Borders offers items for online purchase that they don't have and expect customers to wait indefinitely for them. They offer misleading and unrealistic delivery dates, which they don't meet.

They're customer service representatives, while being polite and courteous, offer no further information beyond what is provided a week after purchase on the websites order tracker. Before cancelling, I waited two months for purchases estimated, at the latest, to be delivered a month after purchase. They offered me nothing beyond "Please keep waiting".

Hopefully, a company will come along and offer and represent what Borders at one time did.

Below is an email I sent to their customer service department with the details of my online shopping experience. Below that is their response. Following that is my response.

Bare in mind I spent a minimum of 30 minutes on their website, plus the time I took to call their support line, plus the time I took to write them as follow-up twice, and now the time I took to post this poor experience. I am disappointed that they had not considered that my time is important too.

Please enjoy their ignorance.

_____________________________________________

Sent: Monday, Jan 17 2011 12:25:49:000AM

To: customerservice AT borders.com

Subject: "Website Maintenance" or putting the 'ice' in 'service'? Borders Support [Incident:212070]

I have tried THREE times to place my order:

The 1st time, after I entered all my payment information, I was sent to a BLANK screen that then told me the service was unavailable. I had

to wait 10 minutes before your site was available.

The 2nd & 3rd times I tried to make my purchase, again after entering in all the payment information, I was then sent back to your main storefront page with NO CONFIRMATION of my purchase, and my purchases remained in my shopping cart.

When I checked my order history, the "page is unavailable."

I am VERY FRUSTRATED with your website. If I didn't have these gift cards, I would not even have bothered with trying to shop here. Your website is NOT cooperating with my attempt to redeem my cards -- money which you already have & I cannot access.

When I tried to use the 'contact us' form, it wants to know which store: ONLINE is not an option. Submitting the form returned a "service unavailable error." This is intolerable.

I then called 800.770.7811 and spoke with a woman that explained that the 'site is undergoing maintenance.' Wouldn't it be nice to have posted that tidbit of information ON THE WEBSITE?!?! That would have saved me 30+ minutes of excruciating frustration. She did not offer any form of assistance beyond an apology for my frustration. Is that how you put the 'us' in "customer service?" It sounds more like you put the 'ice' into "service" to me.

Do some damage control ASAP and make me a happy shopper. You have my money already -- remember those damned gift cards? So, you've got my money, you're in control of the situation, but I can still post this experience at several high profile blogs that will definitely help me rate your service.

Username: xxxxxxxxxxx

Borders Rewards Card number xxxxxxxxxxxx

--

Timothy Kender.

____________________________________________

date Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 1:17 AM

subject "Website Maintenance" or putting the 'ice' in 'service'? Borders Support [Incident:212070]

hide details 1:17 AM (7 hours ago)

Dear Timothy,


Thank you for contacting Borders regarding with your inquiry.


We're sorry to hear you that you are experiencing difficulties while shopping at Borders.com. You may experience technical difficulty during peak online volume. Please try again at a later time.


When placing your order just follow the steps below to place an order:


1. Locate the items you wish to purchase and add them to your shopping cart. If you would like to continue adding items to your order or exploring our site, click "continue shopping."

2. Review the items you have in your shopping cart and make any adjustments before you proceed to checkout. If you signed into your account and have added items to your shopping cart but decide not to complete the order, these items will remain in your cart indefinitely.

3. After clicking "Checkout" you will be directed to a sign-in page. You may log into your Borders.com account or checkout as a guest.

4. Next is the address page where you will be required to provide and confirm your current e-mail address so that we can provide updates on your order status. You also have the option of either shipping to a personal address or shipping to a Borders Store.

5. For your convenience, you can create a "Quick Checkout" profile for your current and future purchases if you find that you ship to a particular location with most purchases. 6. Next, you will be asked to choose your preferred shipping method.

7. At this point in the checkout process you may return to your shopping cart to add more items by clicking "back", or "next" to continue checking out.

8. Click "next" on the Shipping Page and you will proceed to the Payment Method page. This is where you will enter your payment information as well as gift cards, coupons, or promotional codes you may have. Make sure your Borders Rewards card number has been added so you can get credit for your qualifying purchases!

9. The last step to placing your order is confirming the information contained on the Order Summary page. Click on "Order Now" to place the order. Please note that once an order is placed Borders is unable to cancel or modify it in any way.

10. Once the order is placed, you will see an order confirmation. This will verify the order information and let you know that your items were successfully ordered. You will also receive a confirmation email with the details of the order. You will also be notified by email when your order ships.


Thank you again for your interest in Borders. If we can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.


Sincerely,


Jaime

Borders Customer Care

www.Borders.com


____________________________________________

date Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 7:58 AM

subject Re: "Website Maintenance" or putting the 'ice' in 'service'? Borders Support [Incident:212070]

mailed-by gmail.com 7:58 AM (23 minutes ago)


Wow! It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people can be in customer service these days! I did not write you folks to ask HOW TO buy products from your website. I wrote to complain about my experience trying to do those steps. Your email just treated me like I was a total moron incapable of performing these steps without having an email to guide me through them! This is not my first day on the internet. I have been using the internet since 1989.

I guess your email confirms what I suspected all along: you folks have no clue how to perform customer service. What a disappointment. Well, thank you. I will now post your ignorant response to one or more of the many website blogs out there that discuss customer service quality.

By the way, here's what I was expecting to hear from you:

Dear Timothy,

We're sorry you had a problem using our website during a peak usage time (Sunday morning 9:00), we will strive to improve our server responses in the future. We hope you'll come back soon. Please enjoy this single-use five dollar coupon for your next purchase.

Sincerely Borders.

That is called customer service where you put the customer first, where you want the customer to have an enjoyable experience, and make the customer feel valued not making the customer feel like an idiot who does not know how to click on a link to buy your products.

I hope you have a pleasant day and pleasant experience from your superiors who will eventually read this email.