Andy ordered some hyacinths and tulips from Breck’s last April. They sent them a couple of weeks ago for fall planting and then sent him a bill. He couldn’t pay when he ordered because they didn’t know if they would have enough… they wanted him to pay when the bulbs arrived. All right, but they didn’t give us a link to pay by credit card online. We have an account at brecks.com, so I logged on to our account… they knew about the peonies we had ordered in April, but not the tulips and hyacinths.
But there was a link to Order Status in the green bar:
So I clicked on that:
I put in the account number on the bill and our zip code, and sure enough the details were there… but it still didn’t tell us how to pay online. Crazy.
On the bill here was a line in small print,
TO MAKE CHECK-BY-PHONE PAYMENTS, PLEASE CALL 1-877-212-0378 MONDAY-FRIDAY 8am – 12am, CENTRAL TlME
It was the weekend, but I phoned anyway, to see if I could get more information before Andy phoned on Monday. In fact, after going through the menu, we could pay with our credit card using their automated system. That was great news. The funny part was when they gave us our confirmation number. We managed to keep up with the voice but it went on and on:
00296520299182058
We could have listened to it again and again, but we managed to get it right the first time. The world is conspiring to make us old folks exercise our brains…ours were exhausted by the time we finished!
October 27, 2020
That is a very LONG confirmation number – must be testament to the number of orders they get. We hope all the tulips and hyacinths do well in the Spring.
Unlike our daffodils, they will probably get eaten. Critters love them.
Conspiring? I wouldn’t be surprised.
“This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by Y2020.” 🙂
😀
Oh, I know whereof you speak. I received a couple of small items I ordered on line in the same mail which included a notice to call my bank because of suspicious charges. I first went to the bank’s website and found that I had been billed by the (un-named) company for nearly $30 for something I hadn’t ordered. In fact, it didn’t tell me WHAT I had supposedly ordered but thankfully the bank had declined the charge. Now I’m getting a new card, which will take a week, and I suppose the mystery company will begin badgering me with emails.
Yes, life does get complicated for people of “a certain age” but we must fight through it.
Speaking of which, I just read your “About Jean” page and Judy and I are both officially agape and in awe.
With new respect, I am your humble servant.
I’m blushing…I haven’t done that in years!
You are so honest…making such a effort to pay them. Some people would not have paid, and blamed them on making it hard.
It’s a good company so we want them to do well. I am surprised they made it so hard to do, they may be a bit backward and expect a lot of people to mail checks.
good grief…technology hasn’t caught up with the order invoice that came with the bulbs! As for the confirmation # – enuff said!
had one of my entertaining chats with a courier driver today – about “where is flat 2” … standing at the bottom of the steps! “come up the steps” “no ma’m that’s your place” “nope, #2 is on the other side of the trellis” “are you sure” “come up and will see the number on the door” “oh, sorry m’am…”
“is there anyone there?” “nope” “shall I put it here by the door?” “yep”
courier leaves, have no idea what it is – but hoped it would not rain as it was a small brown paper bag…no rain, all safe.
That’s my assessment…they are thinking in terms of checks rather than paying online with credit cards. If this happens again we know what to do…except, of course, their system will have changed by then. 😀
That looks like the confirmation number I get when I pay my gas bill online every month. At least I just have to copy it down off the screen instead of listening to an automated voice read it off. I always have a hard time hearing on the phone.
I agree, it’s so much easier to pay online. Presumably Breck’s will get there someday.
Some websites are more exhausting than others for some reason every time I go to buy Bob subscription for NHRA drag racing every year I have the same problems and it’s exhausting just like this was exhausting and it should be just a one click and it’s done. I’ll try to remember that I’m exercising my brain when I get really aggravated because it’s coming due in December
Looking at problems that way is something I try to do all the time. If we have to go through the hassle, we might as well get something out of it. And it’s a lot easier to figure things out when we don’t get annoyed.
I really appreciate it when a website is user friendly, though!
I love Brecks! Sad part is, all the ones I’d like to order are not for our growing zone. But still the catalog is fun to browse thru. I hear ya on the online billing tho. Can be frustrating.
My problem with Breck’s is it sends bulbs later than ideal because we’re in New Mexico. It doesn’t understand some of us live in the mountains. They do have great bulbs and plants, though, so we stick with them.
Sometimes they talk so fast I cannot jot down the numbers without listening a couple times…it is phone numbers with us.
That happens with us too. At least they repeat the numbers enough so we can eventually get all the digits.