We ordered a set of 2 chairs a few weeks ago. We got a banged up box with 2 severely defective chairs in it; the pieces were rusted (and painted over), some parts were broken, screws were missing, etc.in short, it was totally subpar.
We immediately emailed the company asking for help, but received no reply in the following day. We went on to email 4 more times that week, though the company never got back to us. Left with 2 defective items and no response from the company, we were forced to contact our credit card company.
We filed a claim; suddenly the company responded. They wanted to know why we didn't try to contact them first. We indicated that we did and sent them emails to prove it. We also sent photos of the defective items. They said their email program had no record of it (of course, our email sent folder has all the emails).
Their response was that they wanted to file a claim with the UPS for the items being "damaged in shipment". I couldn't believe it; after us telling them we got something defective, they wanted to roll the blame over to the UPS. I responded and said I would not support such a claim since the UPS did nothing wrong.
I reiterated that I wanted them to set up a return shipment (since the item was very heavy, and should not have to be returned at my cost), and that I wanted a refund when it arrived back to them. Easy enough.
I assumed that they were setting things up, but after that, I did not hear from the company again. I sent an email to see what was happening, but got no reply. Out of curiosity, I contacted the UPS to see if a damage claim was filed by the seller, and it turns out there was! This company told the UPS that they damaged the item, despite us saying it was not in any way. The UPS investigators took all of our details and promised to investigate the sellers claim and take action.
We then got a statement from our credit card company explaining South Mission's chargeback response; 1) they said we did not contact them about the problem - a lie 2) they said the item was not defective, also a lie. They also said we should mail it back, at our expense, to get a refund. The item was $159.99, and it would cost nearly $100 to mail it back, since it was 2 heavy chairs. I found this to be profoundly unfair.
I found this unacceptable and filed a BBB complaint. The company's response was that they will no longer deal with the issue since we "cost them money" by filing a chargeback.
In the end, I have to say, beware South Mission online. They sent a defective item, were not honest in their dealings and did not provide customer service until we contacted our credit card company - even then their was no satisfactory resolution of our concerns.
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