Once upon a time, a subject of the land named Terri who thought she was a very smart shopper, was taken in by the great prices and low, low shipping charges of a merchant called Overstock.com, in a marketplace known as The Internet! “What a smart shopper I am,” she cooed to herself as she hit the "place order" button!
You see, Terri was purchasing a delightful little 22" TV w/DVD player for her mother, and was puffed up with self-congratulations as she thought about how happy her mother would be to get such a deal!
Alas, when her mother received the TV, she decided it was too small. So Terri returned it.
But alack! That's where Overstock gets buyers by the proverbial gonads, and wrings 'em dry! “I don't even have a pair...” cried Terri, “and if I did, I wouldn't now anyway!”
You see, of a total purchase price of $266.99, Terri was refunded $93.45.
This is because in the land of Overstock, if you are silly enough to open the electronic item to determine if it’s right for you, they claim it can no longer be resold as new, so charge you not only the dreaded “restocking fee” but the amount they determine they will lose in the resale.
Now, in every other major electronic marketplace of the land, this does not happen; a subject can return an electronic item even if opened, and receive a full refund so long as the item has not been used.
But hark, it appears that for Overstock, this is a back-end way to make a bigger profit on those great front end prices and low, low shipping charges.
So, the moral of our tale is this: There are any number of on and offline retailers that won't gouge you when you buy and return. Overstock is not one of them.
Thou hath been officially alerted…
You see, Terri was purchasing a delightful little 22" TV w/DVD player for her mother, and was puffed up with self-congratulations as she thought about how happy her mother would be to get such a deal!
Alas, when her mother received the TV, she decided it was too small. So Terri returned it.
But alack! That's where Overstock gets buyers by the proverbial gonads, and wrings 'em dry! “I don't even have a pair...” cried Terri, “and if I did, I wouldn't now anyway!”
You see, of a total purchase price of $266.99, Terri was refunded $93.45.
This is because in the land of Overstock, if you are silly enough to open the electronic item to determine if it’s right for you, they claim it can no longer be resold as new, so charge you not only the dreaded “restocking fee” but the amount they determine they will lose in the resale.
Now, in every other major electronic marketplace of the land, this does not happen; a subject can return an electronic item even if opened, and receive a full refund so long as the item has not been used.
But hark, it appears that for Overstock, this is a back-end way to make a bigger profit on those great front end prices and low, low shipping charges.
So, the moral of our tale is this: There are any number of on and offline retailers that won't gouge you when you buy and return. Overstock is not one of them.
Thou hath been officially alerted…
RSS Feed