Overstock.com: False Advertising, Inability to Deliver Product, and Horrible Customer Service
Written: Dec 21 '06 (Updated Dec 21 '06)
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For quite some time, my television has been bombarded by advertisements for Overstock.com, nearly all of them proclaiming how well their online business has been working. They preach about customer satisfaction, and claim you will find everything you need in one stop shopping. I have also read many complaints online, about how they don't follow through with orders, how they fall through in regards to customer service, and how the site has often left customers with a sour taste. My extent of use with the site itself revolved around perusing through some of their offers, and browsing on the main pages of the site a few times. Recently though, I was trying to purchase a product for a birthday present, and after searching through many online stores, found the only location I could purchase it was on Overstock.com. Sure there were a few other stores that I had not heard of, but Overstock was advertising that it was in-stock, and that they would be shipping it out immediately. With a voice in the back of my head still telling me not to do it, I placed my order and printed out the receipt to reference later on.
The gift did not arrive on time, but I had only given it a few days of lead time (5), and told my friend that the gift was still coming. It was the perfect choice, because it had been what she wanted, and I wanted to buy it for her, even if it wasn't going to be on time. Two months later, I write my review, very perturbed by the experiences I have had with OverStock ever since my purchase. To provide some of the facts associated with my order, I placed it back on October 18th, 2006. No shipping charges were applied to me, because of the product I was ordering, and no taxes were charged on the purchase. I was able to use my MasterCard to make the purchase, and noted that they accepted many different credit cards in their check-out. It was relatively painless to say the least in placing the order, and I was happy that I wouldn’t have to pay any extra fees for my transaction. Checking back on the web-site a few days later, it showed that my purchase had been shipped on October 25th, and that it was being sent through the US Postal Service. Everything was still looking good, and as long as I was patient, I was going to beat the odds on receiving my package from Overstock.com in a respectable time-frame. Logging into my bank account later that day, I saw that the funds had been withdrawn on the 20th, 2 days after my purchase.
A few weeks later, I had still not received my order, and placed a call to their 1-800 to query as to why the shipment had still not arrived. I was given a USPS tracking number, and told that the shipment would still be on its way. Silly me, I got off the phone without confirming exactly when I would be receiving my order, and because I was busy I didn’t worry too much more about it. It must be a delay in the mail I kept telling myself, frequently noting that the site said my product had already been shipped, and that it was in transit. The tracking number didn't work, and still doesn't work, but that is about to be referenced in an upcoming experience with another customer service representative. Just today (the day I wrote this review), I went back to their site to check out my order again (64 days after order was placed), and saw a new button for "Live Chat" that I had not seen before. I thought this would be the ideal way to deal with my problem and not get frustrated on the phone as I tried to explain my situation. The chat window loaded quickly, and even though it said there is a 2 to 5 minute wait, I was connected to someone right away. That someone was named Warner, who requested my name, billing address, and phone numbers. I additionally provided him with my Order Number (from the print-out), and he started researching it.
My frustrations started when it became obvious that either Warner's first language was not English, or he just wasn't very good at speaking the language. After 15 minutes of trying to get him to understand that the site said the order had been shipped, and I had not received it, he went into the pasted response routine that is becoming all-too-common with live-chat customer service people on the internet. He kept confirming and re-confirming the same details, and was evasive with every question that I asked of him. If I said yes to something, he would counter it with "is there anything else." Eventually I made it to these lines of dialogue that I copied and pasted word-for-word from my chat window:
Me: so you don't know if it was shipped or not?
Warner: Yes.
Warner: We do not have that information.
Warner: The tracking is not showing.
Warner: Is there anything else that I can help you with?
Me: I havent received any help yet
Me: I just want to know when I am getting the product that I was charged for.
Warner: Okay, I have checked your account and I see that you have placed the order on 10-18-2006 and it is clearly mentioned that you will receive the item in time that is within the item frame.
Me: o.k.
Me: can it please be reshipped today?
Warner: As we do not have the option for reshipping so if you'd like it to be reshipped you have place another order for the same item. And it is better to wait for a few days till you receive the item.
Talk about frustrating… I was trying to figure out a response to his line of chat when he pasted another message and terminated the session. I logged on to the chat again, hoping to find better help with someone else. The second person was Alexa, who took just as long to figure out my information, and pasted the exact same messages that Warner had pasted. She said though, that the item had shipped for sure, and had this gem of a quote:
Alexa: It takes 1 to 4 business days for the item to leave the warehouse and 12 to 16 weeks to reach you.
Me: Are you saying it is going to be in the mail for 90-120 days?
Alexa: Yes, you are correct.
Alexa: Do you have any further questions for me?
From a site that had been easy to accept my money, it suddenly turned into my worst nightmare, as customer service representative started giving me the run-around about a package taking 90 to 120 days in transit to reach me. I mean come on… are they walking the package by back-pack? Swimming it across the ocean? 64 days after having placed my order with Overstock.com, and 62 days after having been charged for it, I still have not received my order. I almost have to laugh when I see the chat message that Warner said it is better for me to wait for a few days for my item. In the world I live, it is better to receive the item early, not to have it be delayed for months. At this point I feel like the web-site has stolen my money, and the 1 to 4 days shipping that I was promised at check-out seems like a lie to get more people to shop there. Even the pasted messages said it was normal for packages to arrive before the estimated date, but in my case, this is not going to prove true in any fashion of the word “early.” With my horrible experience, I must warn everyone to stay away from this site, and I have been telling many of my friends and family about the customer service that OverStock.com has to offer. This is simply an unacceptable way to do business, and no matter how easy they make it for you to complete your purchase, if the product never gets there, and you feel like you are being strung along by their employees, then it is not a business you should frequent. I urge all consumers who have a choice between this site and another reputable one to choose the other site. Stay away from OverStock.com and you will be able to avoid all of the heartache and grief I have had to deal with. Two thumbs WAY down for this web-site.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? birthday present
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