ComplaintsforBig Apple Buddy LLC

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  dates between the 18/10/23 - 27/10/23 I requested a quote for a jacket via big apple buddy as the manufacturer did not ship to the **. After jumping through several hoops with big apple buddy which included:Requesting the quote Receiving the quote without an confirmation regarding to the discount i code i requested being miss informed by big apple buddy - days later they told me the item was not in stock (i then provided evidence to show it was in stock)Them apologizing and then confirming the discount code could be used them correcting the quote and then making me fill in more of their online forms after waiting for a response for a number of days from them to be told that they had "black listed" me from ordering from them due to a complaint i was forced to raise to BBB back in ************************************************************************************************************************************************* and provide excuses as to why they did not respond, such as "*** is on leave" - *** had no out of office and why did it take a month of them to tell me that? I would like to know if companies are allowed to treat customers unfairly by black listing their customer because the company failed to effectively resolve a simple refund and then punish customers because of the companies wrong ding? I would also like all my personal data removed from Big Apple Buddy's and or related businesses/databases and written confirmation that this has been completed with evidence. Note I have had no choice to block the owner of Big apple buddy from emailing due to his lack of professionalism. Note I have supporting email communication from the owner *** detailing he has black listed me for having to raise a complaint back in 2020 to BBB.

  Business response

  11/20/2023

  Hi

  Many thanks for forwarding the complaint to our attention.

  By way of background, were a shopping service that helps international customers buy products from *******. We provide free quotes to our customers and only charge a fee for our service if and when they decide to proceed with an order. On this occasion, I can confirm that free quotes were provided to the customer, but the customer did not end up placing an order with us as her order was blocked by our system. For avoidance of doubt, the customer has not placed a new order with us and has not been charged for any quotes that we have provided.
  
  In relation to the customers current complaint, for convenience, I have set out below a summary timeline of the relevant events:
  
  17 October 2023 - The customer requested a free quote for a jacket.
  18 October 2023 - We provided a free quote to the customer. The customer responded and asked to apply a store coupon code to the order.
  19 October 2023 - We responded advising that we could apply the discount to the quote but needed her to send across the coupon code.
  23 October 2023 - The customer sent across the coupon code. We responded to the customer and advised that the jacket was out of stock in her preferred size. The customer emailed later that day to inform us that the item was back in stock.
  24 October 2023 - We provided the customer with a new quote with the coupon code applied. The customer emailed to inform us that she encountered an error at checkout and was unable to place the order.
  25 October 2023 - We emailed the customer and advised we had looked into her order and found that it had been blocked by our system due to the circumstances surrounding her prior order back in 2020. We advised that we could not assist with any further quotes or orders and directed her to alternative services that *** assist with her jacket purchase. The customer responded and explicitly stated, Ive not ordered from you before (please see Attachment A).
  26 October 2023 We responded to the customer and advised that she had placed an order with us on 1 October 2020 under the same name and phone number but using a different email address. The customers use of a different email address is why the quote had not been flagged initially. We reminded the customer that there was a lengthy dispute regarding her order in 2020 and advised that due to the nature of that dispute, we unfortunately would not be able to assist with any future quotes or orders. The customer responded to discuss the details of the earlier dispute (please see Attachment B), demonstrating that she had in fact ordered from us before.
  
  The details of the 2020 dispute are outlined in our response to her prior BBB Complaint #********. We had suffered financial loss to resolve that dispute and had to deal with abusive emails from the customer as well as disparaging posts across social media and other online forums about our business. Her mentioning of *** in her most recent complaint is in reference to her sending numerous emails to my co-founder despite her having received responses from me directly within our stated 24-hour response window. In addition, the customer had also used our service in 2019 and requested compensation after receiving her item on the basis that the shipment was delayed even though it was delivered within the quoted delivery time window. On that occasion, as a gesture of goodwill, we refunded her our service fee and were left out of pocket for the transaction. As a result of those interactions,the customer had been flagged as a problematic customer and high credit risk.We believe that her using an email alias in the current circumstances and lying about not having used us previously further supports that earlier finding.
  
  We are a small company that deals with international transactions so managing credit risk is an important part of our business. In line with industry practice, I can confirm that we can legally blacklist customers for this purpose and have done so in this case. The customer mentioned in a recent email that she had found an alternative service and we wish her well with her purchases with that service going forward.
  
  Please let us know if there are any questions or comments on the above.
  
  Many thanks for your time.
  
  Best regards,
  ***********************

  Customer response

  11/29/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  Further to this I have been able to find another email in your system detailing big Apple buddies response 

  However as per my initial complaint I can point out that they made me loose money and months worth of time because they falsely advertised they could deliver a product in a set period of time which they didn’t - I paid extra for a service I did not get and then wasted months of my time because their team would not get the owner to respond and after three months claimed he was on holiday - if that was the case why didn’t they tell me and how hard is it to place an out of office notification on their email oof?

  I would like to see evidence of where he has stated he responded in 24 hours as I can provide that is not the case. 

  I had to follow up with them each week and then got to the point I had to raise a complaint with BBB to get a response. 

  Further to note as per my current complaint - they have lied about the events in their responses. They made me jump through hoops and miss advised me telling me the product was not available when it was and I proved this to them. Then they made me jump through further hoops by back tracking stating they made a mistake and I can now place the order. 

  It appears to me they never wanted me to place the order and miss led me wasting more of my time to appease them selves. I have the emails detailing the communications back and fourth from them of all the steps i had to follow. 

  I have never lied or used an alias to reorder with them int regards to who I am. I have another email address like most people do because my Hotmail email address was at full capacity at the time so I used my back up email address. 

  They could have asked me in the first place if I was the same person and didn’t. I would like to know why that was? 

  I would also like to understand their comment in regards to me being a “high risk” as my credit history is very good and clean. Again I can provide this through credit checks. 

   

  I am simply a small individual and paying customer who paid for services that were advertised and not delivered as proposed by a business. 

  I am a small individual and paying customer who has very right to raise seek resolution from a business that does not deliver services as advertised. 

  I am a small individual and paying customer who has always paid blue apple buddy up front and kept my end of the bargain. 

  I am a small individual and paying customer who has not been treated fairly by the company and now further punished for reasonably challenging them. 

  They agreed to refund me based on the fact they did not deliver the advertised services I paid for so I would like to understand why it is they think o should now be black listed? 

  I found it baffling that they black list customers that pay on time and follow contractual agreements and deem it fair to punish paying customers for seeking fair and reasonable treatment. 

  Their communication has been poor for the get go and the fact that they don’t communicate to their customers that they will not be able to order form them again is  yet another example of their poor communication and unprofessionalism. 

  
  

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

  Business response

  01/07/2024

  Hi ******
  
  Many thanks for forwarding the response.
  
  I can confirm that we're not required to share internal company documents with our customers. We have however provided a comprehensive explanation as to why the customer was blacklisted in our prior BBB responses.
  
  If you require any further details, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you.
  
  Best regards,
  *******

  Customer response

  01/10/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

   

  This doesn’t resolve the issues nor respond or address all the factors of my whole complaint . 
  

  BAB have treated a decent customer unlawfully and unfairly 

  also note that BAB have note responded in the time frames BBB set out. 
  

  BBB what’s the next steps to avoid going back and fourth with a company that clearly miss treat customers amongst all the other factors I have pointed out to date that are still unresolved after years? 

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩