Online Amateur Hour
Kitchen Collection
I just wanted a Tap Light, As Seen on TV. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Andrea, we've heard the As Seen on TV song from you before. You're thinking I should know better and that I need to stay away from As Seen on TV products and people who sell them because one way or another, I always get burnt. You're thinking that I watched too many Ginsu knives commercials in my formative years and that I need regression therapy to erase the Pocket Fisherman from my memory, aren't you? I know what you're thinking.
Well, you're right. My Egg Wave was a disaster, albeit good fodder for a funny review. Marvin's Magic was decidedly un-magical and made my kid cry. That wallet thing that snaps your receipts up was a clever party trick for a minute or two, but not practical for daily use. I haven't even gotten to use my $29.95 Nu Leather kit since my dear husband has forbidden me from applying it to anything within 10 miles of our home. (I tried to explain to him that Yogi Berra used Nu Leather on his baseball glove, and if it was good enough for Yogi, it should be good enough for a leather jacket or two of ours. No avail.)
Tap Lights, though, are just lights, for heaven's sake, how could they mess me up? You buy a Tap Light. You stick it in a closet. You press it and it lights up. What could go wrong?
Well, one thing that could go wrong is price, paying too much and getting ripped off. I've seen all sorts of prices for these Tap Lights — 6 piece set!...from $26.95 all the way down to less than half of that, and heard stories of people picking them up for a few bucks in a brick and mortar Wal-Mart. I wanted a Tap Light, but I didn't want to get burned by paying too much.
I finally found a great price at Kitchen Collection the other day, just $4.98, and thus begins yet another tale of As Seen on TV aggravation.
Nothing Remarkable
Kitchen Collection is the online store for a brick and mortar retailer. There are 173 physical stores throughout the US, and a decent online web front as well.
I'm a big online buyer of all things kitchen related and I've browsed Kitchen Collection many times. In addition to an As Seen on TV! section, they have the standard fare you'd expect from a middle-of-the-road kitchen store — bakeware, gadgets, cutlery, small appliances. There's nothing inspiring or remarkable about their product selection, but nothing to gripe about either. Basically, they have kitchen stuff, and if you need kitchen stuff, their website is worth a look.
Like their product selection, the look and feel and the performance of the website itself is fine. It offers the standard amenities that you expect from a decent online retailer including search, order status, online order tracking. Nothing remarkable.
I Buy A Tap Light
Utterly fed up with lighting problems in our house, but not wanting to spend a ton of money, I hopped online on Saturday to find a few quick fix products that wouldn't kill my budget. I was delighted to find the Big Value 6 Pack Tap Light on Kitchen Collection for just $4.98. (I was highly skeptical that the Big Value 6 Pack was going to give me 6 Tap Lights for that price, but I'd have settled for one, just to try the product out.)
Now, $4.98 loaded in my cart quickly and easily. Shipping charges are based on weight, and I was racking up over $5.00 in charges, just to ship this one item. Seemed like a waste, so I spent 10 or 15 minutes going through their kitchen utensils to find something light and inexpensive to add to my purchase. I settled on a 6 Piece Nylon Tool Set, for a decent price — $5.99. My final order totaled $17.07.
I got my email confirmation promptly and the Fed Ex Ground guy showed up with my box just two working days after I ordered.
Here's the part where I get really mad.
Ripping open the box, I find my 6 Piece Nylon Tool Set and no Tap Light. My packing list has my order detailed correctly, but a human being has scratched through the Tap Light listing and scrawled "N/A Credit will be issued."
Talk About Amateur Hour!
1) The Tap Light was listed as "in stock" when I purchased it.
2) There was no pre-notification to me that they couldn't supply the Tap Light.
3) My credit card was charged for the full amount of my order, not just what they shipped.
4) My order history on the website shows that they shipped me the Tap Light. No one has modified anything online.
5) If I do get a credit issued to my card without my having to hunt them down, I will have spent $12.09 for a 6 Piece Set of Nylon Kitchen Tools that I didn't really want that much in the first place, and certainly not $12.09 worth
Obviously, I would have cancelled the entire order, had I been given the option to cancel.
Yeah, I'm really irritated. I was this close to a Tap Light, and now I've got nothing but an overpriced set of cheap kitchen tools which don't light anything and a need to double check my credit card statement to make sure I get my $4.98 credit. (Like that's going to happen.)
Shame On You, Kitchen Collection
This is no way to run an internet operation. Unforeseen stock outages can happen, but a system must be in place to take care of them so the customer doesn't end up on the short end of the stick. An employee in the warehouse scratching out items on a packing slip and no one communicating with me or giving me options is not a system.
Now, I've got no reason to waste any energy battling with Kitchen Collection over such a small amount of money. I'll do my best to remember to check for the credit on my credit card, and leave it at that. I'm certainly never shopping with them again, no matter how much I want to try a Tap Light.
The Bottom Line, Clicks and All
I'd give Kitchen Collection a pass, unless there's a product they have that you can't find anywhere else. (Given their ordinary product selection, an overwhelming need to shop with them is unlikely.) If you do need to purchase from them, be aware that you do so at your own risk. You can't rely on their in stock status online, and you can't rely on them to make an effort to communicate with you.
I'm going to give them two stars, since the half of the order they decided to ship came promptly and was packaged well. I'm saving the rest of those stars for a store that can deliver a Tap Light to me at a good price with no hassle. Bonus stars will be awarded to any store that makes Marvin's Magical Drawing Board or the Egg Wave actually work.
