Letter to Chapters.ca

Dear Chapters.ca,

I made some purchases on your site today – not just because I like to shop Canadian, but also because Amazon’s shopping cart kept losing one of my items intermittently.

I purchased four items; two of them will ship now and two will ship later. The total of these four items, before taxes, exceeds your $36.00 minumum for free shipping – yet, I was charged $11 for shipping.

This is a little confusing – if my order total exceeds your minimum requirements – why am I paying any shipping at all, regardless of when the books are published? This seems like a scam because you don’t explain why the shipping costs are being added to an order that exceeds your minimum purchase total.

I am also puzzled by your feedback request. You said “We value your feedback. Tell us what you think.”

So, ready to oblige, I clicked the link and got a single question: “Please rate [on a scale of one to 10] your overall site experience with us today. Please select one response only, based on your experience you had with us today.”

Aside from being poorly worded, is that really all the feedback you want? If you value my feedback, let me give you some actual feedback! This single and uninformative question doesn’t make me feel valued. This question says “We got your money already, but for legal reasons, we’re obliged to give you the impression that your opinion matters.”

Why is there not a feedback form and questions – so you can get specific feedback about possible improvements or even praise for a job well done?

I don’t need a personal response from the CEO about my feedback (though, if Heather Reisman wants to address that stupid shipping gaffe I’d sure like an answer), but come on, at least pretend like your customers matter.

That feedback question is nothing more than a pacifier – and I am NOT pacified.

Cordially,

R.