Photo Credit: Sonos Customer Twitter
A Sonos shipping glitch has sent more merchandise than people ordered to their doors – and charged them for it.
Sonos is providing refunds to users who want one, as long as they return the merchandise. According to a report from The Verge, several people are impacted. One person who ordered a single Sonos Move received three to their address. Another user said they were charged over $2,000 after ordering a Move speaker and receiving seven of them. Sonos told those impacted they had ten days to return the merchandise to receive a refund.
“A recent update to our systems resulted in some orders being processed multiple times,” an email to an impacted customer reads. “Unfortunately, you were affected by this error and have been overcharged. You will also receive multiple shipments of your order.”
“I want to personally apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. You will receive a full refund for any excess orders and should see the credit issued to your account within 10 business days. You will also receive pre-paid return labels for any excess orders.”
One customer impacted ordered a Sonos Turntable Set, Arc soundbar, Arc wall mount, One speaker, and a Roam speaker. Sonos sent him six of every item, or about 30 shipments and about $15,000 of speakers sent due to the Sonos shipping glitch.
The Verge reports that this customer is also getting charged for those extra items. Sonos provided free return labels, but told the customer it was his responsibility to get the items returned. After the customer refused, Sonos sent a UPS carrier to his apartment to pick up the excess merchandise. When asked for comment on this specific case, Sonos declined to comment further.
So can Sonos legally charge customers who don’t send the speakers back? According to the FTC website, charging for items customers didn’t order is illegal. “You never have to pay for things you get but didn’t order,” and the FTC website further states that “you also don’t have to return unordered merchandise” on its website.
Most customers are probably happy to be rid of the excess headache and to get their money back by sending the merchandise back. But this warehouse shipping glitch seems to have impacted more than just a few people.