Something I ordered never came and the company wont refund.

[Rondo2287]

I ordered a gift card for my brothers fiance online through spafinder.com and they say it was delievered but my brother says it never showed up, he checked the mail and with the concierge and it never showed.  I contacted the company and they said that they are not responsible for items lost in shipment and they will not issue a refund or reissue another gift card and cancel the other one. 

Is there anything I can do here?  I used a debit card so I dont think I can even dispute the charge.

[Celtics1990]

Hunt them down

Maybe you could check on their website and see if it says they aren't responsible for things lost in shipment in writing.  Just thinking out loud here.

[Brickowski]

Find out the name and address of the president of the company.  Write a complaint letter to the better business bureau and copy the president.

You might also consider copying the Federal Trade Commission.

[crownsy]

Find out the name and address of the president of the company.  Write a complaint letter to the better business bureau and copy the president.

You might also consider copying the Federal Trade Commission.

I think brick has the right of it here. you'd be surprised how well a suitable letter will go. Be professional in the complaint letter, and specify that you are sending the copy as he suggested.

[Chris]

Find out the name and address of the president of the company.  Write a complaint letter to the better business bureau and copy the president.

You might also consider copying the Federal Trade Commission.

Yeah, in many companies like that, if you write a letter to the CEO, you will often get a positive response, because they know the value of customer service...and find it is the easiest way to deal with something like this.

Ultimately though, you are probably screwed.  Chances are, they make it clear that they are not liable for lost or stolen orders.  So unless you can prove they never sent it (which obviously you can't), I would imagine your only course of action would be against the delivery company...and good luck with that.

[nickagneta]

I ordered a gift card for my brothers fiance online through spafinder.com and they say it was delievered but my brother says it never showed up, he checked the mail and with the concierge and it never showed.  I contacted the company and they said that they are not responsible for items lost in shipment and they will not issue a refund or reissue another gift card and cancel the other one. 

Is there anything I can do here?  I used a debit card so I dont think I can even dispute the charge.

Of course you can dispute the charge and have it reversed by your bank. If you aren't a regular doing that type of thing, they will be quite co-operative.

[the_Bird]

I'd start by talking to your bank, I don't know how debit cards work versus credit cards, but there must be a process for disputing something like this.  At the very least, it's worth a phone call.  

[Schupac]

I'd start by talking to your bank, I don't know how debit cards work versus credit cards, but there must be a process for disputing something like this.  At the very least, it's worth a phone call.  

This.  I do work for a bank, and I used to process claims.  If your claim is under $100 and it is the first time you have ever submitted a claim, I can almost gaurantee it will be paid.  I've seen these claims paid out for over $500 before.  And don't think you need to be a "big deal" client, either.  This is basic stuff for everyone.  And yes, it definitely does apply to your debit card.

The bank may or may not ultimately go back to the merchant for that money, but for good customer service (and avoiding any legal snafu) the bank will give you the money long before they even try to talk to the merchant.

Edit:  Also, you don't have to lie about it.  You can tell the bank flat out what happened, say it's the companies fault, and they will likely process it for you.

[GKC]

1. Depending on terms of agreement, in some cases the onus is on YOU to check with the shipping company, as long as the company has proof that they did ship and sent you a tracking number.

2. It sucks (and I've learnt this from getting Celtics tickets unfortunately) this is one of the reason you should pay the extra couple dollars on shipping insurance

3. Call the shipping company, and ask for a "research". They will track where the package did go, and hopefully can still get it to you. If they don't and you Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. at them enough, they may refund the value or give you discounts in terms of using the shipping company.

4. Unfortunately, if all the above fail, the only recourse you have is to never use that shipping company / buy things from that company again. It's why I refuse to touch the USPS.

[GroverTheClover]

Write a 30 demand letter pursuant to ch. 93A of the Mass. Gen. Laws AKA the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.

The law works only if you write a letter to the merchant demanding that they rectify the situation in a reasonable manner. They have 30 days to respond, otherwise, you may initiate a small claims action where you have the potential of receiving treble damages if a magistrate finds in your favor.

Whether this is unfair or deceptive remains to be seen, however, the threat of a smalls claims action may push the merchant into a concession.

Here's some additional info and a sample demand letter.

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagoterminal&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Consumer+Protection&L2=Complaints+%26+Mediation+Services&sid=Cago&b=terminalcontent&f=consumer_93A_demand_letter&csid=Cago

[Redz]

I ordered a gift card for my brothers fiance online through spafinder.com and they say it was delievered but my brother says it never showed up, he checked the mail and with the concierge and it never showed.  I contacted the company and they said that they are not responsible for items lost in shipment and they will not issue a refund or reissue another gift card and cancel the other one. 

Is there anything I can do here?  I used a debit card so I dont think I can even dispute the charge.

If the debit card has a MasterCard or Visa associated with it you should be ok.  Call the bank.

[connerhenry43]

i work a ton with UPS and fedex in terms of lost packages and claims. do you know who the shipper was? do you have the tracking number? with usps, it is hit or miss, but fedex or ups are very good with traces. they can sometimes find the package, and if not, work with the account holder (shipper) to resolve the issue. it does require some legwork by the shipper; they will not deal with the recipient.