D W.

While I was on hold to speak to a Madison Seating sales rep, a recorded message extolled their "No Hassle, Easy Return Sales Policy" so I felt super confident buying a side table from them.

When the table arrived, it didn't work for the spot we planned to use it, so I called to arrange returning the item and was told that I needed to email, not call, in order to do that. This seemed odd but made more sense after I'd emailed and was immediately sent the company's Terms of Use stating: "A credit for the purchase price of the item will be issued, less the 30% restocking fee, plus the initial shipping cost."

This meant that of the $105.73 I spent, I'd receive a final refund of $19.02, or less than 20% the costs being $66.71 for 30% restocking and initial shipping, minus $20 postage to ship the table back. In other words, it cost me around $90 to return a $105 item using Madison Seating's "No Hassle, Easy Return Sales Policy".

I called to complain today and was told that I'd clicked a Terms of Use Agreement when purchasing the table, and had been sent the additional Terms of Use email after I initiated the return, so legally Madison Seating were covered.

I acknowledge that this was my fault as I should have read the initial Agreement more closely (perhaps I'm complacent after clicking Agree on too many Apple updates) but I also feel it's misleading to have a "No Hassle, Easy Return Sales Policy" when in fact, Madison Seating's return policy is far more stringent than any other furniture stores I've dealt with, and I've dealt with a lot.

The upshot is that, even though this company is not literally deceiving anyone, I'm coming away from the experience feeling deceived.