The Source is an incompetent company that leaks customer data.
I bought an open box Macbook Air from The Source last week that was only available online. The whole experience has painted their entire company as poorly organized and poorly operated in my eyes.
For reference I moved about two years ago and have updated my address everywhere. I was using a BMO Visa that I used to place 50+ online orders in the last year, including some online stores in the US as well. Never had any issues.
Attempt 1
Tried placing the order with that card, my current billing address and store pickup as a shipping option. Used desktop Chrome. The website rejected the order saying billing address doesn't match. Tried once more, same thing.
I checked my bank statement and there FOUR pending charges, 2 for each attempt. I called my bank and they said there's no problem on their end. They're approving the transactions and there are no holds on my card.
Attempt 2
Tried again with everything the same, but used my previous billing address instead. Transaction went through. That's when I made that post above.
Fast forward a couple of days and The Source sent an email saying they cancelled the order. The email didn't give any reasons so I gave them a call. They said it's a billing address mismatch, so they cancelled it.
The rep couldn't give any more details, nor could he offer any other solutions, such as transferring me to the cancellation department, have me pay at the store or anything else.
Attempt 3
By this time I could no longer log into the website using Chrome. I click log in after entering my credentials, and the website doesn't do anything.
I logged in using Edge. The rep still on the line. This time I was going to use Paypal.
If you read my OP you'll see that the Macbook had a $30 discount for Bell Advantage customers. By this point that discount had disappeared. It's still available on some items, but not on macbooks. I asked the rep if they could honor the discount and they said they can't.
Whatever, $1000 is still not bad, so I placed the order using Paypal. Store pickup as last time. Everything seemed to be fine.
Current situation
Fast forward another couple of days and my Paypal order was also cancelled. Once again citing a billing address and email address mismatch.
I double checked and my Paypal primary address is the same as the billing address I used on the order. The email address is indeed different, as I used the email address associated with my Bell login at the Source which is different than my Paypal email address. Name and address are the same.
I called them again and the rep this time was also unable to help. They couldn't help me troubleshoot the issue, other than telling me to make sure the billing address matches. They couldn't transfer me to the cancellation department.
When I asked if they could escalate the issue to higher ups they said they can't. Then a minute later they said they'll try asking their supervisor and put me on hold. A minute later the line disconnected
The Source is the poster boy of an organization's operation in shambles in the post-covid world. Their website is slow and buggy. Their order processing system is nonsensical and riddled with human error. Their communication emails do not actually contain any useful information. Their CS reps do not have any actual training or ability to do anything beyond troubleshooting simple issues. They're essentially a glorified human FAQ.
But wait, there's more!
By third attempt I couldn't log in with Edge anymore either. Same problem as Chrome. So I tried Firefox.
I tried checking out as a guest to check for something, and then I backed out. Then I discovered it logged me into a guest account, which actually saves addresses of previous customers who tried / checked out as a guest!
That's a privacy breach that I would expect from small ma' and pop stores venturing into the internet in 2004, not a big corporation in 2023.
Here's a screenshot (addresses blurred by me). Get your act together The Source. I wouldn't be surprised if this company goes under this year.
For reference I moved about two years ago and have updated my address everywhere. I was using a BMO Visa that I used to place 50+ online orders in the last year, including some online stores in the US as well. Never had any issues.
Attempt 1
Tried placing the order with that card, my current billing address and store pickup as a shipping option. Used desktop Chrome. The website rejected the order saying billing address doesn't match. Tried once more, same thing.
I checked my bank statement and there FOUR pending charges, 2 for each attempt. I called my bank and they said there's no problem on their end. They're approving the transactions and there are no holds on my card.
Attempt 2
Tried again with everything the same, but used my previous billing address instead. Transaction went through. That's when I made that post above.
Fast forward a couple of days and The Source sent an email saying they cancelled the order. The email didn't give any reasons so I gave them a call. They said it's a billing address mismatch, so they cancelled it.
The rep couldn't give any more details, nor could he offer any other solutions, such as transferring me to the cancellation department, have me pay at the store or anything else.
Attempt 3
By this time I could no longer log into the website using Chrome. I click log in after entering my credentials, and the website doesn't do anything.
I logged in using Edge. The rep still on the line. This time I was going to use Paypal.
If you read my OP you'll see that the Macbook had a $30 discount for Bell Advantage customers. By this point that discount had disappeared. It's still available on some items, but not on macbooks. I asked the rep if they could honor the discount and they said they can't.
Whatever, $1000 is still not bad, so I placed the order using Paypal. Store pickup as last time. Everything seemed to be fine.
Current situation
Fast forward another couple of days and my Paypal order was also cancelled. Once again citing a billing address and email address mismatch.
I double checked and my Paypal primary address is the same as the billing address I used on the order. The email address is indeed different, as I used the email address associated with my Bell login at the Source which is different than my Paypal email address. Name and address are the same.
I called them again and the rep this time was also unable to help. They couldn't help me troubleshoot the issue, other than telling me to make sure the billing address matches. They couldn't transfer me to the cancellation department.
When I asked if they could escalate the issue to higher ups they said they can't. Then a minute later they said they'll try asking their supervisor and put me on hold. A minute later the line disconnected
The Source is the poster boy of an organization's operation in shambles in the post-covid world. Their website is slow and buggy. Their order processing system is nonsensical and riddled with human error. Their communication emails do not actually contain any useful information. Their CS reps do not have any actual training or ability to do anything beyond troubleshooting simple issues. They're essentially a glorified human FAQ.
But wait, there's more!
By third attempt I couldn't log in with Edge anymore either. Same problem as Chrome. So I tried Firefox.
I tried checking out as a guest to check for something, and then I backed out. Then I discovered it logged me into a guest account, which actually saves addresses of previous customers who tried / checked out as a guest!
That's a privacy breach that I would expect from small ma' and pop stores venturing into the internet in 2004, not a big corporation in 2023.
Here's a screenshot (addresses blurred by me). Get your act together The Source. I wouldn't be surprised if this company goes under this year.
