EUREKA, Mo. — A St. Louis County woman said she recently ordered a cell phone that never came, but she's still getting charged.
Like seemingly everyone these days, Josie Stone relies on her cell phone for her day-to-day life.
“I use it for business, and home use, calling the kids and all of that,” said Josie Stone. “It’s pretty much my lifeline.”
When she decided to upgrade to the latest iPhone, she shopped around before buying from Spectrum.
“It said it would be delivered in two days, and that it required a signature, so I knew I didn’t have to go anywhere,” said Stone. “I can just stay home and have it in two days.”
Two days turned into three, which turned into a week, so she requested an update from FedEx.
“They sent one and they said it was delivered on the day it was supposed to be here, only it never came,” said Stone.
She reached out to both companies to try and cut through the confusion.
“Spectrum sent me the proof of signature,” said Stone. “It was just an empty box.”
Frustrated, she started recording her conversations with customer service.
A customer service rep can be heard in one recording saying, “Apple ProMax, those have a habit of walking away through FedEx.”
“At the end of the day I had to go out and buy another phone,” said Stone.
Out roughly $1100 she couldn’t help but have questions.
“How large is this problem,” asked Stone.
I reached out to Sarah Wetzel with the Better Business Bureau to get answers to that question.
“Is this a common occurrence that you hear about,” asked 5 On Your Side Reporter Holden Kurwicki.
“We do hear about this at the Better Business Bureau, and looking at Charter/Spectrums complaints it is something you do see,” said Better Business Bureau of St. Louis spokeswoman Sarah Wetzel. “When you look at the complaints you see it from all over the United States. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that’s just happening here in St. Louis. This is happening all over the place.”
5 On Your Side reached out to Charter a spokesman told me they were processing a refund to Stone's account, and that her account had been credited.
Charter also apologized to Stone for the delay resolving the issue.
"At the end of the day it's not even about the money,” said Stone. “Obviously I wanted to recover that, but it's the fact that this nationwide company is doing something wrong. Something needs to change, and they need to be held accountable.”
A FedEx spokesperson provided this statement in response to the situation: “The security of our customers' shipments is a top priority for FedEx Ground. We are conducting a review of this situation and will take the appropriate action. Customers with questions about their shipments or the claims process are encouraged to contact customer service by visiting www.fedex.com.”