Do NOT order from Overstock.com!!!!!!

[Kermit]

My sister had a problem with them several months ago. She has ordered from them many times, including one time having a package sent to my parents' house as a gift. Then one time when she ordered something, they sent it to my parents' house. She had selected her home address as the delivery address, and they admitted that it was their fault, but they wouldn't do anything to correct it for the longest time. She had to make a lot of phone calls. She wanted them to pay the shipping to have the items shipped from my parents in Texas to her in South Carolina, but they wouldn't do it. They finally issued her some credit for their site, but it took a long time, and she really didn't want to order anything from them again after all that.

 

[WDWAurora]

I just had to kind of respond to some of the posts I've seen-This is a graduate level Neuropsych textbook, so it is NOT a low-dollar item. Even to those not still in school, this amount of money would not be pocket change. I had a LOT of our money tied up for over a month for a book that I needed and didn't have. Ok, that's all on that.

I'm sorry to hear that others are having trouble as well. I would advise contesting the charge with your credit card company or talking to the BBB. That was my next step (and may still be). I also had better luck with calling than with emailing-The email option said that I would receive a reply within 24hrs. I didn't hear for over a week and a half! Ugh. What a nightmare dealing with them has been.

 

[robinb]

One of my textbooks that I had ordered from Amazon got cancelled due to the first hurricane. No big deal, I reordered from Overstock. It was the only place I could find it in stock. The order was placed on Aug. 31st and was supposed to ship in 1-4 days and then media mail was supposed to take 2-15 days. Well, I kept checking the website to see if it had left the warehouse since this was for a fairly tough class and I didn't want to get behind. I called a few times since it never said it left the warehouse, but got rude phone operators who told me I was being too inquisitive and that it would be there any day, possibly the next one. Well, let's put it this way-I STILL don't have the book. I called about 2 weeks ago and cancelled the order and it took nearly the entire 2 weeks to get my money back, even though it was only supposed to take 3-4 days.

Putting my flame retardant suit and my book-sellers hat on at the same time ...

I sell books on Amazon. Lots of books. At Amazon, the time estimate for media mail is 4-14 business days. I am sure that Overstock.com also specifies business days: Monday - Friday counts only, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays do not. You cancelled your order exactly on the 14 day mark. In addition, that is really just a time estimate. Media Mail can be fast or it can be very, very slow. It is the last service of mail to be moved ... and only if there is room. Bags of media mail get "stuck" along the way. I have had books take literally an entire month to reach their destination (according to my delivery confirmation). I have had the post office lose books.

You didn't say, did the book ever arrive? If it did, then I think that you jumped the gun on canceling your order since it was obviously stuck in transit. Now, if they didn't ship in 14 business days, then you have a real complaint.

In the future you should find the ISBN number of the book you want to buy and search Amazon and www.addall.com. You will want to select a place that will expedite your book to you (usually USPS Priority Mail) so you get your book quickly. If you buy from Amazon, try to pick a seller with at least a 4.8 rating. The lower rated sellers have a lot of problems.

FWIW, I almost never choose "standard" shipping on books from the Amazon Marketplace myself because I know how long it could take. I would certainly never do that with a textbook that I need for class!

 

[WDWAurora]

Putting my flame retardant suit and my book-sellers hat on at the same time ...

I sell books on Amazon. Lots of books. At Amazon, the time estimate for media mail is 4-14 business days. I am sure that Overstock.com also specifies business days: Monday - Friday counts only, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays do not. You cancelled your order exactly on the 14 day mark. In addition, that is really just a time estimate. Media Mail can be fast or it can be very, very slow. It is the last service of mail to be moved ... and only if there is room. Bags of media mail get "stuck" along the way. I have had books take literally an entire month to reach their destination (according to my delivery confirmation). I have had the post office lose books.

You didn't say, did the book ever arrive? If it did, then I think that you jumped the gun on canceling your order since it was obviously stuck in transit. Now, if they didn't ship in 14 business days, then you have a real complaint.

In the future you should find the ISBN number of the book you want to buy and search Amazon and www.addall.com. You will want to select a place that will expedite your book to you (usually USPS Priority Mail) so you get your book quickly. If you buy from Amazon, try to pick a seller with at least a 4.8 rating. The lower rated sellers have a lot of problems.

FWIW, I almost never choose "standard" shipping on books from the Amazon Marketplace myself because I know how long it could take. I would certainly never do that with a textbook that I need for class!

No need for the suit. I actually didn't cancel until much later than that. It had been over 30 business days because they do count Saturdays. It never shipped period though, because they were out of stock from the beginning. My problem wasn't with the length of time the shipping took, just that it wasn't shipping at all. The book never arrived, I did finally get it, but I used other means.

Amazon was fine, but when the hurricane hit, my seller had to cancel (I'm not sure why as neither of us were anywhere near the path, but that's beside the point). They cancelled in a very timely manner and refunded my money almost immediately.

Yeah, you have it right though. I didn't jump the gun because my problem was the book never shipped, despite the fact that I was told on the phone that it did. Their website said it didn't.

 

[robinb]

Yeah, you have it right though. I didn't jump the gun because my problem was the book never shipped, despite the fact that I was told on the phone that it did. Their website said it didn't.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. That is really slimy. I'm glad you got the book after all. There could be a reason why your Amazon order didn't go through. Some Marketplace sellers "drop ship". That is they find a book cheaper on half.com and then sell it over on Amazon for much, much more. You buy the book from them, they buy the book on Half and have the Half seller send it to you without an invoice. You could have ordered from a drop-shipper and his/her source was in the way of the hurricane.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

My mom returned an expensive item to them - it took many, many MONTHS for her to get a refund. I would make sure I am very aware of their return policies before ordering anything (I think at first they just wanted to give her credit - but this was hundreds of dollars - and I think there might have been a restocking fee) - and even then it may be a hassle!