ComplaintsforThe Hive Experience

• Initial Complaint

  12/30/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I have been waiting on delivery of my items by Hive Experience for 10 months and not received the product I ordered. I was initially told 2 months for delivery, it ended up taking 9 months. The company attempted to charge me an exorbitant fee to re-deliver my item I refused to agreed to. The initial delivery attempt of my items failed due to HIVE sending them via the wrong delivery method which I did not agree to. The HIVE claims the missed delivery is my fault because I was not home to receive "White Glove Delivery," however I had specifically specified drop off delivery and HIVE confirmed my method of delivery via e-mail. Additionally HIVE failed to provide the delivery service my phone number to contact me in case of any concerns. I was also not supplied with any contact information or even a name for the delivery company or tracking information so I could not contact them either. I am simply requesting the company process my return in full immediately for 2759.95. The Hive Experience has already agreed to refund me instead of sending my items due to dispute over shipping fees. I've been e-mailing them for 3 weeks since that point trying to get them to process my refund and they have stopped returning my e-mails. I have not filed with small claims court in Tampa, FL. I thought I would contact BBB first to attempt to resolve the issue outside of court. I have included documentation of my purchase, delivery method confirmation from HIVE and HIVE's agreement to refund my purchase price of 2759.95. I will not agree to pay any extra delivery fees I want my refund in the exact purchase amount. Thank you

  Business response

  02/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/04) */ Customer had delivery window communicated and he was not there. The delivery company wanted to charge additional fee for setting up second delivery. Customer wanted us to pick up the fee. We already picked up white glove delivery charge since the manufacturer seeing increase in damage added this to delivery parodical. We passed this redelivery charge to the customer and he refused to pay. Our company now has to pay to have this order shipped out of the warehouse. We will issue refund after furniture has shipped out. He asked us for a refund and also requested one from PayPal. He would have received double refunds. He delayed his refund by doing this and we have filled out plenty of paperwork. We have been maneuvering the pandemic with supply chain issues. Our CSR department has met some truly wonderful people this year and we have seen an increase with those that are struggling with delays. We can only hope to get better and still grateful with the support of our partner manufacturers that have helped us maneuver some difficult times. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/01/06) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) None of the Hive's shipping policies are published or explained. Fee's need to be stated upfront for a customer to be expected to pay them. The delivery method requires better explanation. The contact information of the delivery company and some form of tracking information should be provided to the client as well. None of these things were done. The Hive should have simply forwarded the information directly from the delivery company instead of relaying a summary of the instruction with vital information missing. I have attached the e-mail with shipping instructions sent by the Hive. It is vague and insufficient, as you can see the delivery method is not stated, nor the delivery company their address or phone number. Most importantly, The Hive's e-mail stating they are changing the shipping method is in no way a consensual agreement. I specifically asked for drop off shipping and The Hive Experience agreed to this as noted in the previous e-mails I submitted. I did not consent to a change from drop off to white glove nor any costs associated with white glove or failed delivery attempt of white glove. Another point of contention is that even had I agreed to white glove shipping, nowhere does it say I must be present for the entire day. Nowhere does it say I will not receive any notification when my item arrives. It says someone is required to be present to accept shipment. This is where vital information is missing. It should have explicitly stated that the customer is expected to be onsite for the entire day. This is important because when a shipper give a large window like 8-5 they typically send a text or phone call before a shipment arrives that day to give you a heads up on when to be home. I called the shipping company The Hive Experience used to ask about this specifically and they confirmed that it is their policy to call 30 mins before arrival to notify the recipient they are on their way. I did not receive this calls and the only reason I did not is because The Hive Experience failed to provide the shipping company with my phone number. The Hive also failed to provide me with the Shipping company's number so I had no way to contact them as well. The failure to deliver the item is the sole responsibility of The Hive due to unauthorized upgrade in delivery method in addition to insufficient instructions. The Hive's delivery process and communication with me was completely unorganized and frustrating. I waited 10 months for delivery of these items only to be denied delivery due to The Hive's poor customer service and communication trying to play telephone game between me and the delivery company. On top of that The Hive Experience is trying to hold me responsible for their mistakes. It is honestly insulting. As to waiting on a refund, It is not my responsibility to wait for the Hive to re-ship an item in order for them to process a refund. My suspicion is that the Hive will be doing everything they can to hold me accountable for for the costs they incurred on the item despite me NEVER receiving the item. It is unconscionable to try and tack more fees on to an item I will never receive. I have informed The Hive that I am deeply offended by their attempts to extort extra fees from me and that I expect a full refund for my purchase. Particularly after I waited patiently and was polite with their team for so long anticipating delivery of these items. I will in no way consent to ANY shipping fees in relation to the failed delivery as I never consented to white glove delivery and The Hive Failed to provide adequate delivery information. Should I be charged any shipping fees I will be taking the matter to small claims court. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/01/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) There has been no attempt made by the business to resolve this issue. I have been waiting since they authorized a refund on December 10th for them to process the refund. Their reasoning for making me wait is that they have to ship the item out of a warehouse? This makes absolutely no sense. I have been in contact with HIve for almost a year now about this purchase. The initial purchase was made in February of 2021. I purchased the item from another retailer and they have already delivered it. It took less than a month. The company I purchased through charged only 150$ for white glove delivery. Hive initially offered me white glove delivery for $1500, 10x's the other retailers delivery fee. I declined due to the cost and asked for drop off service. Once Hive agreed to deliver they sent me an e-mail saying they were delivering via white glove instead of the requested method and said the shipment would be between 8-5pm. They did not give instructions that I must stay home all day, which even had they given those instructions is an unreasonable request for a delivery. You can see my rebuttal and the e-mail streams I have attached with Hive. My complaints are legitimate and reasonable, Hive should not be charging me anything for shipping and should refund the entire purchase price of my items 2759.95 immediately. Had they been willing to admit fault and simply attempted to redeliver my items this issue would have been resolved already.. I find it very hard to believe that they are being charged 500$ for a second delivery attempt, as I know that other company's only charge 150$ for the same service. I believe they are acting in an unscrupulous manner attempting to collect illegitimate fees. Hive has continually forced me to contact them to communicate and appear to be making no attempt to refund my money. They stopped communicating with me entirely and have not responded to any e-mails since December 20th. I have sent multiple requests and they have not responded. There has been no response from Hive to my rebuttal to their response through BBB. I would like HIVE to process my full refund Immediately. If this is not resolved through BBB I do intend to pursue legal action. Consumer Response /* (3000, 13, 2022/01/20) */ I also want to point out that none of the concerns I have brought to the attention of HIVE experience have been addressed. They have given no explanation for the multitude of questions I have asked: 1. Why did they not provide the delivery company my phone number? 2. Why did they provide their own phone number to the delivery company and then make no attempt to contact me the day of delivery? 3. Why were they unaware that my item had not been delivered when they should have received a call from the delivery company the day of delivery to notify them as such having provided their own phone number instead of mine? 4. Why they chose to relay delivery information with pertinent details missing instead of forwarding the information directly from the shipping company to me? 5. Why was I not provided any tracking information or even the name/contact information of the delivery company? 6. Why they agreed to drop off delivery then chose to change delivery method without my consent after the fact? 7. Why their fees are not stated up front and are exorbitant in comparison to their competitors? 8. Why my delivery took so long in the 1st place? The other retailer who I ended up ordering from had my item delivered within a month. 9. Why am I still waiting for my refund? 10. Why was there no evidence at my residence anyone had attempted delivery like a door tag or note to indicate someone had been there? They have provided no legitimate responses, or responses that make no sense. I have continually asked for their response and hope they change their policy on providing the clients phone number to the delivery company to avoid future concerns of a similar manner. Had they done so (assuming a delivery attempt was actually made) we would not be in this situation..

*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. ↩