|
|
Review 2/12/2011
|
|
I have never purchased anything from Avon Online, but I want to share my experience with them when someone stole my debit card information and purchased products at their website, because I believe it says something about their business ethics... or lack thereof. I discovered the theft the same day the charges were made, and after calling to cancel the card, called the three online stores which the fraudulent charges had been made. Two of the three stores were very helpful and had the sales were cancelled immediately. Unfortunately Avon was a very different story. The rep from Avon said they were sorry to hear that this had happened but that there was nothing they could do about it because I did not have the order number or the phone number associated with the fraudulent order. I explained that of course I did not have the phone number of the order because the person who stole my card did not have the real phone number associated with the card so how could I have it. I had the real phone number as well as the security code on the back of the card. And why, I asked, would Avon accept a card without either of these things, on top of the fact that I'm sure the shipping address was different than the billing address? No answer to that. So I asked the rep that, whether or not it was me that made the order, since it is my card and I have ALL the correct information about the card, how do I cancel the order?
Unbelievably, I was told there was no way unless I had the order number or the phone number associated with the order.
So understand this: you can order products at Avon Online with just the 16 digits of a debit card (not the phone number, or the security code on the back), but if you have the 16 digits plus the phone # and security code, you cannot cancel an order.
I was told to call back in a week to get an update, which was totally useless since, once the charge posted, the bank took care of it from there, requiring me to go fill out paperwork and wait 10 days to get my money back.
Here's the thing that ticks me off though. I have no proof of this but I believe this is a deliberate policy of Avon Online not to effectively deal with stolen credit and debit cards because they don't want to lose the fraudulent sales. After dealing with the other two stores about the other fraudulent charges, and how easy it was to get the sales cancelled (they too couldn't look up the order because of the fake phone number, but had a process of tracking fraudulent sales by the card number), I simply cannot believe that this is an oversight on their part. I honestly thought that when I called them about the fraudulent purchases, they would transfer me immediately to a fraud division or someone who actually cared that someone was committing a felony at their store. But no one seemed to care. To me, that tells a lot about what a company believes. I have no idea if the stolen beauty products were actually delivered or not and I really don't think it matters. There is no reason that a charge of this size $365.00 should be able to be made without the correct phone number or security code in the first place. And there is no reason I shouldn't be able to cancel an order even if I don't have the phone number used to make it. To me this is willful negligence of their duty to stop fraud in the name of more profit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|