ComfortChannel .com

Full review
This past winter, something weird happened to me. I got my second case of vertigo. I am used to being a bit off balance due to some hearing problems but I’m talking out of the blue, spinning vertigo. I was scared to death of it even though I knew it was the tubes in my ears clogging and causing the dizziness.

For a while I stayed home, worried about getting dizzy in public, but that got old real fast. Finally, after a visit to my ear specialist who suggested I get a cane to steady me in case a bout of dizziness came on in public, I decided I did need something but I wasn’t going to go out and buy a cane! I mean I am the workout queen. I’m the woman you see sprinting down the aisles in the grocery store, the one who opts to take the stairs because she wants to not because it’s healthy. And now…I was supposed to be seen with a CANE?

Well, after much searching around, I settled on a cross between a cane and a seat that called itself a Sports Seat. I liked the design which was more for golfers or the sports enthusiasts who had long walks ahead of them and wanted a portable lightweight seat to carry along and use when they wanted to take a break. After deciding that I did want that product, I comparison shopped and found it at ComfortChannel.com for lower than anywhere else on the net.

The Site

This huge site carries a vast array of products. Some categories of products are Office Furniture, Travel Accessories, Outdoor Recreation, Home Gym and Fitness Equipment, and Mobility Aids. The amount of products on this site is astounding and the variety is massive.

Navigation

Since I knew exactly what I wanted, I was able to do a real quick search and bring up the item. However, the home page is fairly cluttered (but not unattractive) with many items, specials, and lists of categories and subcategories to click on. If you’re just browsing, prepare for a long browse. You could get wound up in this site and pull an all nighter.

Navigation isn’t hard. You click on a category or subcategory and go from there. If you know what you want, you do a search and all matching items will come up.

Each product has a small and a larger photo (if you click on the smaller photo, the larger one pops up) and a full, very detailed description of the item. I like that they use “product labels” like those on food packaging to give facts like weight, size, shipping options, and other pertinent info on the item.

Once you chose an item to buy, you click to put it in your cart.

When you’re finished shopping, off to the check out you go. You will have to fill out the usual personal data forms with your address and so on before getting to the next screen.

They take major credit cards as well as paypal, which is unusual and might make some people happy who don’t have a major credit card or don’t want to use one. They also take e-checks with proper verification.

Once your transaction has been completed you get an immediate email with the order number. Next you get an email stating that the order is being processed and then you get an email telling you the order has been shipped and giving you a tracking number. Then, a few weeks after you order from them, you get a final email which is to assess if your experience with the site was a positive one. Whew, lots of email but I like communication and found it comforting to know I wasn’t all caught up in some system and forgotten about.

My Experience

I knew what I wanted and knew it was the cheapest price I could get it for on the net. I placed my order and discovered there was no shipping on my item (and on most items there is no shipping fee, such a big plus). If I found the Sports Seat selling for a lower price on another website, they have a price match guarantee and all I would have had to have done was to call them with the URL of the site selling the same item at a better price.

Checkout and payment was very simple and I got my emails as I described above. The item arrived in a little over a week. I wasn’t ultra impressed with it but that isn’t the site’s fault. It was just a bit more unstable than I had imagined but it worked for what I wanted it for.

I had a completely problem free transaction with ComfortChannel.com.

They state that they are partnered with Zearth.com which is another site with a zillion items on it. That’s fine with me as long as I get what I pay for in a timely fashion and at a price that I consider fair and I got all that.

Shipping and Returns

Shipping is generally free on this site. I saw nothing that didn’t have free shipping which is awesome considering many items are bulky and heavy.

The downside is that, if you return an item, you have to pay for shipping both ways, or so it seems by their FAQ page. They do accept returns within 30 days after delivery. This is what they have to say regarding their return policy:

Refunds are based on the following guidelines:
• New - Unopened. Unused. Full Refund less shipping.
• Like-New – Box or Factory Packaging opened, item in new condition. Refund amount depends on inspection results, less shipping.
• We are unable to issue refunds for products returned without an assigned RA#, soiled, damaged or missing parts.

**Free Ground Shipping in the contiguous USA is standard on most all products sold at Zearth.com and ComfortChannel.com. In the event of a return, returned items will have actual UPS or FEDEX shipping costs deducted at the time of refund.**

The starred part sort of bothers me. If I order an item and then need to send it back, I have to pay to send it back then I have to pay for shipping it to me even though I sent it back? I don’t know about that. I understand why the company has to do that considering they paid for the shipping to you and then they had to refund you and they are out the shipping cost. Still, it seems like if you return a heavy piece of equipment and pay to ship it back, then the company deducts the shipping charges that they paid to get it to you, you could end up on the negative end of the refund! In other words, be real sure you want what you order before you order or else you’ll lose money returning it.

Contact Info

1-800-303-7574

1-406-585-7683

Customer Order Care Questions:
customerservice@zearth.com

Conclusion

I had a flawless transaction. I can understand how some can get confused and overwhelmed, though, by the sheer number of items sold and the many different categories of items on this site. It has no theme. It sells a lot of products in a huge array of categories. Still, the prices are generally good, they have a price matching policy, and most items have free shipping. The only time you may run into a problem is if you want to return a heavy item and the scenario I outlined above happens where you pay to ship it back and they deduct the shipping charges they paid to send the item to you. It’s not an unfair policy. It is just one that should make you pause and be very sure you know exactly what you’re ordering and that you really want it.

I am rating this website 4 stars. The return policy aside, it served me well and I would go back there for something if I had the need or desire to wade through the many items they carry. As for the Sports Seat, I took it out once, even sat on it in a mall while waiting for my husband to meet me, and then never used it again. Thankfully my vertigo passed. However, if it returns, at least I have the thing to carry around for stability. And I got it for the best price anywhere on the net with free shipping and no tax. No complaints here.