What a strange experience with AO. We have ordered about 6 appliances form AO over the last 15 years. On Monday 23rd January, we ordered a Samsung 65in OLED TV. I received an email acknowledging it and almost simultaneously an SMS. The email didn't advise of any problems. Assuming the SMS to contain the same confirmation text as the email, I didn't read it in full. It looked like a standard confirmation text.
The next day, we received a shipment notification email complete with tracking link. The TV was apparently on its way. Another SMS was sent in the morning advising of a more precise delivery slot. We suspected nothing wrong. Waited all day, the TV did not arrive. 24 hours later I clicked on the delivery tracking link to find it was not loading details.
I called customer services and was advised that upon ordering, I was sent an SMS asking for a copy of my a statement to go with my credit card to prove I was the owner of the credit card. What on earth is that all about? Never in my 20 years of online shopping have I come across that. From a bank maybe but not a reseller. Its usually my bank's responsibility to check the transaction is not fraudulent. I went through 2-factor authentication to make the payment in the first place.
I checked the SMS mentioned by the young lady from customer services and lo and behold, although it came at the precise moment as the email confirmation, it contained different information. Incredibly bad logic to include an important request like that in an SMS but not in the email! This completely unorthodox request came in the format of what looked like a scam/phishing SMS. I say that because upon reading it I noticed the message was asking me to send my bank statement to a web address, and not an email address! Turns out their SMS server mistranslated the "@" symbol into a "j". So AO's instruction was not even valid.
However, all of this was too late as I did not respond in time. The refund had already been initiated prior to me calling. Why would I suspect any issue when I was getting delivery notification mails and tracking links? After putting down the phone, the same TV jumped by £450. I kid you not. The same TV also jumped price with another big online reseller.
This is the complete truth and AO do not seem the slightest bit interested in improving their processes which have made them look like black market crooks. Of course they will cry the additional checks are for customers safety, I'm not contesting that, I'm contesting the manner in which it was conducted. A phone call would've been wiser. Don't send important information like that by SMS whilst failing to include it in an email. This isn't 1995.
Good by AO. You lost a valuable customer.
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