Furniture sales have historically been a major area of consumer complaints. Luckily, there are a number of reasons why buying furniture online may be safer than offline. Many complaints say the furniture salesperson made promises that were not kept. In reality, furniture salespeople don’t always know what they’re talking about. The actual fulfillment of furniture orders is often handled by a different department, or even a different company. By their very nature, online furniture stores have to put a lot of information in writing. The written policies regarding shipping, warranties (if any), and customer service will almost always be easy to access. The fact that everything is written down gives the online furniture store much less wiggle room to change the terms of the deal.

Tips:
Save or print out the web pages that describe the furniture you have ordered and the web pages for important policies and guarantees (which may change after you order), along with any confirmation pages or emails.
If the web page describing the product does not have a model name or product number, make sure you get those at checkout or at some other point before paying. Make absolutely sure you are ordering the furniture you want to order.
If you do speak with a salesperson on the phone, don’t undermine the paper trail by accepting promises over the phone. Ask the web address for the written policy, or for a follow-up email outlining any promises made.

Photographic Evidence
Almost as good as online furniture stores’ paper trail is their photograph trail. A common consumer furniture complaint against offline stores is that the furniture that was delivered did not look like the model in the showroom. With online furniture stores, you are buying based on a photograph. You can save the picture onto your computer in case the delivered furniture does not meet expectations. If you make sure the model name or number is included on the order form at checkout, you can also double-check what the model looks like by going to the manufacturer’s website.

Late shipments are another common complaint against offline furniture stores. Furniture frequently arrives as much as one to two months later than salespeople indicated. Online furniture stores will generally ship directly from the warehouse within a few days to a week of your order. Once again, you can easily check the written shipping policy for more exact information. Another great thing about online furniture stores is that they are generally using third-party delivery companies. If you get the name of the delivery company while ordering, you may at least be able to check with the delivery company itself in the event of a late order. A third-party delivery company makes it a little more difficult for the store to claim the furniture is in transit when it never shipped.

Online furniture stores generally do not offer financing. Instead, they accept credit cards. If a furniture store does not deliver the merchandise as promised and will not resolve your complaint, your credit card issuer may be able to help you in your dispute. In an extreme case where the furniture does not arrive or arrives in bad shape, your credit card provider may be able to force a refund.

In short, while you should always be careful, online furniture stores make being careful a lot easier. The tips above was offered by a dealer of pet supplies and supplements alike. He’s now expanded his business to handmade jewellery online.