My Existence

So, as the title says I got a 37″ LCD for $580 from www.woot.com!  I am now in a moral dilemma.

I got my FedEx tracking number and signed up for e-mail updates and tracking exceptions.  The monitor was bought Thursday, October 9th shipped on the 14th and Saturday the 18th I got an update from FedEx saying “Damaged, handling per shipper instructions” - which is to return shipment to them.  I hop online and sure enough, it is updated as such!  I would then be refunded and at that point, unable to purchase another one due to the nature of how woot operates.  They sell one item a day until it sells out or it hits 10pm CST, 11pm EST.  So I was looking at a refund, and then being unable to get a really good deal!

I e-mail woot and inform them what FedEx has updated my shipment as and inquire as to what is going to happen, hoping they maybe had some reserve stock and I would get luck.  I know they are closed on weekends so I don’t expect a reply.  While I am on their website, I check out what others have said about their shipments and learn a lot of people have received damaged boxes but the LCD is good to go.
I called FedEx and inquired, I was told by Kimberly it was damaged “in transit,” or in the shipping biz “We ran it over, threw it across the room, dropped it from ten feet and ran it over again for good measure!,” and that it was being returned to the shipper, which is their instructions per the shipper if something like this happens.  Really bummed out now, cause I was going to have to accept a refund and I don’t think it’s fair, I went back to woot.com and posted a mature reply, saying I think FedEx should be held responsible.  They damaged it, they owe me a monitor.  Simple.

As I am reading the posts about this monitor, a LOT of people say their shipment arrived and the packaging is just horrendous.  Crushed cardboard, open tops.  Ripped box, but the monitor is perfect and working!!  I keep reading and two people mention dents on the top, from where the box was open.  One person also says theirs has been returned.  I think about that for a few and call FedEx back, once again inquiring and being a little more forceful.  I asked if I can swing by the station and look at it, citing a lot of people have been saying the boxes have been really badly damaged, but the item itself is good.

I get put on hold while the Rep, Kim, calls local station and talks to a manager.  He gets back to me almost TEN minutes later with the local station on the line and the lady in NH says I can either agree to take delivery or it is being shipped back.  Well, to keep a longer story short-ish.  I go check it out.  The box is considered “damaged” for ONE top flap being RIPPED.  The rest of the box is in near perfect condition.  Certainly a LOT better than I had been reading about online.  I accept the monitor, go home plug her in and it is still working beautifully!!  I took a ton of pictures as I was removing it from my car, unpacking and setting it up.  Just in case it dies on me or something.

Today, I get an e-mail from Jordan at woot saying “I apologize that your package was damaged.  Since we no longer have any replacements to send you, I have refunded your purchase in full.  Thanks for Wooting!”  I blink and read it again, forgetting I had sent my original e-mail.  I check the tracking number, it shows delivered and signed for so I am really confuzed as to why I was refunded.  Don’t they double check these things???  So, my dilemma by this point should be rather obvious…

Do I hope they don’t realize their mistake and never ask me for the money back, or do I do the right thing and let them know I have the monitor?  I’m really torn on this.  They made a mistake, someone clearly didn’t follow through and I have a strong “If they screw up it’s their loss” attitude when it comes to businesses.  I certainly was NOT trying to deceive them, I can provide a timetable of everything I did and in what order to prove I was not trying to scam anyone or get it for free.  I can also show in the tracking number where it shows as being signed for.  Now if I was to be contacted and asked if I got the monitor, and I were to lie to them about not getting it, I would be in the wrong and trying to scam them and deceive them and be “the bad guy.”

But what if I just stay silent and not say a word?  Can I do that?