ComplaintsforThe Western Company

• Initial Complaint

  01/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I purchased some shoes and boots for myself and my grandchildren. Only one of them fits and I want to return them for a refund. I have left several messages with the company and nobody returns my phone call. I have emailed them and nobody has gotten back to me there either, ** hoping that you can point me in the right direction to resolve this problem

• Initial Complaint

  12/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I literally canceled the item before it was even shipped and everything and my bank put the money back into my account and I look this morning. And I see the western company took money again for the boots that I canceled and still shipped them anyways. They were $151.21. I canceled because I do not want them. But you still want to charge me for them and send them anyways. I have a screen shot of the day I canceled the order.

  Business response

  12/04/2023

  Hi Chastity,

  We attempted to cancel this but the warehouse had already shipped by the time they got our message. Things are backed up due to the holidays which means we are trying to balance between shipping quickly and fulfilling all customer requests. I am sorry it did not get cancelled in time and we are more than happy to pay for the return and a full refund when they item is delivered. Please reach out to us if you need any help on the return. Thank you.
  

   

• Initial Complaint

  12/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have not received my order that I placed on 11/19/2022. Order #****** Sent emails for delivery updates `on 11/24 and 11/27. On 11/28 I finally got an email stating that my shipment was on its way with a fed ex tracking #. I then placed an additional order #****** for $222.48 on 11/29/2022 that I have not been provided any status on since the initial order confirmation email on 11/29.To date, 12/5 I have still have not received any of my items. I emailed again for status, no response. I was told by ***** that I am not able to file a claim that the shipper has to file. I emailed the company again on 12/5 and still no response. I opened a chat session online and have been waiting over an hour with NO response. I called the customer service number on 12/5 and left a detailed message with NO callback. At this point I am requesting a full refund for both orders since I have paid for and not received the merchandise and will take my business where there is customer service and follow through from the company.Refund requested for both orders $237.15 and $222.48 total $459.63

  Business response

  12/09/2022

  Hi *****,

   

  I have sent an email in response to your email early this morning regarding this. We have filed the claim, see the attached pictures showing the filing. The Claim Reference number is: ******** - We need to hear back on that before we just refund the order. We will not leave you hanging and promise to have a solution for you next week but this shipping is not showing any problems, the order is just taking a little time to get to you during the holiday season. We are happy to pay for and refund the orders if you receive them and still do not want them. We will follow up with you Monday next week.
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a pair of boots online 10/14/22. I received the boots, but they did not fit. I returned the boots, and asked for a full refund. I have called, emailed, let PayPal know, but The Western Company has not responded, nor have they issued a refund. The boots were received 10/27/22 at 11:32am.

  Business response

  12/02/2022

  This order has been refunded. The picture shows why there was a delay in the refund. The customer opened up a claim with Paypal a day or two after we received the item back so we had to wait on paypal to sort through the claim before our system would even let us refund. We ended up needing to go straight through paypal to refund but as the picture shows - this customer did get a refund.

   

  We state all of our procedure times and refund times on our site. The fact that the customer did not read these to know what to expect, or did not have enough patience on a return - should not be a problem we need to deal with on three different platforms over the holiday season. Especially when the accounting is finished and clear.
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased 2 pair of boots from the western **.I bought them off two different credit cards at different times.I like to buy from smaller businesses and I like deals.The first pair of boots were fine when they arrived other than the box looked like it had been sitting on a shelf for awhile.The se**nd pair arrived and had two left boots instead of a right and a left.I tried multiple times to **ntact the merchant by phone and email with no response.I called my credit card ** and asked for a chargeback because of receiving two left boots which are unusable.My credit card ** granted the chargeback.Apprx. a month later the adjustment in the amount of $67.99 reappeared on my card.The owner of the ** sent me a email admitting the boots were defective after about 15 days.He wanted me to remove the charge back and I would have but he had 2 employees lie to my credit card **. stating they sent the **rrect item. He had already put in writing by email that he realized after my pictures of the boots that he requested That my boots were defective.I offered to send the boots back but he wanted to handle defective claims by email so he didn't have shipping charges.I also googled the ** and they have terrible reviews accept on their wesite which shows 5 stars.I believe these reviews are done by people in the ** and not actual customers.It is my personal opinion that if I removed the chargeback that I would never see my $67.99.This ** website states all clearance items are nonreturnable.I don't have a problem with the policy on clearance items if you receive what you bought but I didn't order 2 left boots.I am attaching a **py of the **nversation by email from the owner of the ** and myself.He addmitted I had a defective item and I agreed to return the boots if he sent a shipping label.I shouldn't have to pay shipping for a defective item that the merchant sent.

  Business response

  11/17/2022

  Hi,

   

  We apologize for any confusion or delays in the process that took place for this mistake. The customer did order two pairs of boots, on two different orders, both from our clearance section. The clearance section does state that there are no returns, which the customer has acknowledged in their filing. Those policies can also be found here: https://www.thewesterncompany.com/pages/returns-exchanges . To give an overview of what happened here, I will start with the main facts/events as they came to my desk and go into more detail afterwards.
  
  In short, the customer had an issue with one pair of boots claiming that both of the boots were "left-foot" boots, and she wanted to be compensated or have them returned. We do not allow returns on clearance items but we will always refund a customer if they receive a defective item. Due to this method of resolution, we do have a process to go through which includes asking for pictures and descriptions on the defects/damages. We don't intend to withhold money by any means, rather we want to give the customer the best possible resolution without losing money to every little claim like this. So through our vetting process, we did get pictures - twice, and by the time we went to refund the customer, they had already opened up a Chargeback. It was at this moment that we had to present information to the bank about the charge-back and ultimately follow a different course of action that almost always increases the time to solve the issue.
  
  Attached is an image showing Shopify's terms and suggestions for handling chargebacks. Here is the link to that page: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/chargebacks
  
  We told ***** she had to cancel the chargeback to receive a refund from us quickly, as we had already agreed to a refund at that time. She did not agree that this was necessary and decided to proceed with waiting out the chargeback. I contacted Shopify to make sure I was doing the right thing and confirmed that I needed to present the information to the bank for the chargeback regardless. Furthermore, I do believe ***** got a defective pair of boots and we were ready to refund her in full without any sort of return shipping, but I do not think that a chargeback should be used as a refund tactic because you are being impatient. It is for **** reasons that we presented the information to the bank and let the chargeback run its course.
  
  In the end, the chargeback was not reimposed, we are out the money for the order AND for receiving a chargeback as shown in the image labeled "cb decision". The customer or the customer's bank has the money, we do not. I received a text at 2:00 AM from ***** threatening to report our company about two weeks ago in which she claims we stole her money again. I checked her order and it all read that the chargeback was processing, only to result in a loss for us.
  
  The customer or the customer's bank has been refunded, the evidence is in the picture and should also be easily confirmed with the customer's bank. Let me know how else we can help.
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  i recently ordered a pair of boot for $345 dollars. The tracking showed they received the order, but now when i track it says it has not been updated and an error message pops up. I also tracked through the companies website and it says it can not find the order number or email address. i called the company but had me on hold for over and hour. i called again and left a message and have not received a return call or answer to my problem. Is there a way to get my money back?

  Business response

  08/26/2022

  We are in touch with the customer and working things out externally. The customer ordered on the 22nd and we do have a processing time of about 5 days on our site so this order has not shipped out, will ship out today, and we are happy to cancel if we hear back from him - or we can pay to have it returned if it gets shipped out before that.

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I placed an order with this company on 10/7/21. After 2 weeks it still had not shipped. After inquiring about it I was first told 1) they could not find my order than 2) the business was closed. This company apparently does not have have enough manpower to address service issues - you can only leave a voice mail and no one ever calls back or answers email. Their web site states the are open 10-2. When I left a message saying I wanted a refund a got a message via email that my order had shipped yet 7 days later the package has not moved from their loading dock. Now I really want my money back. $53.99

  Business response

  11/02/2021

  Hi ******,

   

  First and foremost I want to apologize, as the Owner, for the trouble you have experienced with our company. I have hired three different people to handle customer service this year and have had all three of them walk out on me. Two of them doing so after about three weeks. The third rep, started at the beginning of October and left about a week ago - so I cannot speak for all of the communication that took place, but he was in charge of most of it during the time that your order discrepancy took place.
  
  I have attached three screenshots of what I can see on my end. The first image is showing email communication from your email. I do not see anything other than a response to our "Thank You for Purchasing" email, before what looks like your item was delivered. The second two emails are Automated transmit emails from the BBB site regarding your complaint. The second image, is showing the tracking. Admittedly, the first tracking number that was provided to you, was the wrong number (you can see two tracking numbers there). This happens if our warehouse manager creates two labels for someone when shipping. The system automatically picks up the first one and if he has to change or fix something about it (such as upgrading the shipping due to the order being late), the second number will be included in the order history, but not sent to the customer automatically. This was our second mistake - in not sending you that correct tracking. The third image does show the tracking for the item. Shipped on 10/14, delivered on 10/19. The BBB complaint looks like it was issued on the 18th - right before the product was delivered.
  
  I am happy to issue a claim for the shipment, and check in on whether this was delivered or not. I am also happy to refund you in full, if you actually did not receive this. However, due to the dates shown above, I believe you may have filed this right before receiving the item. Let me know if you can provide that information and I am happy to work with you. Thank you
  

  Customer response

  11/02/2021

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩