"I ordered a Bunn coffee maker from Everythinghome.com on 1/30/03. I received the item on 2/11/03. As received, the box was visibly damaged, and it was evident that an attempt had been made to repair the box with packing tape by someone along the chain of custody. Upon opening the box and unpacking its contents, the coffee maker was found to be damaged.
I first contacted Everything.com by electronic mail with photos of the damaged box and damaged Bunn, requesting authorization to return the unit at the their expense. When I had not received a response within the time requested, I contacted them by phone. The representative requested that I resend her the e-mail with the photos. I then received a response that I could return the unit, but that the vendor WOULD NOT ACCEPT SHIPPING CHARGES to return the unit the unit which was defective upon receipt.
In their response, they actually admitted to having noticed that the box was damaged and to having repaired the box with tape. However, they claim that the appliance itself was not damaged prior to shipping. The box did not appear to have been previously opened, so it is not clear how they determined that the appliance was not damaged. At any rate, they proceeded to ship the item in an unfit shipping container. In fact, most of the foam padding in the box was broken up upon its arrival, indicating that the package was indeed unfit for shipping an appliance.
After having received the vendor's response, I contact their customer service by phone and told them that it was not acceptable that I should have to pay to return an item that arrived to me in a defective condition. They stated that this was their policy and that the decision was final. I asked them for the name of the owner of the company and they responded that his name was "Michael", but refused to disclose his last name (unusual for a company engaged in commerce) and that he could only be contacted by email, not by phone. Through additional research, I later located the name of the owner (Michael Goldstein) and his phone number ***-***-****)and contacted him. I told him that I preferred to resolve this matter directly with his company, rather than involve a third party. He refused to resolve this issue to my satisfaction, stating that the decision was final. Furthermore, his demeanor was rude and unprofessional.
I have now undertaken to pursue this matter with the credit card company who confirm that, as a condition of their merchant's agreement, the vendor MUST accept the return at their expense. "