I just got back to London after weeks away - and offline - in the US. So don’t ask why I was trying to buy a bunch of stuff on Figleaves.com when I should be doing 5000 other more important things. Just don’t ask.
I shopped on the Figleaves US site, because I want my stuff delivered to the US. I put in a US delivery address, but on the payment screen, it wouldn’t let me enter UK credit card details. I thought this idiotic policy went out the window several years ago; I actually wrote an article about it for a magazine back in 1999, so I had hoped that eight years would be enough time for online retailers to come to their senses on this score.
The fun didn’t stop there. I could actually
choose to submit my order and then phone in my card details, which
seemed like the only work-around. I called the UK number listed. It’s
out of service. (I re-rang three times just to make sure.) The only US
numbers offered were toll-free ones, which you can’t dial from the UK.
So I dug out my headset and called via Skype. A girl with a thick Irish
accent answered, and informed me that they simply do not allow people
with UK credit cards to place orders for delivery in the US. UNLESS, of
course, I want my order to ship from the UK and take three times as
long to reach the US. Oh, and if I want to pay twice as much. No
thanks, but you just lost a hugely valuable order and a potentially
lucrative customer, Figleaves. Sit and spin, mofos. (In the end, Neiman Marcus got my business.)
oh my god that is terrible. I can't believe that such an established oneline retailer can a) have an out of date phone number on their site
and
b) refuse to ship your purchases anywhere you god darn like!!
You have sympathies!
Posted by: whitepoppy | January 10, 2007 at 03:34 PM
I just placed an order not too long ago on the US site with my UK card and had no problems. Sorry you had such a bad time, but I don't think that's the norm. But, you've got the right to be frustrated. :(
Posted by: crazymutha | January 26, 2007 at 05:41 PM
Following this feedback, the restriction on having to have a US billing and delivery address to order on the Figleaves US website has now been removed.
We have also monitored the customer service phone number and it has been working correctly so this may have been an isolated problem.
We're sorry for any inconvenience that has been caused.
Posted by: Director of Customer Operations, figleaves.com | January 29, 2007 at 12:32 PM
Thanks, Nigel! That rocks!
Posted by: Jackie Danicki | January 29, 2007 at 12:34 PM