[Eee Pad Transformer General] G-Tab:
The Target Experience

I'll start by saying that I've now spent close to 2 hours messing around with Target.com and their support crew. In my world I've spent close to half the value of the Asus Transformer tablet of my own time. But it's the principle of the matter at this point.

Here's the timeline:

5/2 - placed order for Asus eee pad Transformer from Target.com using the coupon code for $40 off the price. Total was $400.04 shipped with expected ship date between 5/20 and 6/7.

5/3 - received email from Target.com that indicated the order had been canceled.

5/3 - called Target.com customer service and spoke with Christine. She was very pleasant and asked around about the cancellation. She came back to inform me that this was a known issue and that the order had NOT been canceled but rather Target.com had a computer "glitch". I asked if she'd be kind enough to send an updated email indicating the error and confirm that the order was still valid. She happily agreed.

5/3 - after reading some other information on the net, I called back to get reassurance that the order was intact. This time I spoke with Samara. Samara said that their computers were down and that she couldn't look anything up on my order, but that she was familiar with the Transformer orders and that they had indeed been canceled. She asked that I call back in 30 minutes.

5/3 - 30 minutes later, I called back and spoke with Aisha. She informed me that their computers were very slow, but she tried to pull up the order. She told me that Target.com was unable to "source" the product and that they couldn't fulfill the order. I asked very pointedly, "Are you saying that Target will not be carrying the Asus eee pad Transformer at all?" to which she said, "yes, that's true". I then asked if Target.com was going to offer any kind of compensation for backing out of this offer they published. She put me on hold for awhile and returned to say, "no, Target.com is not offering any compensation on this at all." I asked to speak with a Supervisor and was told she's on the phone and that she was unavailable. I asked for the Supervisor's name and was told that she couldn't give out that information. Instead, she transferred me to Target "Corporate", which turned out to be guest relations.

5/3 - I was transferred to Luke in guest relations who had me reiterate the saga twice while he documented it. He then apologized and said I needed to speak with a Supervisor at Target.com. I asked, "Isn't that where I just came from?" to which he said, "yes, but that's who you need to speak with." I asked him why I just documented this issue with him and he said that he reports this to upper management. So Luke transferred me back to where I started.

5/3 - Kishorna answered this time and I politely asked to speak to a Supervisor straight away. She took my name and placed me on hold. I sat on hold for 40 minutes after which they hung up on me.

5/3 - Called back and Joseph answered. I explained that I'd been on hold for 40 minutes and had been disconnected while waiting for a supervisor. He placed me on hold to go find a supervisor. After 15 minutes I had to hang up for another call.

5/3 - I called Guest Relations again to file a complaint about Target.com and their supervisors. I was transferred back to Target.com where I spoke with Claudia. She was very nice but after relaying the entire story AGAIN, I am left with nothing.

5/3 - I spoke with Dan in Guest Relations and he was very interested to collect and document my complaint with Target.com. However he was unable to do anything other than document the issue in order to improve their internal processes. GREAT! I'm going to waste MORE of my time to help Target provide better customer service?

In a last ditch effort, I asked for the value of the sale (in this case, $40) in a Target gift card. This way, when it was in stock at Target.com or locally, I could still take advantage of the sale price. Target.com offered something, they set the sale, they set the price. They took my information, including my credit card and the promised delivery. Then they reneg'd on that promise. Instead of resolving the issue, they simply canceled the order and thumbed their noses at the customers. I completely understand that Target.com can't sell what they don't have. Asus can't deliver the product for manufacturing reasons... I get it. But Target.com shouldn't have OFFERED it if they couldn't deliver it. Since they DID offer it, they should own up to their offer in some way and offer something more than "we're very sorry". A little good faith goes a long way with customers.

I'm going to get the Asus eee pad Transformer. It won't be from Target.com nor will anything in the future come from Target.com for me!