Response to Gwyneth on bedandbasics.sg
Dear Gwyneth,
The company has been silent on this matter because we were negotiating an amicable resolution with your husband, who was polite and gracious throughout the negotiations.
Now that you have escalated the matter to Paypal and a decision has been reached by Paypal, I feel that it is now appropriate to share our side of the story.
I apologise that you felt our 100 day return policy is unfair. This policy was implemented only after considerable thought and carefully examining the returns policies of our furniture E-commerce industry peers.
We have processed many returns without question. These returns were repacked into our original packaging by our customers and picked up by our logistics partners.
It is untrue that we have refused your return because the sofa was taken out of its original packaging.
Shipping is a hard cost that we occur from our logistics partners, regardless if it is a delivery or a return. An item without its protective packaging is subject to additional risks during transport. Furthermore, repackaging the item would result in additional material and labour cost.
Your sofa was flat packed in 2 big boxes.
We feel that it is reasonable that the product packaging should be in good condition to be eligible for a full refund.
Being a frequent online shopper, I'm quite sure you were aware that the link to our returns and refunds policy is accessible at the footer of every webpage. In fact, during your Live Chat session with my colleague, my colleague has pointed out to you our refunds and returns policy, before you placed the order. A copy of the Live Chat transcript was emailed to you.
When your first email complaint about the sofa was sent to us near midnight, we responded immediately the next day. We took responsibility for the defects in your sofa and promised a full replacement of the entire sofa. However, you refused and were adamant that you wanted a full refund.
In one of the pictures in your email, it seemed that the original packaging/box for the sofa was damaged. If the packaging/box was indeed damaged, it is a violation of our refunds and returns policy.
When my colleague contacted you to assess if the sofa was eligible for the free return, you insisted that the box was still in good condition. However, when asked to assist with the assessment, you refused. Eventually, I took over the phone conversation on our end, and your husband took over on yours.
I have worked with your husband and offered these terms:
1. A free and complete replacement of the sofa
2. A full refund if the packaging was in good condition
3. A refund minus a restocking fee of $80 if the packaging was indeed damaged
Which led to:
1. A full refund minus a $40 restocking fee if you arrange transport of the sofa on your end to our warehouse
2. A full refund minus a restocking fee of $75 if the packaging was indeed damaged.
And eventually concluded in your husband accepting the refund minus a restocking fee of $75.
I had promised your husband to contact our logistic partner to arrange a delivery schedule yesterday, which was what I was about to do near the end of yesterday.
However, it was discovered that while your husband and I were negotiating in good faith, you have posted several nasty reviews containing half-truths across our digital assets. I felt that I had to consult with management before committing to a pickup date with our logistics partner, which was the first thing I did in the morning today.
At 9:40am today, you escalated our dispute into a Paypal claim. Since the dispute has been escalated into a Paypal claim, the previous agreement I had with your husband is void.
All these happened in the span of two days.
I can imagine your frustration as you have called us "Ah Beng" and "Minion" across our social media and other digital assets.
I sincerely apologise if my colleague sounded rude on the phone, and if we did not meet your expectations. I have truly tried to prioritise your complaint to the best of my abilities.
We are a young, Singaporean startup and most of our employees are Singaporeans. The colleague that spoke to you on the phone, did not speak impeccable English like you did, as he was not well educated, and often lapses into Singlish mid-conversation. It was not our intention to be rude or difficult.
As a young startup, we lack the resources that the big boys do. I am sorry that we could not resolve your issue in the timeline you expected.
The settlement option(full refund minus a restocking fee of $75) which we had proposed, and that your husband had chosen, was intended to help you to reduce your cost and liabilities of shipping the sofa back to our warehouse. It was meant to be a gesture of goodwill. I'm sorry if you had interpreted it as trying to fleece you and your husband.
The restocking fee of $75 truly does not cover the cost of shipping back an item that has to be flat packed into 2 big boxes.
Paypal has reached a decision that you would have to ship the sofa back to our warehouse at your own cost and that you would be liable for all further damages to our sofa from the point you received the sofa on 17th April 2018.
We will do our best to comply with Paypal's decision and policies and work on improving our customer service.
Thank you.