Instawares, LLC

Full review
If you're also having trouble with Instaware, *please* read this to see where to file a complaint (FTC and BBB)...This company should have been put out of business long ago.

And, beware as they are operating as InstaOffice and also, apparently, as Suite Supply. We purchased items from SuiteSupply and received the invoice from InstaWares - amazingly frustrating.

I still haven't received a credit due for several hundred dollars from a May 06 order where I was shipped the wrong item and returned it per their instructions. A previous credit for an order where I received a cheap substitution for the brand-name item I had ordered took 6 months to process and they charged me a 20% restocking fee. Yes, I paid to restock the bait-and-switch product!

Update: I sent Instawares an email asking about this refund and have received a reply. The second refund check that according to an 11/28/06 email from them was to be mailed out within 3 days was never mailed. No surprise really. They say, "...we are not showing that a check has been issued for this order at all. It appears that it has yet to be turned over to the accounting department and my extreme apologies for this." It is supposed to be mailed out by October 3rd. I won't hold my breath! Of course, they are withholding some money from this refund, too - this time they aren't calling it 'restocking', but instead say that they didn't receive the entire order back, which is false.

For those having problems with them, please report them. Maybe if enough people file a report, there will be some action to prevent others from going through this. Looking through these reviews, it's easy to see this is not a temporary situation, people lose money when they purchase from Instawares.

The FTC has a complaint form on www.ftc.gov ---> https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

The Georgia Business Bureau will also take the complaint - and they will try to get it resolved. (This is the report on Instawares: ----> http://www.atlanta.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=4003587)

Interestingly enough, the report on Instawares in the Better Business Bureau shows only 1 employee. The record is, understandably, poor with a rating of "unsatisfactory".

Lastly, here is information from the FTC detailing parts of the "Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule." It shows Instawares in clear violation:


Delays:

If the merchant is unable to ship within the promised time, it must notify you by mail, telephone, or email, give a revised shipping date and give you the chance to cancel for a full refund or accept the new shipping date. The merchant also must give you some way to exercise the cancellation option for free, for example, by supplying a prepaid reply card or staffing a toll-free telephone number.

If you ignore the option notice, and the delay is 30 days or less, it's assumed that you accept the delay and are willing to wait for the merchandise.
If you do not respond - and the delay is more than 30 days - the order must be canceled by the 30th day of the delay period and a full refund issued promptly.
If the merchant can't meet the revised shipping date, it must notify you again by mail, email or telephone and give you a new shipping date or cancel your order and give you a refund.

The order will be canceled and a refund issued promptly unless you indicate by the revised shipping date that you are willing to wait.
If you do not respond at all to the second notice, it's assumed that you are not willing to wait, and a full refund must be issued promptly.

Refunds:
If you authorized a charge to your credit card account, the merchant must credit the account within ONE billing cycle - not give credit toward another purchase. If you pay by cash, check or money order, the merchant must mail you a refund within seven working days.



Here is a link to that full article on the FTC's website ---> http://ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/billed.shtm. It's appropriately called, "Billed for Merchandise You Never Received? Here's What To Do."