Consumer Grumbling

[judecorp]

Dear Columbia Sportswear Company:

I hate you.

~//~

My brother was kind enough to buy me a gift certificate to the Columbia Sportswear Company for Christmas, because everyone and their mother know that what I wanted for Christmas was to finally have a new pair of hiking boots for the spring. My old boots are from back in the Philmont days and they got trashed through all of that good, good hiking, yet I have continued to use them. Since the late 90s. It's time.

I'm pretty sure he was told at the outlet mall where he purchased the gift certificate that I could redeem it on the Columbia website if I didn't have a store nearby. And that's 100% false, because Columbia doesn't sell their products directly. At all. And umm, my nearest outlet store? It's the one in South Carolina. There are lots of stores locally that sell Columbia products but of course they're not going to redeem a gift certificate from another store.

I called Columbia Sportswear headquarters in Oregon and a nice Consumer Services worker told me that they in essence have zero relationship with the outlet stores and the "retail division," and he gave me the number to the SC outlet store. I called that store and spoke with a manager who said that she would only refund my brother's money if he had his receipt. Are you kidding me??! It's a freaking /gift certificate/. You can clearly see how much he paid for it ON THE GIFT CERTIFICATE. Come on, people!

The idiot manager in SC called me "honey" a lot and told me that I should just come back and visit and use my gift certificate. If I /do/ go back to SC any time soon it will be to punch her in her smug, Southern face. Honey.

(Yet another reason why I love LL Bean.)

Comments

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

If you knew the style you wanted would they let you order on the phone and then ship it to you?

[childlight.livejournal.com]

Where at is SC? If it is close to me I could buy them for you and ship them.

[violane.livejournal.com]

That is unbelievably lame.

[folkyboy.livejournal.com]

thats awful that they won't give him a refund without a receipt! especially considering it's just a gift certificate

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

Might I recommend the following:

It has come to the attention of Windmill and Associates that representatives at your outlet store are selling gift certificates under false pretenses.

Specifically, gift certificates redeemable only at your specific location are being sold under the guise of being redeemable online and at other locations.

This behavior constitutes fraud under the South Carolina penal code.

My client is willing to settle this matter without invoking South Carolina criminal law. Your store will provide my client with a cashier's check for the face value of the gift certificate, $xx.xx, by February 1 , 2008. Failure to comply will result in the following:

On February 4, 2008 judecorp will:

File a criminal complaint with Myrtle Beach authorities.

Notify Columbia Sportswear and Myrtle Beach media outlets of your Outlet mall's fraudulent behavior and your refusal to resolve the matter.

File a complaint with the BBB.

File a civil small claims case against your outlet mall for:

• The face value of the certificate
  
• Legal fees
  
• Court Fees
  
• All other expenses incurred as a result of the fraudulent sale of the gift certificate
  
• Punitive damages amounting to treble all other demanded funds or $10,000, whichever is higher.

[oddharmonic.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the sucky customer service.

(I especially love the LL Bean outlet. It's like the perfect storm of Bean's quality and Spag's thriftiness.)

[estrange.livejournal.com]

You can sell it on ebay.

[smurfbrother.livejournal.com]

Ha, that's a great idea.