Complaint Review: horizon-custom-homes.com Ebay Paypal - Corinth Mississippi

While it sucks to find out you paid twice as much for something you could have purchased at a popular store, reselling is not illegal. It is also not a store owner's responsibility, morally or legally, to post information about where to buy their items from a competitor or how to do an end-run around them to their supplier, even if their supplier is a competitor.

The following actions should be taken before, not after, a purchase is made:

+ Verify the store's return policy. If a store does not take returns, no matter what, this should be a red flag already. (Exception: stores who sell scratch-and-dent items at steep discounts, to people who know they are buying flawed items that might be repairable.)

+ Verify the store's supply chain. Write to the website and ask about the brand and where it is made, and are there other stores that sell similar items to which you can compare prices. You cannot call them dishonest for not furnishing this information if you didn't ask. Specifically, ask if they are a reseller and whose items they are reselling. (Note: A storeowner is not legallly or morally obligated to answer you, but you most certainly can base your buying decision on their answer or non-answer.)

+ Comparison shop other stores. To most people, $1600+ for home furnishings can be considered a major purchase that should not be taken lightly nor done hastily. Take the time to actually walk through some furniture stores and get to know brand names and build qualities. Ask several salespeople in several stores what makes their furniture better and more long-lasting to get to know construction techniques and to train yourself in evaluating overall quality.

Generally, it sounds like the deal you got, sucks. But it was neither illegal nor wrong. That is the great thing about a free country and a free market, but with this freedom comes individual responsibility on the shopper's part to do their research before pulling out money. Good luck with your future shopping and "lesson learned".

Dear Mr. Batdorff,
    
We would like to again note that we no longer utilize these suppliers & have replaced them with many other suppliers, so this is now a non-issue & has been for some time.
   
We are very sorry that you the buyer did not read the sales agreement nor wants to honor the legal agreement.
  
Again you did receive the exact models ordered at the agreed upon price.
  
Also a Paypal investigation concluded no wrong doing as well. Our company also adheres to the terms of the Better Business Bureau. We also have an 8 year record on eBay of nearly 2000 feedbacks with a 100% positive rating. (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=horizoncustomhomes&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller)
   
As noted, we have offered a partial refund, but unfortunately we understand that you do not want resolve this matter but instead prefer to further attempt harm to our company & families' livelihoods.
  
There are many falsehoods in your claims, too many to keep trying to explain. We have tried working with you to resolve the matter for over a year now.
   
Again our company sincerely apologizes.
  
Customer Service
Horizon Custom Homes
   

Um, Pattycakes? You got that wrong on SO many different levels. Horizon IS NOT the manufacturer. They are a re-seller that orders from different manufacturers (CHECK THEIR WEBSITE!) and sells to the public. WM and TGT MAY use Horizon as a distributor, but I highly doubt it.

Um, Pattycakes? You got that wrong on SO many different levels. Horizon IS NOT the manufacturer. They are a re-seller that orders from different manufacturers (CHECK THEIR WEBSITE!) and sells to the public. WM and TGT MAY use Horizon as a distributor, but I highly doubt it.

Um, Pattycakes? You got that wrong on SO many different levels. Horizon IS NOT the manufacturer. They are a re-seller that orders from different manufacturers (CHECK THEIR WEBSITE!) and sells to the public. WM and TGT MAY use Horizon as a distributor, but I highly doubt it.

Um, Pattycakes? You got that wrong on SO many different levels. Horizon IS NOT the manufacturer. They are a re-seller that orders from different manufacturers (CHECK THEIR WEBSITE!) and sells to the public. WM and TGT MAY use Horizon as a distributor, but I highly doubt it.

The fact that the items ARE NOT being resold to you by Horizon. They are selling you the exact items that you ordered. The difference is that Horizon sells these same items to Wal-Mart and Target (not the other way around). They may market them differently to these retailers but they are not selling you furniture from Wal-Mart and Target. That would constitute that they bought it from Wal-Mart or Target and resold it to you for a profit and that is not how this sounds to me. They are the manufacturers of this product and, as the terms state: "for reason of cost, location, constraint of time, or availability products may be shipped from our warehouse or dropshipped from different locations directly from a manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate/associate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc." the way they ship items is by contacting stores NEARER to you (so shipping costs are lower) and send you the exact same items that you asked for. They are not reselling anything here. It is their product same as on their website. It just happens to be sold under different names to different retailers as well. If anything it costs them a little bit of money to have Target and Wal-mart send it to you because now Target and Wal-mart have to take it out of their inventories and update their websites to reflect quantities. Be happy with the fact that they are able to do this; otherwise it would have taken you even longer to get the products you ordered if they had to have it made. It's not always cost effective for a company like this to just have large quantities of product sitting in a warehouse waiting/hoping for someone to buy off the website. They are selling their products to retailers so that consumers have an easier time shopping. That's why we have grocery stores, malls and big box retailers! We would still be shopping out of the sears catalog if it wasn't for the modern convenience of stores that you can drive to. I understand that you are upset that you paid more money on an item that they sell at Target or Wal-mart. The thing that you are really upset with is that you DIDN'T KNOW that they sold their items at these places and in turn you are really just upset that you are not a savvier shopper by shopping around for a good price. Don't take it out on a manufacturer that stated it in their terms. You just wished that they would have stated exactly who those "manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate/associate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc." were so you could check it out for yourself and price-comparison shop.

The fact that the items ARE NOT being resold to you by Horizon. They are selling you the exact items that you ordered. The difference is that Horizon sells these same items to Wal-Mart and Target (not the other way around). They may market them differently to these retailers but they are not selling you furniture from Wal-Mart and Target. That would constitute that they bought it from Wal-Mart or Target and resold it to you for a profit and that is not how this sounds to me. They are the manufacturers of this product and, as the terms state: "for reason of cost, location, constraint of time, or availability products may be shipped from our warehouse or dropshipped from different locations directly from a manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate/associate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc." the way they ship items is by contacting stores NEARER to you (so shipping costs are lower) and send you the exact same items that you asked for. They are not reselling anything here. It is their product same as on their website. It just happens to be sold under different names to different retailers as well. If anything it costs them a little bit of money to have Target and Wal-mart send it to you because now Target and Wal-mart have to take it out of their inventories and update their websites to reflect quantities. Be happy with the fact that they are able to do this; otherwise it would have taken you even longer to get the products you ordered if they had to have it made. It's not always cost effective for a company like this to just have large quantities of product sitting in a warehouse waiting/hoping for someone to buy off the website. They are selling their products to retailers so that consumers have an easier time shopping. That's why we have grocery stores, malls and big box retailers! We would still be shopping out of the sears catalog if it wasn't for the modern convenience of stores that you can drive to. I understand that you are upset that you paid more money on an item that they sell at Target or Wal-mart. The thing that you are really upset with is that you DIDN'T KNOW that they sold their items at these places and in turn you are really just upset that you are not a savvier shopper by shopping around for a good price. Don't take it out on a manufacturer that stated it in their terms. You just wished that they would have stated exactly who those "manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate/associate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc." were so you could check it out for yourself and price-comparison shop.

John, it sounds like the problem here is Horizon. Not E-Bay or PayPal, but solely Horizon. I noted that Horizon says they "no longer" do drop-shipping from Target or Wally World, and they are also trying to offer you a paltry sum to get you to remove this report. My advice to you: DON'T DO IT! If they were SERIOUS about making this right, they would pay you the difference between what you paid for the items that you received, and what they paid for them at Wally World and / or Target, minus the cost of shipping. Now THAT would be reasonable. If that comes close to the amount that they are offering you, then I'd consider it. Otherwise, tell them to go pound sand. What I'm seeing here is a few greedy individuals, taking cheap merchandise (the stuff you buy at Target and Wal Mart isn't exactly Ikea or Lane's quality!), renaming it, and marking it up so that they can make some bucks. Not exactly illegal, but despicable in this economy just the same. If they're describing it and showing it accurately, then the onus is on YOU to go do some comparative price checking. If they're showing you one thing then selling you something else, that's called a "Bait and Switch", and it is HIGHLY illegal. (At least in California it is!) Again John, your gripe here is with Horizon only. If the Horizon folks are reading this as well, take heed; you've just been caught with your nips in the wringer. That's more than likely the reason why you are no longer drop-shipping from Target or Wal Mart. We cost-conscious shoppers of the 21st century, weathering the current recession, aren't stupid. When we order things from a business that promises a certain quality of product, and then receive it from businesses we know carry product of lesser cost and quality, we're going to start asking questions, especially regarding any ginormous mark-ups. I understand that you are in this to make money, that's the hallmark and object of a Capitalist economy. All well and good. But this all could have been avoided if you wouldn't have done this the way you did. It looks under-handed at first blush. "It's not that you're engaging in evil, but giving the appearance of evil..."

Dear Mr. Batdorff, We would like to note that we no longer utilize Walmart or Target as suppliers, so this is now a non-issue. Our company does have several dozen suppliers & we now represent over 1200 models. We are very sorry that the buyer misunderstood the sales agreement, which we have taken great pride in its detail & accuracy. The buyer did receive the exact models shown at the agreed upon price. A Paypal investigation has been concluded finding no wrong doing. As noted, we have offered a partial refund in return for closing this complaint, but unfortunately we have received no official response from the buyer. We do see that he has responded in this forum instead. Our company has in good faith tried to resolve this matter. Again our company sincerely apologizes for the problem. Customer Service Horizon Custom Homes

Here's the latest offer... Dear Mr. Batdorff, Our company again sincerely apologizes for the misunderstanding. As a compromise, we would like to offer a partial refund of $100 via Paypal if you will remove your report at: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/357/RipOff0357713.htm Again, our company apologizes for the misunderstanding. Thank You, Sally Wilson Customer Service Manager Horizon Custom Homes The funnest part of this is the "misunderstanding". I guess they are right I didn't realize I was buying walmart.com and target.com furniture. But then again, no one told me! Here's my take. I think people are reading this report and it's effecting their business. Good honest...hard working business people don't hide behind ambiguous policies. The bottom line is these people ship target.com and walmart.com goods directly to you while charging you nearly twice as much for them. I've spoke to several ebay buyers who experience the exact same misrepresentation. Don't you think if you're going to ship walmart.com or target.com furniture you might mention it to the buyer? I'll be more than happy to remove this report once they update their policy to reflect which items will ship directly from Walmart.com or Target.com. And...once they refund me the difference between what they charged me and what the actual good they shipped me from Walmart.com and Target.com cost. Read the rebuttals and you ask yourself is this really someone you want to spend money with...I think not.

This was the latest offer I received from Horizon. Honest people don't had behind ambiguous policies. The bottom line folks they reship Target and Walmart goods. I have photos to prove it. Please think twice before ordering from them. My guess is people are reading this report because here is there latest offer they sent me. I'll be happy to remove this report once they update their policy to reflect that they are indeed shipping Walmart and Target goods. I think this is not only fair but an accurate description of their services. Not to mention a refund of the $700.00 more they charged me for the items they dropped shipped to me via target.com and walmart.com. This is the email I received from them today. Dear Mr. Batdorff, Our company again sincerely apologizes for the misunderstanding. As a compromise, we would like to offer a partial refund of $100 via Paypal if you will remove your report at: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/357/RipOff0357713.htm Again, our company apologizes for the misunderstanding. Thank You, Sally Wilson Customer Service Manager Horizon Custom Homes

Our company would like to officially respond to this complaint in this forum. We do sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding of our sales agreement. We have done everything possible to make certain that our sales agreement is clear & understandable so that customers are aware that some products are dropshipped directly from suppliers. Your complaint with the Better Business Bureau has been received. Per their requirements, all of our company's terms are clearly published & agreed to by both parties at the time of transaction. The BBB is a valuable resource, yet complaints regarding dissatisfaction with pricing &/or where a product is shipped from is not a legitimate issue. As stated on our website, we are a small family owned interior design company that has created this website catalog for our customers & fans of the Mission style. The majority of our 900+ models are not shipped from retail affiliates, but from manufacturers, importers, distributors, & our warehouse. Our company again sincerely apologizes for any misunderstandings regarding the sales agreement. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact us at anytime. Thank You, Customer Service Horizon Custom Homes

I have to agree with Michelle. I too have read their sales agreement & you did agree to have your order shipped from walmart & target, as well as other places. And as AElyse pointed out, they do even encourage you to shop around. Its not like they don't spell it out for you about this stuff, its right on their website. And the idea that you are looking for "a wonderful opportunity for a class action suit" against them scares me, & over what? A few hundred dollars? Its litigious whiny people like you that have made our judicial system a joke. You bought a product, agreed on a price, & then complain that you don't like where the product came from? Grow-up. Next time shop around & read the contract. I deal with thousands of contracts & they are ALWAYS written to protect the party who writes the contract. Yes, they are to help reduce misunderstandings, but you would have to of read & understood it for that to have happened, which obviously didn't happen. I Googled dropship & there are tons of companies that dropship products. I'm no expert, but that seems like a non-issue from what I read, especially since they publish this fact & you agreed to it. You clearly didn't care enough to take the time to check out the two largest retailers on the planet or even read the contract, now you want a class action suit? Wow. I'm no lawyer, but Michelle is right, you need some legal advice to set you straight, & possibly a hobby, & I'd suggest a good psychologist too. It sucks that this happened to you, but you didn't even read your contract.

I can appreciate that you're upset, but unfortunately you did not tell the truth. It does state on their website that it could be shipped from another retailer, which you agreed to. Also, this is called dropshipping, which is totally normal & legal (I deal with hundreds of retailers). And reselling is just buying something & selling for a profit, hardly illegal. Its too bad that you're unhappy, but that's hardly a legal issue either. You should really consult with an attorney before contacting legal authorities, because you clearly are in need of some clarification. I've read the sales agreement & it seems pretty clear. And with my experience with dropshipping millions of dollars of equipment, I don't see a legal issue here. Also, you'll find that not upsetting them might work better than threats. I have had to bite my tongue more times than I can count to get problems resolved, but that's just the way it is. By upsetting & attacking people, even trying to hurt them, like on this website is a sure fire way to not get things done. I should mention that not long ago I bought a couple things from someone on ebay & it came from Walter Drake. I received what I paid for & had no problem with the fact that it was dropshipped or that I paid more for it. This is really normal stuff that you're getting upset over. But maybe you're just not aware of it, because you're just not familiar with mail order & dropshipping. In the future, if you don't know the company, read the terms of sales, every company has them & publishes them. And don't go off half-cocked when you need more information. And certainly don't bother our law officers with stuff like this, I know some of them & they have better things to do & really don't appreciate it. Again, get some legal advice if you're still that upset & want to spend more money & time for nothing, but at least you'll get the knowledge that you desperately need. Good Luck, Michelle

Sorry, but as Walmart's policy states, taken from your own post: "Walmart.com also reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to prohibit sales to dealers or resellers." This does not mean that they prohibit ALL reselling, just that they CAN. Also, I 100% agree that it sucks that they do it, but their policy is stated in the terms and agreements, AND they advised you to price shop. Maybe next time you'll be smarter about online shopping.

You say that they send these as gifts, so as to hide the price actually paid. Well what this also probably does is makes it harder for the companies to stop them. If they were ordering bulk furniture and having it shipped to one address, they would probably be stopped immediately. However, by ordering the items as the orders come in, and shipping it directly to you as a gift, Target and Wal-Mart have no way of proving its actually not a gift and that you bought the item from this other company. Without a receipt from Target, you won't be able to find out the actual price charged, but you may be able to take one of the items to Walmart and have them look it up in their system (as long as its not an online-only item) and they could tell you how much it is. I don't know how their systems work, but they may not be able to either. If you can get the actual price charged from the store of any of those items, you would have a much better chance of taking legal action. I say get a lawyer and take it from there.

Copied directly from Wal-mart.com "terms of use" section Quantity Limits & Dealer Sales Walmart.com reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to limit the quantity of items purchased per person, per household or per order. These restrictions may be applicable to orders placed by the same account, the same credit card, and also to orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. We will provide notification to the customer should such limits be applied. Walmart.com also reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to prohibit sales to dealers or resellers. For purposes of these Terms of Use, reselling shall be defined as purchasing or intending to purchase any product(s) from Walmart.com for the purpose of engaging in a commercial sale of that same product(s) with a third party.

Greetings John, Thank you for contacting Horizon Custom Homes. We are sorry that you are unhappy with your order. Our company has done nothing wrong, dropshipping products from another supplier is standard practice in many industries. I personally was a manufacturer's representative for over three dozen manufacturers & worked with over a thousand retailers for over a decade. Currently our company works with over 30 suppliers of many types. As your Sales Agreement states: 18. Shipping: Although Horizon Custom Homes does stock many items in our warehouse in MS, for reason of cost, location, constraint of time, or availability products may be shipped from our warehouse or dropshipped from different locations directly from a manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc. Dropshipping shipments is a common industry business practice which the buyer hereby agrees to. 29. Prices: All prices are fixed & agreed upon by the buyer at the time of purchase. We do not offer a price guarantee, professional discounts, combined shipping discounts, quantity discounts, etc. We strongly recommend comparison shopping & research before making your purchase. The sales contract is published on our website here: http://www.horizon-custom-homes.com/contract.html After inquiries to the supplier, we have canceled the coffee tables & will be issuing a refund for them, as well as the backordered models to your credit card. We sincerely apologize if there was any misunderstanding. Thank You, Customer Service Horizon Custom Homes Horizon Custom Homes Interior Design Group 125 CR 427 Corinth, MS 38834 Horizon-Custom-Homes.com [email protected] P 815-366-8318 F 815-366-8318

Greetings John, Thank you for contacting Horizon Custom Homes. We are sorry that you are unhappy with your order. Our company has done nothing wrong, dropshipping products from another supplier is standard practice in many industries. I personally was a manufacturer's representative for over three dozen manufacturers & worked with over a thousand retailers for over a decade. Currently our company works with over 30 suppliers of many types. As your Sales Agreement states: 18. Shipping: Although Horizon Custom Homes does stock many items in our warehouse in MS, for reason of cost, location, constraint of time, or availability products may be shipped from our warehouse or dropshipped from different locations directly from a manufacturer, distributor, supplier, importer, affiliate, fulfillment center, another retailer, etc. Dropshipping shipments is a common industry business practice which the buyer hereby agrees to. 29. Prices: All prices are fixed & agreed upon by the buyer at the time of purchase. We do not offer a price guarantee, professional discounts, combined shipping discounts, quantity discounts, etc. We strongly recommend comparison shopping & research before making your purchase. The sales contract is published on our website here: http://www.horizon-custom-homes.com/contract.html After inquiries to the supplier, we have canceled the coffee tables & will be issuing a refund for them, as well as the backordered models to your credit card. We sincerely apologize if there was any misunderstanding. Thank You, Customer Service Horizon Custom Homes Horizon Custom Homes Interior Design Group 125 CR 427 Corinth, MS 38834 Horizon-Custom-Homes.com [email protected] P 815-366-8318 F 815-366-8318

If you purchase something on ebay and you pay using paypal all you have to do is file an INR (item not received). Paypal will refund you your money from their account. You only have a certain amount of time to do it, so you better hurry before your time runs out. Crafty Becky