that I provided them with pictures of as soon as it was delivered). I have email receipts to back all of this up.

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