Why I'll Never Shop at Walmart.com Again

I don't consider myself a petty person. I'm usually a patient and, in my mind, forgiving individual. In this case, however, I have to say I'd probably be pretty irritated if I didn't find it so damn funny.

I ordered a futon bed from walmart.com on the 18th of August. Without notifying me, they cancel the order. Evidently, there was an issue with the credit card.

They could have handled it better, yes, but it was a small matter.

I ordered the bed a second time a week later. Again, there was an issue with the credit card. Finally, the matter was resolved and the bed was shipped out on the 28th.

I received an email with the usual boilerplate and reminding me it can take up to 48 hours for the tracking number to become available.

Three days later, I emailed customer service requesting a tracking number. I was sent a message reminding me of the 48 hours the shipping company had to update their records and to be patient. In the same email, I was given my tracking number and the name of the shipping company. I had never heard of Seko Worldwide. There's a reason for that.

According to seko.com, the bed was scheduled for delivery on the 7th (September, that is). This was, supposedly, the conservative estimate. I waited all day for them on the 7th, only for them not so show up. I called, was switched over to a guy in San Francisco who, in his own words, "...didn't know why they sent me to him." He couldn't help me but gave me the number of someone who could. They told me someone would call Monday. They did, and a shipping date of the 13th was set-up.

Six days late.

But the bed arrived. The box was in bad shape and the driver wanted it inspected before anything was signed. Not long after he left, Seko called wanting to set-up an appointment for a residential delivery. After some dialogue, it was figured out they were trying to deliver the bed they had just delivered. I explained the situation, she blamed the mistake on the "appointment girls", and that was that. It wasn't until later, when we were ready to move the thing into the bedroom, that we found we were missing parts.

I called the shipping company. They said they would call back the next day with more information, but suggested I contact Walmart. I did, and was told I should get a call in 3-5 business days.

Expecting two calls.

Seko called back a few days later, but not with "more information". Again, they were trying to schedule a residential delivery "weighing over one hundred pounds". After being sent to various departments, all of whom under the impression I had called them, I managed to explain the mistake. It was a reasonable assumption they'd take care of it, I thought. They would call, trying to schedule delivery for that bed several more times before I sat down, refusing to hang up the phone until someone entered it into the system as delivered.

A week later, I called Walmart. The customer service rep supposedly sent a memo to missing parts. I had to call back several more times for one reason or another (it's all sort of a blur). Eventually, they called saying that the parts would either be shipped that day or the next.

Good news.

Except, the next day, I received an email from walmart.com. To save myself the trouble of paraphrasing an already short message:



I hadn't sent an email, but that isn't the issue. I called Walmart, confused over what was left to research, only to find out that they were still trying to contact the manufacturer. I should get call in the next few days.

A few days later, I called back. I explained the situation to learn they had sent out several emails and had yet to get a response. I was ready to send the bed back and ask for a refund. She offered to schedule the bed to be picked up by UPS and have it replaced (granted, I was supposed to call after the pick-up and set that up myself).

She said I would get a call within the next 24 hours.

Today, a month after I originally ordered the bed, I got a phone call. It was UPS. They estimated an evening pick-up and warned me that I had to have it ready for shipping by the time they were there.

Not long after, I received another call, this time from another shipping company. They wanted to set-up an appointment for residential pick-up, to ensure I'd be around to help load it in the truck. I gave him a time, he said it wouldn't work, and told me he'd call back an hour ahead of the truck.

Somehow, it slipped my mind that UPS was already scheduled to pick the bed up. Maybe, somehow, I still had faith in something going smoothly.

UPS came before noon, with package in hand. It was a little thing, hardly heavy enough for "heavy-metal" bed legs.

I set the package down and led the UPS driver out to the garage. I showed him the bed, explaining to him why the carton was so damaged. He said he'd be back tomorrow, reminding me of the "three strike" rule.

I went inside, ready to call...someone, I'm not sure who I thought could possibly know what was going on at that point. I went back to the package, grabbed a sharp knife, and...well, you already know what was in that box.

The second shipping company called not long after. I cancelled the pick-up and took a minute to reflect on the trivial absurdity of the whole thing.


Now, if you don't mind, I'm going out to smell the roses.