Clare Henney: My Multiply Refund Experience

Here’s an update on what happened to my problem with a certain seller on Multiply.

To those who haven’t read my previous entries about it, I purchased several items on Multiply’s Marketplace. One of the items purchased was a short clip bag from the store All About Mine. I made the purchase via credit card payment and was puzzled when this item never arrived.  The purchases were made on May 11th and all the other orders arrived by May 17th. I contacted the seller, who told me that the payment I made was 50% of the purchase price and that I would have to pay the balance before my order is processed.  I didn’t notice that on the product page.  I found it inconvenient that it would be processed that way considering I intended to pay it in full via credit card at the time. After several message exchanges I was informed that I had to pay the remaining balance of the product via bank deposit and I had to fill out an order form (time consuming, considering how easy it was to purchase the other products from Multiply).  By the time the bank info was given to me it was already May 24th.  I tried to pay for the balance the following day but the bank refused to accept payment because of an invalid account number.  I immediately informed the seller but received no response.

There was still no response by June 5th so I contacted Multiply’s Customer Service, both on their Shop at Multiply Facebook Page and on Multiply itself.  That very same day, the FB page replied and told me to email their CSR the details of the problem.  I got a reply for my email by June 6th and by June 7th I got a reply from the seller, insisting that the account number was correct but that they were having problems with the product because of a shipping issue from China. It was frustrating that the product was not on hand for purchase even if my card was charged 50% for it.  The fact that I couldn’t deposit the balance was not even the issue for me anymore.  The question in my head was, “what if I make the payment and I would not know when the item is delivered? What if it is never delivered?” I didn’t want to have that hanging over my head so I requested for a refund instead.

Multiply’s customer service then contacted the seller and started the whole refund process.  The money was then deposited to my account on June 15th. I want to thank the people on Multiply for being so helpful, especially the person in charge of their FB page and to their CSR Jamie. I hope that they will be able to do something about sellers who have that issue with payment only being 50% and the rest via bank deposit — after all, the reason people pay with their cards/online is precisely because they don’t want to go out to pay for it.  If someone pays with a card, at least let the full amount be charged and not make the person go look for the bank to deposit the balance to.

To the people who purchase items online, do be careful where and who you buy from.  Just because they’re labeled as trusted sellers it does not always mean a convenient shopping experience.  Always read the whole store terms and conditions before making any purchases.  I’m just happy I bought through Multiply and they had remedies for problems like mine.  I can’t imagine getting a refund if I bought it somewhere else.