Overstock.com, could they keep my refund any longer?
Written: Jan 14 '04 (Updated Jan 25 '04)
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Overstock.com
If you asked me what I thought of overstock.com after my first purchase, I would have said I am all for it, but after my recent experience, I say run away…screaming if you are so inclined! I placed an order at the beginning of December and I’m still trying to work out my refund with them.
The Story
Well, I first ordered from Overstock.com in November. My hubby and I were dying to get the Simpsons Third Season DVD, so off I went to bargain shop. In my search, I fell onto overstock.com and found the DVD for a great price, plus the shipping was very inexpensive ($1.40!). I placed my order on November 13th and received it via USPS on November 17th, and all was well. The DVD was in great shape. I would have recommended Overstock.com to everyone.
Then, I started searching for gifts for Christmas. I started early to make sure that all gifts arrived in time and I had no problems. I found a decent deal on a DVD/VCR player for my parents and a fabulous deal on a VCR player for us since ours just died a miserable death after eating one of my favorite tapes. Especially because of the free shipping deal they were offering, I jumped on the deals and placed the order on December 5th, in plenty of time for the holidays.
Well, here is where the problems started. The VCR shipped nice and early, which was great for me, but not really the one I was concerned about since it wasn’t a gift. The DVD/VCR didn’t ship until December 12th. Not exactly out of the warehouse in 2 days. I can understand them being a little backed up from all the holiday orders, but a week?! Come on. The shipping part of the order was great. Both items arrived within the time period they specified.
But then, more problems happened. I opened the VCR first, since it arrived first, went to watch a tape, and it ate it. I thought I was over this problem when I bought a new VCR, but now I’m down another tape. I played another tape that I didn’t care about just to make sure that it wasn’t a freak thing, and it ate that one too. Forget it, this product was defective; I’m sending it back.
Then, when I finally got the DVD/VCR, it was refurbished! There was NOTHING on the website that said that I would be getting a refurbished item. This was a decent price for a new DVD/VCR player, but not so incredible that it was impossible to beat at other stores in the area. Here it was less than a week before Christmas and I had to go out to buy my parents another gift. I was so upset. (Incidentally, I ended up finding a better brand name DVD/VCR player at a Best Buy for less money than I paid for this one, so all is well that ends well, at least in this regard.)
Then I looked up their return policy. Holy pain in the butt! Returns had to be initiated 20 days after purchase but arrive 30 days after purchase….yada yada. What a pain in the butt, and how confusing to have so many rules to follow.
Off to the phone I went. Luckily, they have 24-hour help, so I called at 1am in the morning. I was so frustrated I was fit to be tied, but the person on the phone was really nice and very helpful that the frustration did slowly melt away. She worked everything out so that I would receive e-mails with return labels (paid for by them) so that I could return these items at no cost to me. Also, because one item was broken and the other was NOT what was promised to me, they would refund my money without any of the restocking fees, etc. etc. (again, check out all the hidden costs this place has BEFORE buying!)
Well, here it is, January 14th, and I have received only 1 refund so far. What I don’t understand is, both of my items arrived at their warehouse on the same day, yet the other item has yet to be processed yet. Seems fishy to me.
The Website
One of the things that attracted me to the website is that it is so easy to navigate and not annoying to the eyes. It does have pop-ups, which I just can’t stand, but the colors were nice, primarily blue and white, with pictures of certain items, but not too overwhelming. They have conveniently put a search box in the upper left hand of the screen. If you want to browse by category, they have both tabs at the top and links on the left hand side of the screen that tell you the categories of items available to purchase. These categories are Apparel, Shoes & Accessories, Books, Movies, CDs, Games, Electronics & Computers, Home & Garden, Jewelry, Watches & Gifts, Sporting Goods & Events and Handmade Items (which includes Jewelry & Home Décor).
Shipping
Right now the site charges $2.95 to ship in the continental 48 states. They even ship certain items to APO/FPO destinations; if items can be shipped to an APO/FPO destination, you will see APO/FPO displayed on the page with the product on it. An exception to the $2.95 rate is travel items, which will cost you $20 to have a hard copy sent to you.
Alaska and Hawaii have additional shipping fees based on destination, size and weight and not all items can be delivered here. They also have international shipping through DuUWantIt.com. If you want to know if they ship to your country, check out a link that they have under their shipping information.
If you want items delivered faster than their standard service, you can get next day or 2nd day air service for certain products, but it will cost extra, and you can’t get this option for APO/FPO addresses.
They say that most items leave the warehouse within two days of your order and will arrive between 5 – 10 days, although they cover their butt by saying that certain items may take up to three weeks to arrive. Those in Alaska or Hawaii can expect to wait 10 – 20 days for arrival. Incidentally, this did not happen in December. Not even close! My order was placed on December 5th and didn’t ship until the 12th. The delivery itself was fantastic; it was the ordering process, or Overstock.com that held up the progress.
For your convenience, they send you an e-mail with tracking information in it, or you can track your orders online right under the order status link under your account, which is really handy. If nothing has happened yet, you will find a big ‘order processing’ under your account. Once the item is shipped, they even tell you how the item is being sent, and if you click on the icon/link, it will take you directly to the tracking info. There is no tracking info available if your item is sent USPS.
Before you order anything off this site, I urge you to look under the shipping information to see what the different charges are. There seem to be a lot of fees that could be incurred by you if you do not follow their procedure.
Returns
Shipping charges are refunded if you receive the wrong product, the product is broken/defective or if whoever is shipping it damages the product. They also mention that they will reship a product without another shipping charge if you fall under these categories. If you don’t, then you get to incur a fee (or six). How much depends on what type of item you buy. Again, I urge you to look over all their fees, return policies, etc. before you buy anything from these people, and know that if you do end up returning something, even if it is their fault for the return, you will wait for what feels like forever before you will see your money.
Overall
My last transaction was (and still is) such a hassle that I have been forever turned off from this store. There seems to be too many strange details being withheld (like why don’t they tell you that your DVD/VCR player will be refurbished?!), yet they make eight million rules as to how items are to be returned, etc. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and a strong desire to shop elsewhere.
UPDATE
Ok, after MANY problems, and e-mail correspondence back and forth with overstock staff, I think I am finally getting my refund. I was told that they were backed up with issueing credits due to the holiday returns (hmm...that tells you SOMETHING about the products you sell/dishonesty in how these products were sold now doesn't it?!), and that their normal return time of 10 - 14 days would be more like 21 days (which incidentally, I made them commit to telling me a specific date, and the date that they told me was even longer than 21 days...someone there can't count). I wrote back basically telling them that they should honor their policies, that I expected to see a refund no later than the 14 day date that they promised and with the amount of information I had on them regarding not only not honoring their policies, but the fact that they sold a product dishonestly (not revealing that it was refurbished) and wasting my time, that I should report them to the better business bureau. I don't care what it was that made them do it, but I FINALLY received an e-mail saying that I would get credited the final money amount. What is so interesting is that it is still not in my account. I tell you, if I could give them lower than 1 star, I would.
UPDATE AGAIN
Ok, I did actually receive the refund. It took about three days to appear in my account. I'm just happy this whole ordeal is over, and if I can prevent someone else from going through what I did with this review, then I'm happy. Please be careful with this store...especially electronics.
Thanks for reading/rating.
Heidi (hjs33 at epinions)
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? DVD/VCR player, VCR player, DVD
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Epinions.com ID:
HJS33
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Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Reviews written: 162
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I miss the summer!
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