I will never know whose fault it was.

It was my first time buying online at Indigo / Chapters.
It was a book, for $36 (shipping cost and tax included).

(At first, Chapters/Indigo e-mailed me (following my request to Pay Pal to investigate the case) saying that the book came from a warehouse in the United States.

This was senseless to say, since it already had been at the Mississauga Canada Post hardware for 2 weeks!

It was shipped pm June 15th, and the tracking number says that it is still at the Canada Post Mississauga hardware today, July 7th (2020). (I live in Québec, at about 90 miles north of from Montréal).

On July 1st, I asked Pay Pal to investigate, and I got a full refund on July 3rd.

No question asked, with the tracking number, it was easy to see what was the case.

Did Chapters / Indigo write the correct adress on the package? The full address? Any address?

I know that with the current COVID 19, that packages are not being sent on time, which is really understable...

So, yes, I got my refund, and no, I'll never take any chance to buy online from Chapters / Indigo ever again.

Sylvie in Trois-Rivières, Québec.

UPDATE: July 9th 2020.

After 24 days of having being stuck at the Mississauga (Ontario) Canada Post hardware, it started to move yesterday (July 8th). This morning (July 9th), it was rendered here in town, where I live. I got an e-mail from Canada Post saying that it had been returned to the seller (Chapters / Indigo) because the address (mine) was incomplete on the box.

Me and my big heart, when I saw yesterday that the package had started to move, I wanted to send them back my payment, out of honesty.

But now that the case is really closed, that the book has been returned to the sender, I do not have to worry about anything anymore.

"Incomplete address"? This was my very first and very last time buying from them. I never had any such problems with eihter Amazon ( from which I buy a lot of different things from many times per year) and Better World Books (for used books), PetSmart.ca, etc...

Final update: July 22nd 2020.

There is absolutely no point of having an account remaining open with a company that you have (a lot of in my case) trouble with.

On July 16th, I asked Chapters / Indigo via e-mail to close my account (after having tried to get only 1 book from them!). They sent me an e-mail requesting that I replied to them, I did, checked what was my account 3 hours later, and it had been closed.

(The book is back in Mississauga at the company - I kept checking the Canada Post tracking number, which was still working and valid on its return to the company)

Never again...

Over the years, I have been a loyal customer at Chapters Indigo. Not so anymore. On Cyber Monday, I ordered an item on the website which should have been shipped for free. I specifically chose the standard shipping for this reason. My "order request" was clocked@ 3:40 PM EST or 4:40 PM AST. I received confirmation of my "order request" at 4:52PM AST but this did not contain the details of the financial transaction. The order "details" were not sent to me until 5:25 PM AST at which time, I noticed that I was being charged for premium shipping at $12.39 plus HST. I immediately called customer service about what I perceived to be a technical error. Unfortunately, this is what I was told. I can make a "request" to get a refund for the shipping and handling charge but there is no guarantee that I will get the refund since I have no proof that I did not select "premium" shipping. To be frank, I was getting frustrated with this whole "REQUEST" business and decided to cancel the order. Well, then I was informed that I could only "cancel" an order within 30 minutes of placing it. At 50 minutes after placing my order "request", I could only make a cancellation "request".

How would I know that the website would scam me for the price of the shipping and handling if at check out, I saw a total of $40.70 (35.70 +HST). The details of my order were not sent to me until 45 minutes after the order "request" was submitted? Secondly, why would I spend 12.39 +HST for "PREMIUM" shipping to receive this item 2 days sooner. If in fact, I was negligent in reviewing the details at check out, why would the company computer automatically default to "premium shipping" if the website blatantly advertises "free shipping for orders over $25", Is this not false advertising?

The story gets better, I was advised by customer service at the time of my "cancellation request" that it would be 3-5 days before the "request" is processed. The item could be shipped within 2-3 days in which case the "cancellation request" would be denied. On December 6th, I received notification that my "request" was denied and that my order "will ship to you in the time frame originally stated". Well, today is December 7th. I logged into my account to check the order status. The justification for denial of my "cancellation request" implies that my order has been shipped. I have not yet received any details of shipping and tracking information. Guess what? According to the website, my order is "awaiting shipment".

I fail to understand why in this "information age", a company such as Chapters Indigo could be so technically challenged. Seriously... 3-5 days for the shipping department to get notification to stop processing an order? I believe the rather archaic system of "requests" and the ridiculous "terms and conditions" are set up to SCAM the consumer. There must be a great legal team on retainer to draft this kind of BS.

Although I try to support Canadian web companies, I will never do business with this one again. Chapters Indigo won't need to do me any favours in the future because I won't be making any more "requests". It's not about the $12.39 =HST shipping charge, it's about treating customers with respect. Adding "we value your business and hope you will shop with us again" to the bottom of each and every email" just doesn't cut it. This experience has been an insult to my intelligence.

FYI, Corporate Decision Makers at Indigo, the same books are available at Amazon or small local retailers. Amazon's stock of household goods and giftware far exceeds anything you have. Furthermore, Amazon doesn't have a cancellation policy with an unreasonable 30 minute limit. Their shipping fees are cheap and "free" means free... no underhanded fine print or default settings for "premium" shipping. No doubt, you read the financial reports. Even Amazon struggled in the last quarter but surely, it's not because they are driving customers away. Chapter's Indigo, you have the market on that.