Very disappointing and frustrating experience – I was interested in purchasing a bookcase, however every time I looked on the Eary Settler website it was many weeks (12-18) from being in the warehouse. Anyway, finally there was some in the warehouse and they were on sale, so I ordered and payed for one. Expected delivery 4 weeks to the state I live in. About 5 weeks later it arrives. As soon as the delivery guys brought it into my house, they let me know that there was damage to it (the box was torn along one side and there was the top layer of wood missing and scratches and scrapes all along that side). I was told by one of them I could either arrange for a replacement or if I wanted to "put up with it".

I wasn't happy, as in my opinion it should have never been loaded onto the truck to be delivered to me in that condition. The delivery guys made a point of saying that they didn't cause the damage. I photographed the damage and contacted my local store. The staff at the local store were very helpful, I have no complaints with them. I sent the lady through the pictures, and she said she would send it on to the head office to arrange a replacement. However, she said that it might take 10 days to hear back, which I thought was too long, as I had looked online and noticed there were 8 of these bookcases in the warehouse and didn't want them to sell out. So, I contacted 'Customer Service' via email and mentioned this, stating that one of these should be my replacement before they sell. I was assured that one of them would be and was told again that it would be about 3-4 weeks.

Anyway after more than 4 weeks had passed, and I hadn't heard anything. I sent more than one message through online which were not replied to, so I then phoned. The person I spoke to checked, but then said I'm best to speak to the person that organised the swap. I was suspicious and asked her what was happening. She told me that the swap hadn't gone through and there was no stock in the warehouse. After I got off the phone I looked online and saw that the next stock in the warehouse was 17-18 weeks away. I was so annoyed. I messaged them that I now just wanted a refund. I was also stuck with the damaged one for weeks before it was collected.

Initially I didn't get a response and had to keep messaging to get the refund. I had also enquired about getting a refund for the $90 delivery cost. This also took numerous messages to get someone to reply to me about it. This was a drawn-out process also, as instead of someone just calling me and asking for my bank details to deposit the refund for delivery, I received an email asking me to phone them to supply these details. Every time I phoned they were on other calls, I chose to wait on the line and after about 12 minutes the call would cut off, this happened a few times over the day. When I did leave a message, hours passed and no reply. Finally, I left another message letting them know I wasn't happy and then finally someone phoned me back (he told me he was the only one there).

In the end I got all the costs refunded, but the anger and stress it caused me I'll never forget and will never shop with Early Settler again, not online at least. The so called 'Customer Service' contact definitely needs more people as it is ridiculous trying to get a response, email or phone from them.