or how an online company's draconian return policy caught me with my pants down and bent over

So I buy my REAL nephew a new futon cover, in the lovely sage green he desired, but I didn't investigate the company well enough. Their distribution center is in Texas, their headquarters in CA and their stuff is made in China. That was my first mistake because I thought I was dealing with an American company in CA.

They send me the bolsters half-dead with a zipper in the stuffing compartment so you could add additional pillow stuffing, no cover on them, in a huge box. The actual futon cover was in a plastic upholstery zipper container, but it looked old and kind of worn on the sides. The fabric was supposed to be cotton ducking, but was a cheap, shiny version that looked in immediate danger of ripping. I decided to send it back and the return policy was unbelievable. I need to fulfill a turnaround of within 10 days of receipt, provide a tracking number, accept the shipping, have a deduction of shipping costs for the original (free?) shipping TO me, and a re-stocking fee...provided everything they threw into the box came back untouched and pristine.

I sent them a flamer and got a bot response of "We're sorry you didn't like our shit....." and a rehashing of their return policy from hell and ALSO their exchange policy of going back online and ordering something new while they determine if the shit I returned can be resold to the next sucker. Muriel will probably tag this because I'm naming this asshole company. If corporations are people too, this one will rename itself when sales again flag because of shit like this. Don't be me, don't be stupid and do business with DCG stores.

It was only 100.00 bucks or so, and I can take the loss, so I donated it to a local church thrift store. I'd rather someone use it then leave it up to them to rip me off, keep the merchandise and sell to someone else. Welcome to business in America where 3rd party assholes sell crap they can exempt from the Chinese tariffs and rip you off.