The worst online store to purchase a cell phone from
Written: Jun 09 '11 (Updated Jun 24 '11)
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In the world of Amazon.com and Walmart.com I often wonder WHY I end up shopping on web sites like Overstock.com. After my most recent experience with Overstock.com not only will I not shop with them again, but I will tell all of my friends not to shop with them again.
My first gripe with Overstock.com came approximately 3 years ago, when I ordered a VCR. The VCR's description was very detailed. The product cost well over $100. No where did the product description mention the word "refurbished". So, I ordered the VCR, and when it arrived, the box said "refurbished" on it, and the VCR inside was used. At the time, it was hard to find a VCR that was not a DVD/VHS combination unit, so I called Overstock.com to let them know that their wording on their web site was incorrect. The customer service agent was very rude and said "we aren't responsible for wording on our web site". That should have been a clue to me not to shop at Overstock.com again, but it wasn't.
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend decided that he wanted a replacement cell phone. Not only did he want a replacement, but he wanted the exact phone that he had. The problem? The LG EnV original is no longer on the market. So, I began searching the Internet looking for a refurbished phone. I found one phone on Overstock.com and one on Amazon.com, Overstock.com was substantially cheaper (by almost $30) so I decided to order from them. I put the red refurbished EnV in my cart, checked out using Paypal in case anything went wrong, and went about my merry way.
Right on time, the phone arrived at my doorstep. I opened the box and was surprised to see a black refurbished Env in the box. There was no note, reason for a different color, or any explanation via e-mail or in the box from Overstock.com. A quick phone call to customer service told me that they were out of stock on the red, so they sent black instead and hoped that I didn't mind. I asked my boyfriend if he cared about the different color, he said he didn't, so we kept it.
I sat down and went to activate the phone. I tried the first time and it said the phone could not be activated. I tried the second time and it said the phone could not be activated. I tried a third time and it said the phone could not be activated and to hold on for a Verizon customer service agent. The customer service agent had me call him back on a different phone, so that I could work with the phone while on the phone with him. I read him the number on the back of the phone, inside the battery compartment. In literally a half a minute, he came back on the line and said the phone was reported stolen in 2007.
I guess I expected more from Overstock.com, it literally takes seconds to dial * and then a command on a phone to see if the phone is stolen. I would expect to end up with a stolen phone on a web site like E-bay, but not on a web site like Overstock.com. So, I called Overstock.com and spoke with a customer service agent. The customer service agent gave me the "this has never happened before speech" which by the way I am so sick of hearing from companies when they are the ones that screw up. She put me on hold, and went and found out that they could issue me a replacement phone, but first, I had to box up the stolen phone, put their UPS label on it, and take it to a UPS store. Well, had I wanted to go to a store to begin with, I probably would have bought a cell phone at a brick and mortar kiosk at the mall. Anyways, I called UPS for pick up to find out that the labels Overstock.com uses are not eligible for pick up.
I was told that when the stolen phone was received at Overstock.com that they would send out a replacement phone using two day shipping. I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. No phone arrived. I called customer service to make sure that they received the phone that we sent back, and they said that they did, and they told me that they mailed the phone two day mail. I thought, maybe, for some reason, it's delayed. I waited, and waited, and waited. 2 weeks later, Fed Ex brings the package to my door and the Fed Ex driver who knows me personally was all apologetic saying how the substitute driver had delivered it to the address on the label "1340 instead of 1360" and the people there had signed for the package and the package was opened. I quickly examined the contents and they were all there, so I decided to keep the phone.
I placed a call to customer service at Overstock.com and asked them how they managed to send it to a completely different address than they did the first time around, and why they would let just anyone sign for a package. They said "it's a Fed Ex issue, not our issue" but they were the ones who inputed the information to be printed on the label, so I didn't buy into their nonsense. Anyways, we had a phone, and that is what mattered.
This would be a good time to mention that I purchased a 2 year warranty plan from Overstock.com on the phone. My boyfriend immediately noticed that the vibrate function on the phone did not work, and we called Overstock.com to take advantage of the warranty. "We can't service the phone" was their reply. "We purchased a warranty" I say. "The warranty is not good on this phone because the phone is no longer serviceable". Geeze, more problems with them and their customer service, or lack thereof. At that moment, I should have demanded a refund, but my boyfriend was so happy to have his phone back, that he didn't want a refund. Instead, we accepted a refund on the warranty, which they sent the same business day.
In the days to come, my boyfriend found out that the phone could not dial voicemail (the phone would be completely mute when trying), and that the phone's speaker phone function did not work. It was clear we had got a lemon. I called Overstock.com and told them I would like a refund for the phone and we will send it back. "We can't issue a refund, only an exchange", "Okay, we will try a third phone" I say losing patience. After typing some things in the computer, the customer service agent comes back "We are out of stock" and then adds "When one is back in stock we will ship it out". I quickly explained how it's a refurbished item that is no longer being sold in stores, so it could be awhile before they receive another one and that our need for a phone was immediate, which is why we ordered from you. "We can't issue a refund only an exchange". "Thanks for nothing" and I hung up.
I called back, and spoke with a nicer customer service agent who processed the refund. Of course, now we have to make another trip to the UPS store to mail out the phone and then wait 3-6 weeks for a refund to credit our Paypal account because that's Overstock.com's policy.
When all was said and done we had wasted two trips to the UPS store to mail back things that were Overstock.com's mistake and not ours. I wasted countless hours on the phone with customer service trying to resolve the issue. And all Overstock.com had to say for themselves is "this has never happened before". In short, I won't be returning to Overstock.com any time in the future, no matter how much lower the prices are then other websites. I went ahead and ordered the phone for $30 more from Amazon with free two day shipping, fingers crossed that my boyfriend finally gets a working phone.
Update 6/24/2011 - Overstock.com received the returned phone (phone number 1) but did not process the return. They sent me an e-mail saying that if the phone was not received in 7 days that we would have to pay the full price for the phone. I called them, was put on hold for 15 minutes. I told them the confirmation number from UPS along with the tracking number. They looked it up in their system and found out that they received the phone, but did not process the return. When I asked why not, I was told it was not in line for processing and they were not sure why, but that they would process it right then. Without my call, we would have been out the money. Finally received the refund for the warranty on 6/21/2011, nearly a week after they claimed to have processed the refund. The second phone's screen stopped working completely right away, and we had data on it, we took it to a Verizon store, there was nothing they could do, so we had to send it back to Overstock.com with our data in it hopefully it will be erased or destroyed, but we don't think it will be. Overstock.com processed the refund for the second phone on June 22/2011 according to their e-mail through Paypal, but we have yet to receive the funds.
I spoke with a supervisor at Overstock.com who offered no apology for all the hassle. She told me "you might want to buy your next phone somewhere else". I told her "we already have and I won't buy anything from Overstock.com ever again". She said "have a nice day" and hung up the phone. This company obviously does not need or want my business.
Recommended:
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What product did you purchase or try to purchase? LG Env Refurbished Red Cell Phone
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About the Author
Member: batraylover
Location: U.S.A.
Reviews written: 129
Trusted by: 5 members
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