My mom gifted me a Ninja Cooking system a couple of years ago. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s basically a super cool crock pot. My favorite part of the system is the non-stick crock pot insert. It makes cleaning up really quick. My insert though, started to flake so I did a google search for a new one.
I searched for “Ninja Crock Pot” insert and this is what came up:
http://www.ninjakitchen.com/ninja-cooking-system/mc700-parts-and-accessories/
Looks pretty legit, right? It’s got ninjakitchen in the link and all, so I went there to order my insert.
It’s a pretty basic page with accessories for the Ninja cooking system and the insert is listed there for $19.99.
I clicked on the link, added it to my cart and proceeded to use Paypal to checkout. Once I got to Paypal, the price changed to $23.95. I removed it from my cart and tried again. Once again, the price was $23.95. I figured it was a glitch so I checked out and then sent an email to the customer care email I received on my receipt.
I sent a quick email asking for the difference to be refunded since the website shows $19.99 but I was charged $23.95. I figured this was no big deal since the website clearly stated the $19.99 price.
So when I got a response, I was pretty surprised to see this:
Dear Zu,
Thank you for your email.
We certainly do apologize, however we are presently showing both on the website as well as your order that the price is $23.95.
http://www.ninjakitchen.com/parts/0/all/3/nonstick-removable-pot/
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our team via phone, chat or email.
We can be reached by phone at 1-877-646-5288, we are open Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 10:00pm EST, as well as Saturday and Sunday from 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
With regards,
Customer Service Team
SharkNinja Operating LLC
Still figuring there was a glitch I responded with the following:
Hello,
Dear Zu,
Thank you for your email.
I do apologize, there is a price of $19.99 when you purchase it with the exclusive offer of the main unit. The part alone is $23.95.http://www.ninjakitchen.com/parts/0/all/3/nonstick-removable-pot/
If we can be of further assistance please feel free to contact us by email at cservices@sharkninja.com or by phone at 1-877-646-5288.We are open Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 10:00PM, Saturday – Sunday 9:00AM – 6:00PM EST.
With regards
Customer Service Team
Shark/Ninja Operating LLC
Again, I went to the page I purchased from and looked everywhere for said promotion. Guess what? The page says nothing at all about a promotional price. Once again, I sent an email stating that the “promotional” price is not actually stated anywhere and that I would like the difference refunded. I also mentioned that so far the customer service has been extremely lacking and I can’t believe they would lose a customer over $4. Then I get this:
Dear Zu,
Thank you for your email.
We apologize for any inconvenience that has occurred, however we are unable to refund money when the transaction is legitimate. We apologize for the miscommunication. We have passed along your feedback to our web development team.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our team via phone, chat or email.
We can be reached by phone at 1-877-646-5288, we are open Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 10:00pm EST, as well as Saturday and Sunday from 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
With regards,
Customer Service Team
SharkNinja Operating LLC
Seriously? I mean seriously? It’s their own site that has the $19.99 price. I went back and forth a couple of more times with customer service and each time got the same answer that they would pass it along to the “web development team.” I have a suggestion… how about you admit the page has an error and refund me the $4? Let’s keep in mind that the original crock pot was almost $200 and I used to rave about it to everyone. Used to. I’ll use my Ninja cooking system until the new insert flakes and then…. I’ll buy a different brand and forget Ninja exists. If I happen to see an infomercial (how could I not, since they are on non-stop) I’ll tell everyone who listens how Ninja lost a customer over $4. One day I’ll forget all about this, but probably not until I’ve told this story 20 times. Was it really worth it to a company who spends millions of dollars each year trying to gain customers? Would they think it was worth it to lose a customer over $4?
As the owner of a business, I get pretty annoyed with customers who try to pull one over on us. It happens occasionally, but not often. The vast majority of customers who complain have a legitimate issue. When someone does try to take advantage of us, there are a couple of common ways they do it. My favorite one is when they open their package with a pair of scissors and make a “v” cut in their apparel item. Then they email us and say the item arrived that way. When we ask for a picture, the damage is obviously caused by them. Guess what we do?
We send them another item. For free.
Why? Because it’s better business to turn the other cheek even when you are right. When you are wrong, it’s simply the right thing to do.
So dear Shark Ninja, I’m sorry you didn’t do the right thing. I’m sorry I’ll have to find a new crock pot. But most of all, I’m sorry to know customers are treated this way by companies. It makes making a sale that much harder on the rest of us.
Zu Adams 