Hana K.
terrible customer service , never ordering from them again
Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (16 CFR Part 435) / False Advertising Incident Summary: I placed an order with Rouse Home for Small lights, relying on the product listing which explicitly advertised "Free Shipping & In Stock: Ships within 1 business day". Since other merchants notified me that the item was out of stock, I placed an order with RH due to their false advertising that they held the item in stock. The seller failed to ship the merchandise within the advertised 1 business day timeframe and failed to send a proactive delay notification or offer a choice to cancel. After receiving no shipping confirmation, I contacted customer support a few weeks later to inquire about status. Only then did the seller inform me that the items were not in stock and estimated delivery for over 3 months past the advertised ship date. Prior to the remaining item shipping, I requested to cancel the unshipped balance of my order and receive a prompt full refund. The merchant refused my cancellation request, claiming the order was already "processed" and stating that I could only return the item after delivery. The merchant subsequently shipped the item against my explicit cancellation request and is demanding a restocking fee/return expense to refund the delayed merchandise. Under 16 CFR Part 435, internal processing status does not override federal prompt shipping and refund mandates. Denying a pre-shipment cancellation and penalizing a consumer with restocking fees after failing to meet advertised delivery deadlines constitutes an unfair and deceptive trade practice.


