Problems with non-profit
 

I had a meningitis wristband that I always wore in memory of my friend who passed away from that. It was too big on me and fell off and I lost it. On July 10, I called the Meningitis Foundation of America to order another one. My credit card was charged the following day for it. I was told that it would be shipped out the same day as I got charged for it. On July 24, I still had not received it, so I called back and was told that it would be shipped out the same day. It is now the 31st. To this day I still have not received my wristband. I have, however, been charged for two. I don't know what I should do. Since this is a small charge (each wristband costs $2) I don't know what they would do or if they would even listen to me if I complained. Should I just let this go and order another one?

I'd call.

since it's a non-profit organization, i say that you go ahead and purchase another one... you may end up with two - of course, you may not. either way, the money goes to a good cause, so just keep that in mind. :)

I'd call to let them know.

Even though the fee is small and it's going to a good cause, they should still have good business practices. If they continue to mess things up like this for other people and when larger sums of money are involved, it could cause them to have integrity issues. People might not trust the security of their transactions, etc.

So I called them. The woman I spoke with the first time around said that she was on vacation and just got back today and is sending it out today. I clearly picked the wrong job if she works someplace where she can take 3 weeks vacation in a row. My mom has 5 weeks vacation/year and isn't allowed to take more than two at a time.

Eh, could have been medical. But good that you're getting it :)

Yeah, but unless you are on the board or you are one of the top execs you are probably making chicken feed.

But not always...

Ok now I'm starting to get pissed off. I called them on Monday to make a donation in memory of my friend. They were supposed to send a letter of acknowledgement to her family. Well I it is now Friday and my credit card hasn't been charged yet. Is this standard practice with non-profits? The area that I work in gets lots of donations for the children's hospital and we never take that long to process a donation.

It is ILLEGAL for any business (non profit or profit) to charge your credit card and not send out the goods you paid for (donation or not). By law they aren't supposed to charge your credit card until they send out your merchandise. What they are doing is against the law.

I work for a non profit very similar to this one and believe it, people make decent salaries. Being a non profit is simply their tax status. They want to make money and they do.

It sounds like they are completel disorganized and with the way the world is today and the competition of fighting for people's money (duue to 9/11; hurrican relief etc) I'm shocked they aren't doing everything they can to expedite donations, send out merchandise etc.

I finally got my wristband like 3.5 weeks later.... I'm surprised that they haven't charged my card yet. You'd think it would be in their best interest to. They have gotten a lot of donations in memory of my friend, so I know that they have her family's information on file.