Gail H.

My all-time worst online shopping experience occurred on Net-a-Porter. I ordered a couple of jackets that were on sale. Simple enough. I received an email that said the order was undergoing a security check, and that once it passed, the items would be shipped. Then the experience turned into something like the soup-nazi episode on Seinfeld. The price on the jackets dropped two days after I ordered them, so I called and asked for a price adjustment. I received an incoherent response to the effect that the policy was not to give customers the price break unless the "timing" was right. (None of this "the customer is always right" stuff that NM, Saks and other major retailers regularly provide.) Then Customer Service demanded that I register my shipping address with my bank, since my billing address was a P. O. Box, and once the bank confirmed it the items would ship. No such luck. I even set up a conference call with between myself, Net-a-Porter customer service, and my bank, during which my bank approved the shipping address. A couple of days later I noticed that the hold for the items had dropped off of my credit card account, but I had not received a shipping notice. I called again and Net-a-Porter customer service said there was still a problem with authorization of my shipping address by my bank. I confirmed that the bank had authorized the shipping address. Then customer service informed me that my shipping address was not a residential address, but a mail drop. Since that was no secret, I confirmed the fact that it was a mail drop, and advised that I had used it for years and that no other vendor had complained. Net-a-Porter said that the concerns were for my own security. I said, "Then how am I supposed to get the merchandise when you refuse to ship it to my shipping address?" The lady told me to find a friend whose residential address I could use for shipping purposes, since I never give out my residential address so as to avoid stalkers. (I work in a field that involves a lot of violent, dangerous men.) I was advised that it was my tough luck, and that they were only concerned about my "security." I pointed out that Net-a-Porter.com was not going to stay in business very long if it would not approve people's shipping addresses, but kept creating more hoops to jump through. I came up with a friend's address for shipping purposes, and I got the authorization codes on the purchases from the bank, yadayada, as demanded, and STILL Net-a-Porter won't send me the goods. This has never been an issue with any other retailer I have dealt with. Net-a-Porter.com is an exercise in frustration. Shop elsewhere and save yourself the stress.