When you pay $40 to make sure your product gets shipped overnight, it had damn well be delivered overnight. Reader and frequent commenter ilikemoney coughed up $40 to Walmart to make sure he’d be able to sleep on the futon he ordered the next day, but it took five days for the sweet dream factory to arrive. Instead of flipping out and declaring a national emergency, he stayed cool, sent Walmart a calm, direct letter and got his money back.

He writes:

I know a great deal of people hate Walmart normally, but the company surprised me today when I sent them a courteous yet straight-to-business email addressing an issue I had with the shipping of a futon that I ordered on June 9th. The website had offered me free shipping, but would take about a week for delivery. They also offered “priority overnight” shipping from Fed-Ex for $40, with an estimated arrival date of 10 or 11 June. I sprang the extra cash for the overnight shipping, and patiently waited.

I received a confirmation of pickup email from Fed-Ex on the 11th, along with a tracking number. I waited still, and tracked my order as it took an extra three days to get to its final destination on the 14th, five days after I’d originally placed the order to be delivered with overnight shipping. I sent them a polite, but stern email that explained the scenario and what I expected as a resolution. I’ve been refunded the shipping amount, and I have my futon. I feel this underscores the value of staying cool-headed and of giving the company the courtesy to address grievances as they come up.

The Fonz would have been proud.

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