Beware Buying On Line

tomcat

Jul 5, 2025 at 7:47pm

Case #1 Bathroom Vanity from Wayfair (assembly required)

After 3 hours, and 75% assembled, I found that top & bottom halves could not be attached to each other due to a manufacturing defect (all dowel holes were blocked by a screw inserted at the factory). Wayfair accepted that there was a problem, but they wanted the vanity re-packed and returned to a drop off location.

I refused. I was not going to spend another 2 hours dis-assembling, then trying to fit all the parts back into the box, and finally drive it to a drop-off point in another town.

This had to be escalated up to a supervisor, who finally agreed to send someone to my house to pick it up partially assembled. Mind you, this piece is absolutely useless, and has to be thrown out.

Case #2 Small refrigerator purchased on Amazon

First it was delivered to the wrong address (in Plainfield, I live in North Plainfield now). The owner of the other house was kind enough to drive it over to our house.

When I unpacked it (spotless carton), I discovered that the door would not open and close freely. It had been banged or dropped, so the frame is slightly crooked. The door can be opened and closed, but you have to force it.

The supplier has authorized return for credit, but they want me to repack it and drop it off at a FedEx shipping center. I have refused to do this, since they are responsible for delivery of a functioning appliance (and the original carton cannot be used again). Currently we are at a stalemate on this.

Return shipments when there is a product problem is not a problem when dealing with a local company.

Heynj

Jul 5, 2025 at 10:10pm

Years ago a friend got patio furniture from Wayfair that was so junky and hard to assemble (no corners met, no two pieces were the exact same size) it made IKEA look luxurious in comparison.

tomcat

Jul 10, 2025 at 10:50am

Interesting. The suppliers first response was: We do not offer door-to-door service. Keep that in mind when you order on line.

In the end I got satisfaction (since I could point to my medical conditions making it impossible for me to take the item to a return shipment drop-off location).

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