NBC 5 Responds to a North Texas consumer who said she was stuck with a partially assembled office chair she purchased online. The consumer said it came out of the box with a missing piece and struggled to find a resolution.
ONLINE ORDER
When the office chair Mary Rivera ordered on Walmart.com arrived, she said it was missing a small, but critical part needed to attach the base of the chair to the back.
“If you don't have the screw, you can fall off the chair. So, I was not able to put it together that night,” Rivera told NBC 5 Responds.
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Rivera said she called the customer service number on the paperwork that came with the chair.
“The lady promised they were going to send me a new seat with the screws so I can put together the chair. I didn't have to worry about returning anything and that was going to happen within five days,” Rivera recalled. “I'm still waiting. A month later, I am still waiting for that seat.”
Rivera said she tried exchanging the chair for another at a Walmart store near her home.
“I couldn't even exchange one item for the other because it was not related to Walmart. It was related to a third-party vendor. Unfortunately, that's the way it works,” Rivera said.
When Rivera first ordered the chair, she said she didn’t notice she purchased it from a third party on Walmart's website.
“I was not aware that it was a third party until after I needed somebody to help me fix the problem,” said Rivera.
THIRD PARTY SALES POLICIES
Walmart.com and many other retailers allow third parties to sell to customers on their websites. Each of those companies may have its own refund and return policies.
“Many times, they mimic or mirror the main site policies, but sometimes they'll have their own. Sometimes, it'll be no refunds, sometimes only in case you receive a damaged or defective item,” explained Serena Mosley-Day, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission.
Before you add to the cart, look for information about who is selling or fulfilling the order.
If it’s a third party, take a few extra moments to read their company reviews and return policies.
If there’s an issue, the main site could help with a refund, though it may require you to try the third party first.
“Depending, again, on the terms and conditions on the main platform, they'll say that if you aren't able to resolve it with the merchant, then they back everything that's sold on their site and they have their own terms and conditions for that,” said Mosley-Day.
Walmart.com has a page dedicated to marketplace sales, saying customers should contact the seller directly. If a customer can’t resolve an issue, it lays out when Walmart may step in.
A REFUND RESOLUTION
When NBC 5 Responds reached out to Walmart about Rivera’s order, we didn’t hear back. The next day, Rivera said she received notice from Walmart about a refund issued for the chair.
NBC 5 Responds also reached out to the third party, Factory Direct Wholesale, LLC.
Its customer support team wrote in an email to NBC 5, “It seems this order has already been fully refunded by Walmart at this time as the parts are unavailable for this item.”
NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.
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