I will never order a single item from Overstock after the experience I had in May of this year. I happened to see a rug on Overstock which was exactly what I was looking for to serve as the centerpiece for my living room makeover, so I ordered it on Sunday, May 16th, shortly after midnight. About seven hours later, I noticed that I had ordered one size larger than what I needed, so I hopped onto Overstock’s online chat to cancel that order. The representative told me the order had shipped and could not be canceled, which I didn’t believe for a second. I asked what the situation was with return shipping, and was told I would be responsible for it. When I expressed my displeasure over that information, the representative suggested that I join Club O which would entitle me to free returns. I figured I had no other choice, so I paid $19.95 for Club O, and then placed an order for the proper size rug which I needed.

I then received emails from Overstock on May 20th stating that both orders were ready to ship, with an estimated arrival date of May 24th. How could that be if the first order I had placed had supposedly shipped on May 16th? Though I didn’t believe that the orders would ship on May 20th, I anticipated their arrival on May 24th. May 24th came and went, with no rugs in sight. I then got two text messages on May 25th (NINE DAYS after I placed both orders) informing me that the rugs had shipped on that date from northern California (I am in southern California). Honestly, why send emails and texts with estimated shipping and arrival dates which are completely inaccurate?

Both rugs arrived on May 27th, propped up against my garage door. I immediately called Overstock to initiate a return on the larger rug, and was told that I would have to pay $208 in return shipping. I mentioned that I had Club O, and the response from the representative was that with Club O, members only get store credit, no credits back to their original form of payment. The only way I could receive a refund back to my original payment method was by paying return shipping. By this time I was livid, and asked to speak to a supervisor, only to have the call cut off, so I had to call again. The best the second representative could do was to cover $101 in return shipping, so I begrudgingly agreed to the offer, knowing that $107 would be deducted from my refund. I also insisted on having my Club O membership canceled and the membership fee credited back to my account, with which the representative happily obliged.

The rug I was returning was picked up by UPS on May 28th, and Overstock received it on June 4th. On June 10th, I started wondering when I would receive my refund, and was prepared to call them, when I noticed that I had a new voicemail on my phone. What was strange was that the voicemail message was left by the first representative with whom I had spoken on May 27th, and she stated that her supervisor was willing to make a one time exception and cover the full cost of return shipping. I have no idea why my phone didn’t alert me for 15 days, but that’s a whole other issue. I called Overstock on May 11th and was able to arrange for Overstock to make an adjustment on the return request to cover the full return shipping cost.

I was told to wait 3-5 business days to receive a refund from receipt of the returned rug, which means that I should have received a refund by June 11th. I FINALLY received a refund on June 22nd, but it was only for the rug, and not for the 5 year protection plan. I had to contact Overstock yet again to inquire about the missing portion of the refund. By June 23, I received a refund for the protection plan. Sorry Overstock, but no customer should ever have to endure what I did just to get my money back.

Thank goodness I love the rug I kept, because I would be especially irate if the smaller rug hadn’t worked out. In addition, with the exception of the rude online chat agent I spoke with on May 16th, the representatives I spoke with on the phone were all so professional and friendly that they made the whole miserable experience more tolerable. Nevertheless, I will do everything in my power to avoid Overstock, which is a shame since I have purchased some wonderful items from the site over the past 20 years. If you happen to see something on Overstock you happen to love, do some price comparisons and research, because you might be able to find a similar deal on Amazon or some other site which won’t try to gouge you with outrageous return shipping charges. And forget about Club O, it’s a complete ripoff.