Disappointed with Scent Works

[cerelife]

I've ordered from Scent Works several times in the last few years and have always had an email confirmation of my order within 24 hours and fast shipping - usually receiving my shipment within 4-5 days. And although their FO's ARE on the pricey side, they are beyond wonderful!
So when I heard the rumors on here that SW might be going out of business, I went to their website and ordered 4lbs of my favorite scent (Acadian Homecoming) while it was still showing as "Available from Stock"...just in case the rumors were true. I decided to play it safe and pay with PayPal (SW is verified with PayPal) and I also took screen shots of my order to include the order number and date.
That was on July 1st and I never received an order confirmation. So on July 18th, I checked our PayPal account to see if we had been charged for the order only to find out that not only was our account charged - it was charged twice!! I tried to call SW but the number listed has been disconnected, so I e-mailed them a request to reverse one of the charges. No reply.
Still no shipment/no reversal of the duplicate charge by July 24th, so I e-mailed them again to request info on my order and ask them yet again to reverse one of the charges. No reply.
I received a package from them the next day containing 1.8lbs of FO, with the invoice amended by hand. The 4lb amount was crossed out and 1.8lb written in, with a note of "This is all that is available from stock." OK, I can live with that, BUT my PayPal account is still reflecting two charges for the original order. So I waited...to no avail.
I sent this e-mail to them last night:

I received your shipment on July 25th for 1.8 lbs of Acadian Homecoming FO with an invoice stating that this was all that was available from stock to fill my order of 4 lbs of this fragrance.
However, I still have two charges for $202.35 each to your company with PayPal. As I mentioned in prior messages, our PayPal account was charged twice for this order and the duplicate charge has not yet been reversed as of 08/09/14 despite my requests for your attention to this matter. Nor has the original charge been reduced to reflect the fact that I received less than half the amount of FO I ordered, nor the shipping charges adjusted for the smaller amount.
In my estimation, instead of the $181.45 charge for the 4 lbs of FO that I ordered, the charge should be $81.79 (181.45 / 64 oz = 2.84 per oz). The shipment I received was 1.8 lbs (28.8 oz x 2.84 = 81.79).
Shipping charges for my order of 4 lbs of FO was $20.90, but since I actually received less than half that amount, I think it's more than fair that I only pay your standard shipping charges for 2 lbs of FO, which I've documented per your website as $16.34.
So my total charges to your company should be $98.13.
As I mentioned in prior messages, I would much prefer that we resolve this matter privately, but since you have yet to reply to my messages and I have no option to call you as the phone number listed on your website has been disconnected, I have slim hopes for a reply or your attention to the matter of refunding the amount of $306.57 to our PayPal account.
I truly don't want to give you a bad rep with PayPal, but if your total lack of communication continues, I can't see any other option but to dispute the charges.
You can reply to this email or call me at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
​

It was returned to me with a 'message failure' notice. So I tried it again today...same thing.
So I went to the SW website and saw that they now have a 'Shutdown Notice' stating that they will be closed from Aug 2 - Aug 31 for vacation and inventory.
I think that I've been more than fair with them, so I'll be filing an formal complaint/dispute of charges with PayPal tomorrow

 

[Aline]

That is awful Shutting down should not be an excuse to piss on their customers. I'm shocked. They evidently don't care at all about their reputation - I see 4 BBB complaints since Oct 2013. Yes, you have been very patient and now it's time to talk to PayPal.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Contact Paypal ASAP as they are the ones that handled the payment. They need to rectify this as soon as possible.

Normally I would get the supplier to do it, but in this case I think that it makes sense to go directly to PayPal, seeing as the supplier has done a Lord Lucan

 

[shunt2011]

I too think you have been more than patient and fair. I would file with paypal and let them handle it. That really sucks that they would be like that.

 

[wetshavingproducts]

Contact Paypal ASAP as they are the ones that handled the payment. They need to rectify this as soon as possible.

Normally I would get the supplier to do it, but in this case I think that it makes sense to go directly to PayPal, seeing as the supplier has done a Lord Lucan

Yup, ASAP so PP can freeze the funds and get it to you.

 

[seven]

how annoying and unprofessional. hope you get this settled asap!

 

[reinbeau]

I keep hearing these kind of stories about The Scent Works. It's too bad, people loved them.....

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

I believe PayPal only allows you to dispute for 45 days. Make sure you don't let that deadline pass! So sorry you are having to deal with this!

 

[cerelife]

I believe PayPal only allows you to dispute for 45 days. Make sure you don't let that deadline pass! So sorry you are having to deal with this!

Thanks! If it weren't for that 45 day deadline, I would have continued to try to resolve this with Scent Works. As it was, I waited until day 44 to file the complaint with PayPal!
While I understand, it's still aggravating that PayPal's first step is to require me to write yet another e-mail to SW for each dispute (one for the duplicate charge, and one for the partial shipment)....I've BEEN TRYING to resolve this with them, already!!
PP says they will send me an email if/when SW replies, but if they don't reply, it's totally up to me to stay on top of this nonsense and take the next step of filing a 'claim' to get my money refunded by PP before the deadline of 09/02/14. Otherwise, the matter is dropped and I'm just out of luck.
They don't make it easy, but I have NO intention of just giving away over $300! PP verified this company and they can dang well pay me back if that's what it comes to :twisted:

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

How frustrating!!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Don't worry about waiting - if it has been more than 1 week, that is more than enough time for a company to respond to a message. Give them another 2 days to respond to the second email and then get it to the PP complaints system.

There are no excuses for shocking service. But when a company is going under, you need to get your claim posted in good time if you want to be sure.

 

[cerelife]

**Update**
I escalated my PayPal 'disputes' to 'claims' last week and got email today from PayPal that Scent Works reversed the charges for the douple payment and agreed to my refund amount for the partial shipment.
One would think that Scent Works would send an email apologizing for the inconvenience, but I'm not holding my breath!! At least it's over and done with, and I have my $300+ back

 

[lionprincess00]

Wow. That's awful! So happy to hear it was resolved (finally!).