I placed an order online at teavana.com for White Chocolate Peppermint tea (on sale for $31.50 but paid $25.07 w/ promo) and added on "Steep it simple" tea sampler (for $13.93). I also paid $9.99 for expedited shipping. I used the Starbucks card to pay for the total of $48.95. After couple of day of no email in regards to shipment, I checked the order status online. I found that my order was on hold, so I emailed customer service, inquiring about the delay and asking to cancel the entire order if there is a delay as I needed the items by a certain date and can purchase in-store. The next day, I got a response stating that the White chocolate tea is out of stock and has been cancelled from my order. But the tea sampler for $13.93 will be shipped at the $9.99 fee, for a total of 23.92.
I called to cancel the entire order as paying ten dollars for a fourteen dollar item is silly when I can purchase it in person. I was told it was too late to cancel it and to contact my financial institution and dispute the charge. Apparently, this would send a red flag and they would cancel the item. The only problem here is most financial institutions do not allow disputing a charge when the transaction is still pending, additionally I used my Starbucks card. I received an email stating the same. When I mentioned the Starbucks card as my payment source, I was asked to call back again to give my Starbucks card number for a refund of $23.88, once the tea sampler ships. Again, if the item has not shipped yet, why not cancel the entire order, also why is the refund only $23.88? Finally, why modify my order, ignoring the promo codes, expedited shipping etc without getting in touch with me? Btw the White chocolate tea is still available for sale online. No out of stock message. This has been one of the worst customer service/online order experience I have had.