Marlowpillow

Just as we start the new year, we decided it was a good time to replace our pillows. After doing some research online we decided to purchase a couple of pillows from Marlow (which I guess is owned by Brooklinen). We placed an order on the 2nd of January, in no real rush to get them, but with the expectation that the order would arrive in a timely manner. Then on the 6th we get a message saying that their fulfillment center is understaffed due to the holidays and basically that they will get to our order as soon as they can. This was disappointing. While I'm totally in favor of the employees of any company giving their hardworking employees time off to enjoy an extended holiday break, I do think that it you're going to do that you need to manage customer expectations up front. If you're that behind in processing orders that you can't even give a definitive timeline as to when an order will ship, then maybe you ought to consider pausing orders, or at least clearly representing timeframes BEFORE you take a customer's money.

I was uncomfortable with the vague waiting period they offered me and wanted to move forward with a purchase elsewhere. I sent them a message that was unequivocal in my request to cancel the order and issue a refund. Instead of a brief, efficient response, I get a message trying to manage my objections and convince me to change my mind. I immediately responded, no, cancel the order and issue a refund.

At first they acknowledged receipt of that request. But then they followed up saying that, no, their "system" would not allow a refund after the order was replaced. But if I wanted to return the order I could do that. This is when I knew for sure that they were not only deceptive and disorganized but smarmy. They were essentially bullying us to proceed with the order when in truth they had more than enough time to cancel the transaction. Despicable.

The customer service on display at several levels here is really shoddy. We immediately called out credit card issuer for a chargeback on the order. What a hassle. This was our first and last attempt at trying to place an order with Marlow Pillows.