Thursday 8 December 2011

Why I'm Boycotting Threadless

Hello blogosphere, it's been awhile! Unfortunately, the reason I'm taken to the blog this time is not the most positive. But read on and you shall understand . .

I love graphic tees. The wit and creativity that can often be found on graphic tees make my life a little sunnier. I love supporting independent artists. So how could I not love Threadless - purveyor of all tees graphically delicious. And I did love them. Until now.

Earlier this week, Threadless had a major sale on their merchandise - $9.99 for selected shirts - and I wanted to take advantage of this. My cart quickly filled up with these shirts, amounting to almost $100 worth. And when I came across one particular shirt that was not on sale, I decided to go for that too. This shirt would be a special order "Lab" item that would need 2-3 weeks before shipping could occur. I was really excited about the things I'd selected, as a couple of shirts I'd been lusting over for months would soon be mine!

Now, while I'm not what you'd call an environmental crusader, I do take it upon myself to try to be green. So imagine my surprise upon checking out. Options for shipping speeds and prices, but where was the little checkbox to combine shipments? Nowhere to be found.

I turned to Twitter to find the answer. [exact transcription of my conversation with them]

me: I want to get 1 special order tee w/my order. Is there a way to make it so everything ships at once?

It took them so long to respond that I cancelled my $100+ order.

12 hours later . . .

them: Nope, sorry! :( Those will ship separately.

me: I wonder if it might be something you'd consider. More economical AND environmental.

Another 10 hours later . . .

them: Consider it considered! Sorry again it's not an option now.

Wait . . . what??? Is that really how you've trained your social media team to communicate with customers? "Consider it considered"??? By whom? The social media team? I know Threadless is one of those young hip companies, but I did not expect them to just dismiss my concerns like that. I'm down with colloquial and casual internet language. But to be so downright flippant about it is uncalled for and rude. They would have been better off just not responding at all. Or y'know, a simple respectful response would have sufficed.

Unfortunately our current shipping policy does not allow that. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

Is that so difficult? I came up with that in about 5 seconds.

Forget the extra shipping cost - it's a few bucks. But I'd expect any company to try to minimize their carbon footprint and shipping materials needed. Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed by Threadless and will not be purchasing anything from them for now.

Update: To their credit, a response from Threadless was left in the comments of this blog within an hour if its posting. While I appreciate this effort to reach out to me, I'm still going to think twice about ordering from them again.