Undoubtedly the effects of hurricane Katrina will be felt for years to come, but here's one I didn't expect. I ordered a textbook for my EE 125 class from half.com, and have been wondering where it is (it should've been here by now). Well, today I got a refund notice. In particular, note the part in italics:
Dear --------,
We are writing to inform you that Half.com seller mowfoo has issued you a refund in the amount of $114.88.
To see more information about this transaction visit the Purchases page in the My Account section of Half.com. The funds should be credited to your credit card within the next two business days.
The seller has left the following note regarding this refund:
We have checked the status of the shipment, it seems that it has gone missing as we have lost tracking of the book after the damaging hurricane. The book had been idle in Jackson, MS for some time now. Since it has been quite a while, I do not expect you would want to wait for another replacement copy. Hereby I will refund you in full. Million apologies for any inconvenience arise.
This is a notice only, do not reply.
Thanks for shopping at Half.com,
The Half.com by eBay Customer Service Team
I'm very impressed that the seller was paying attention; I expected to wait until say, Tuesday, and then have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get my money refunded.