Complaint Review: CARiD

About a week before Christmas 2010, I ordered a Superchips vehicle programmer and custom fit gray, poly-cotton Coverkingz seat covers. The order went through and my credit card was charged. About a week later I received an email stating that the Superchips programmer would not be available to ship until approximately 03/14/2011 due to a manufacturer issue so the order for the programmer was canceled -- The cancellation procedure took several days by email while the cancellation was "approved" by the manufacturer. The seat covers were finally received on 01/12/2011 and on 01/15/2011 the package was opened to install them and here's where the trouble starts .... First of all, the photo on the CARiD website for these seat covers clearly shows three available colors -- Gray, Tan and Black. The Gray color shown was a near perfect match to my wife's car interior and the detail of the online photo indicates a near perfect fit as well ( see it for here: http://www.carid.com/2010-kia-forte-seat-covers/coverking-seat-covers-141744-html ). What was received was seat covers made out of material resembling a that of a shop-rag, not resembling the quality, fit, design or color of that shown on the website in ANY way ( see photos of the ACTUAL seat covers attached to this report ).

I immediately contacted CARiD customer service and after waiting on hold for 24 minutes, spoke with a CLEARLY outsourced customer service rep to return these seat covers using their "Hassle-free Return Policy" -- I was told that I would be sent an email requesting photos of the seat covers ( preferably showing them installed ) with a description of the issue, the VIN of the vehicle they were ordered for and the Manufacturer part number on the package. This information was sent within 15 minutes of receiving the email. A few hours later, I received an email confirming that the information was received and they would contact the manufacturer to request an RMA number and would respond to me with the return information "within 24-72 hours" -- THREE DAYS later, I received an email stating that the manufacturer claimed that the gray color that I received was the only gray color they offered ( SO WHY DO THEY SHOW A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN WHAT THEY OFFER !? ) and refused to provide the RMA.

At that time, I contacted my creditor to initiate a dispute for the FULL PURCHASE PRICE INCLUDING SHIPPING CHARGES ( it's not MY fault that the item received wasn't the same item I was led to believe I was ordering ). I also again contacted CARiD customer service and again spent 52 minutes on hold before speaking with another representative. I advised the customer service rep that I had initiated the dispute with my creditor and they could either provide me with the RMA information ( after all, they CLAIM to have a "Hassle-free Return Policy" ) so that I could return the merchandise now OR, they could wait until my dispute was finalized, and the creditor would recover my payment for me and the merchandise would be returned whether they liked it or not. After another 22 minutes on hold while he "checked to see what he could do for me", the representative returned on the line to tell me that they would be sending me the return information by email. I DID receive the email a few hours later, telling me that they are requesting the RMA from the manufacturer and would send me the return information and shipping label by email "within 2-3 business days" ( sound familiar to you ? ) As of today, I have still not received the information that I was promised and I STILL have these horrendous seat covers ( that aren't any better quality than what you can buy off-the-shelf at WalMart for a QUARTER of the price that CARiD charges ) BUT, my creditor IS working on the dispute so I know that I will get my refund -- through NO help from CARiD and their "Hassle-free Return Policy" though !!!

One more thing that speaks VOLUMES about CARiD's honesty in advertisement .... Since there were no "Customer Reviews" listed on the website for these seat covers, I decided to add the first one and tell the real story about my experience with this product and customer service. Well, after searching for how to add the review to the listing, I found that I needed to follow the "link" in the email I received after completing my purchase to add the review. I have retained EVERY email I have received since placing the order and found NO LINK to add a review. Not wanting to spend another hour "on hold" with customer service, I opted to request information for adding the review through CARiD's "Live Chat" -- 10 minutes waiting for a representative to start the chat and another 32 minutes while he reviewed and researched my question -- His response ? I should be receiving an email shortly with this "link" and a discount coupon for future purchases ( SURPRISE !!! NO EMAIL, NO LINK !!! ).

So far, NOTHING that I have encountered on CARiD's website is FACTUAL -- The quality and description of the products are exaggerated, customer service is useless and their return policy claiming to be "Hassle Free - No Headaches" is ANYTHING but "Hassle Free" and IS one big, never ending "Headache" !!! You may pay more for products from other retailers or etailers but, the cost of time that you will spend in dealing with CARiD when you have a problem ( and you WILL have problems ) quickly outweighs the "benefit" of saving a few dollars.