Consumer Alert: Wayfair and False Advertising: White Glove Delivery

On February 2, 2023 I placed an on-line order for a desk (advertisement listed below) from Wayfair that gave me 2 choices at checkout:  free UPS delivery which would require me to assemble the desk or truck delivery with “Free White Glove Delivery” where “We’ll carry your item to the room of your choice, assemble (if needed), and remove all packaging.”  If I chose the UPS delivery, the desk would be delivered in about a week while the truck with white glove delivery would take an estimated 2-3 weeks.  I chose the truck with white glove delivery.

On Thursday, February 15th, I received a voice message from 800-856-6508 that said “This is Final Mile calling about your Wayfair delivery….”  When I looked up the number, it was assigned to Linn Star Transfer out of Hazelwood, Missouri (the Better Business Bureau reports a 1.36 out of 5 rating based on 22 reviews) and that this business is not BBB accredited.

On Friday, February 16th, I received the following text message:

Austin and Carter arrived a few hours later from Johnson City, Tennessee, carried the box containing the desk into the house and then handed me paperwork to sign.  I reminded them this was a “white glove delivery” and they needed to put the desk together.  They refused.  Carter told me they didn’t have time to assemble the desk.  He acknowledged the invoice had “white glove delivery” but said his boss told him not to assemble the desk.  When I protested, he told me his boss signs his paycheck and not me so he would not assemble the desk.  I refused to sign the paperwork and told him he can take the desk back.  They carried the box out and left.

I called Wayfair and spoke to a customer service representative named Leslie who called the delivery company  (Lynn Star Transfer appears to be the company but they also appear to have subsidiaries that call themselves Forward Final Mile or CLW Delivery or other names) and spoke to “Mindy” who acknowledged my delivery was white glove delivery (according to Leslie) and that I would get a call in an hour.  The call never came.

I called Wayfair again and spoke to a customer service representative named Corrine who told me Wayfair can’t make the delivery company provide white glove delivery service. I protested and asked to speak to customer service management and was transferred to “Kristen” (617-532-1600) who put me on hold, called the delivery company and then told me she would call me back on Monday with a resolution.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau with the complaint focused on the product description containing “white glove delivery.” Although the BBB gives Wayfair an “A+” rating, customer reviews are not used in the calculation of the BBB rating.  1,974 complaints have been closed in the last 12 months (the BBB does not disclose how many complaints were made and not closed) or 165 per month.  That’s a lot of complaints.

On Monday, February 19th, I received a call from “Sharita” from the 617-532-1600 number who said she was calling about my order and the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau.  She told me Wayfair cannot make the delivery company provide the white glove delivery.  I challenged that claim.  How lame is it for one of the largest on-line home retailers in the world (a Fortune 500 company since 2019 and with a market cap of $6 billion as of Feb, 2024) to say they can’t make their local delivery companies do what they are contracted to do?  Or, does Wayfair advertise a service (white glove delivery) for consumers but not require delivery companies to provide white glove delivery?  In other words, is it false advertising when a company says they will provide white glove delivery but won’t?  In my book, yes.

I explained to Sharita the reasons I bought the desk were because it was very narrow and would fit into a specific space and because of the white glove delivery.  If Wayfair says they are going to provide white glove delivery service then they need to provide white glove delivery service. I asked Sharita if Wayfair is going to take down the language offering white glove delivery service and she said “no.” She advised me this is an isolated incident (I don’t believe this because Carter, one of the delivery men told me they were making 20 deliveries on Friday, Feb 16th and they were not going to provide white glove delivery on any because his boss told him not to) and that most of the time (really?), their carriers provide the service.

Sharita offered to have the desk delivered in the box and then have me go through Angi’s list and hire someone to come to the house to put the desk together, pay them,  and Wayfair would give me a credit. I declined. Too much work. I want Wayfair to provide white glove delivery service when they say they are going to. Sharita said Wayfair won’t but will provide me with a refund for the desk.

Whether Wayfair is falsely advertising or won’t require their delivery companies to provide white delivery service as advertised, the outcome is the same.  The consumer suffers.  People rely on product descriptions and the statements made in product descriptions when making purchasing decisions (What is Wayfair going to do if someone is disabled or has arthritis and made a purchase decision because of the advertised white glove delivery service?).  I told Sharita I would never buy another product from Wayfair or the other companies that Wayfair owns:  Perigold, All Modern, Birch Lane, and Joss & Main.  

At the end of the day, Wayfair had the option to do the right thing:  provide the white glove delivery service they proclaim to provide.  They opted not to and that message comes through loud and clear. So, before you buy anything from Wayfair, Perigold, All Modern, Birch Lane, Jos & Main, think again. Or, if you made a purchase that was supposed to have white glove delivery but was not provided, consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (click on the link).  It’s super easy and only takes a few minutes. And, consider filing a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.