Overstock.com Uses Bait-And-Switch Approach and I Cannot Recommend Them.
Written: Feb 27 '03 (Updated Mar 23 '03)
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I am definitely not shopping at Overstock.com again. They falsefuly advertise products and then refuse to accept a return.
I was looking for a Valentine gift and thought I found one. It was a box of Dan’s chocolates with a teddy bear. I have bought Dan’s chocolates before (from Dan’s web site) and liked them. The picture showed the exact box of chocolate I was going to get and a nice-looking brown teddy bear (the site describes it as valued at $10).
I want to note here that the search engine the Overstock.com site uses is quite poor and returns too many irrelevant results.
The checkout was reasonably easy and I even got 10% off. The shipping was $2.95 at the time (it is only $1 currently). So I got the nice box of chocolates and a nice-looking bear (or so I thought) for $33.
When the order arrived, to my surprise, the bear was white and of such poor quality that I have to just throw it away. Valued at $10? I would value it $1-1.50 max.
Points to ponder:
1. If you are buying a box of chocolates for $33, you don’t expect it to come with such a poor bear as for it to be useless. Sort of like buying a BMW for $40K and getting no power windows.
2. When the picture shows something in brown color, you don’t expect it to be white.
3. When the picture shows something nice you don’t expect to get very poor quality item.
The way I see it, it is falseful advertisement. So I called Overstock.com to see if I can return the item. Surprisingly enough, the customer service rep told me that I cannot return “food items” as it is company’s policy. Even though the box was sealed and I never opened it. I have heard the same from his supervisor.
Both agreed that the product is not as advertised and that they see my point. They were polite. But I can’t return the item (even if they screwed up).
I complained to BBB and disputed the transaction with my credit card company. But the first thing I had to do is write this review to warn readers of Epinions.com about Bait-And-Switch tactics Overstock.com uses.
I have tried to report my experience on Overstock.com web site - the page with the product allows you to submit the review and rate the product 1-5 stars. After I submitted my "review" there, it didn't appear on the page, but the site said it is waiting "approval". Guess what - it never appeared there. They only approve positive reviews and reject negative ones. What a scam.
Companies like Crutchfield.com and Sam’s Club paid for return shipping of items I ordered from them. Sam’s Club paid because they made a mistake in the product description. Crutchfield pays for return shipping regardless of reason. I see why Overstock.com would not want to accept “food items” back. But when you get not what you paid for, it doesn’t matter if it is a “food item” or not.
Update
After disputing the transaction with my credit card company and complaining to BBB, the Overstock.com offered me $10 credit towards future purchases. I declined. After that, they gave me full refund.
Bottom Line
Overstock.com uses bait-and-switch approach and I cannot recommend them. Since they gave my refund (but only after I complained to BBB), I have to give them 2 stars out of 5.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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