When Steven paid Neiman Marcus $682 for a Bugaboo stroller, he expected to receive a new model, not a used stroller with worn wheels and axles coated with hair.
Neiman Marcus immediately offered to take back the stroller and issue a credit, which should have resolved the problem. But one Neiman Marcus manager, Mia Beasley, tried to go the extra mile and ended up making things far worse. Mia promised Steven that she would find him a new stroller and, if necessary, eat the difference in cost.
Mia couldn’t find a new stroller, and when Steven pressed for action, she disappeared entirely.
Steven cc’d us on his letter to Neiman Marcus:
Dear Mr. Tansky,
I am writing today to inform you of an experience I recently had purchasing a stroller online at Neiman Marcus. The lack of customer service and quality of the product was surprising, to say the least, considering your company’s extraordinary reputation.
On May 23, 2008 my wife and I purchased a Bugaboo stroller from the Neiman Marcus online store. We are expecting our first child in November 2008 and thought Neiman Marcus would be a great place to purchase our first item for our child. The stroller was purchased at an excellent discounted price of $682, including shipping.
We received the stroller on May 30, 2008 and to our disappointment the item appeared used. The wheels were worn out on the front, the wheel axel had human hair covering it, and some of the handles were worn out. The item was also not in its original packaging; it appeared to be thrown in a big box and sent out. My wife and I were thoroughly disappointed.
On May 31, 2008 I placed a call to a customer service agent explaining the situation and he offered to give us a credit for the purchase and to pick up the item. I explained to him that we were unable to find the stroller anywhere else at such a great price. I also asked if there was anything else he could do for us besides giving us the credit. He then put me through to his manager, Mia Beasley. Mia was very helpful on that day and told me that she would give us the credit immediately and order us a new stroller from one of the stores as soon as the funds cleared in our account. She also stated that they would eat the cost difference of the new stroller given the unsatisfactory condition our stroller had been received in. I was very pleased at that moment, but this is where the customer satisfaction ended.
The funds were released to our bank account on June 4, 2008. My wife and I called Mia Beasley on June 5, 2008 and left a message stating that our funds had been released. Mia Beasley called us on June 10, 2008 and asked if we were still interested in the new stroller, my wife answered “of course, we have been waiting anxiously for you to call us back.” Mia stated that Stephany Patrina would be in contact with us that same day to place the order. Mia once again told my wife that Neiman Marcus would assume the cost difference between the new stroller and the discounted stroller we had purchased. Stephany Patrina never called us. My wife attempted to call Mia Beasley on June 11th, 12th, 13th, and 17th without success. Several voice messages were left on those days.
Mia finally returned our call on June 17, 2008 after a fourth message was left for her dating back to June 11th. When Mia spoke to my wife she explained that they were having difficulty locating the stroller at one of the stores and were unable to provide us with a new item. Mia Beasley also told my wife “to Google the item and try and find it at another store”. I, at this point, was very upset with the lack of customer support and urgency to get this matter resolved by Mia Beasley. I called her back and left a message expressing my unhappiness with the results thus far, and threatened to go above her to another manager, director, or directly to the CEO. I expressed an interest in getting the matter resolved within twenty four hours. Mia angrily returned my call stating that she was “very disturbed by my message”. I guess she was disturbed by the fact that I wanted to get the matter resolved and I was threatening to go above her authority to get it done. I was at wits end with the process by this point. I then told Mia that she should not have made my wife and I a promise that she couldn’t keep. Mia then claimed that she had never told us that she would replace our purchase with a new stroller and also claimed that she never told my wife or I that they would eat the cost difference.
At this point I was quite aggravated with Mia and the customer service, or lack thereof, that I had received. Not only was Mia totally reversing what she had said, but now she was calling my wife and I liars. I then told Mia that I was going to have to take this above her to her manager and possibly the CEO of Neiman Marcus. Mia then told me that she didn’t care and that I could take it to whomever I needed to.
On June 17th at 5:00 pm EST, I gave it one more shot. I called Mia’s manager Maggie Barker and left a message to call me back immediately regarding this situation. I still haven’t heard back from Maggie as of the date of this letter. Not exactly the world class customer service I expected from Neiman Marcus.
You will be happy to know that my wife and I did get our Bugaboo Stroller for $700, only $18 more than what we would have paid at Neiman Marcus. The difference was a lot less aggravation and a positive experience. It was purchased from an unknown company called mystrollers.com. They might not have the world class name that Neiman Marcus possesses but the customer service and the product was delivered in a world class manner. We received the item only twenty four hours after placing the order. The product was new, in its original packaging, and the shipping was free. I hope that Neiman Marcus is proud of the fact that they were outclassed by an online start-up company. I feel as if Neiman Marcus owes my wife and I some sort of apology. I am not sure, however, that anything can change the experience that cost your company this purchase, and may have cost Neiman Marcus customers for life.
Sincerely,
Steven
(Photo: Getty)
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I have no comment, except that I love all the posts from people assuming that the OP is a woman, despite being named Steve.
Heteronormativity FTW!
@ImCrying: It is not so much that people care that he spent $700 as much as people aren’t sympathetic to a $700 stroller transaction gone awry.
When a post appears on Consumerist I assume it is done in part to convey information to the average consumer as a cautionary tale to avoid a similar pitfall; solicit commenter advice; and, to rally their support. However, the average consumer isn’t going to shop at Neiman Marcus nor purchase a $700 stroller there or from anywhere else for that matter.
Posts like this one asks consumers: 1) To care about a situation that will never affect their lives; 2) Concern themselves with a store they will never shop at; 3) Feel bad for a consumer who had difficulty purchasing something that they themselves could/would never purchase.
Commenters seemingly apathetic responses fall under the psychology of: We’re Only Human 101.
@benh57:
Safety is important, but most strollers are pretty safe. We looked for functionality and ease-of-use. Also, the bugaboo looks pretty damn slick.
@Lambasted: As long as those commenters understand that they’re total asses because they’re upset that a couple can afford to spend $800 on a stroller. These people can QQ more, go to college, and work hard.
These people were mistreated by a company that puts an emphasis on customer service. That’s all there is to the story. The item purchased matters little in the argument.
I’m not getting whats going on here. It is a persons right to spend as much money as they want on anything. There are much worse ways to spend $700, like on cigarettes or drugs. I think it’s very wrong for people to negatively comment on this couples purchasing decision.
@luz:
Gee, maybe God DID make Adam and Steve…
is this article stolen from the Onion?
@ImCrying: Hmmm…I cannot support your “commenters are asses” assertion because that would mean anyone with an opinion that differs from a mythical set standard is an ass. I simply cannot agree with that. It would be akin to calling a pro-lifer an ass because they disagree with someone having an abortion. A belief is a belief. An opinion is an opinion. People aren’t asses for having them. Voicing them…perhaps.
But it’s not like the naysayers sought out the OP to admonish him for his purchase. That would be wrong. It’s called sticking noses in business not of your own. However, he posted here and presumably opened himself up for comment and critique. Although, I suppose we could follow the adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” but this is a comment board after all.
While fighting it out, please do so correctly. School Marm XXOO says: the quotation marks ALWAYS go OUTSIDE the period or comma, unless you are in England. Correct: “That stroller is a scandal.” He called my stroller “cheap,” so I punched him.
Incorrect: “That stroller is a scandal”. He called my stroller “cheap”, so I punched him.
And that’s your free adjunct faculty lesson o’ the day.
@B: OK, you need to read Snopes.
[www.snopes.com]
I stopped reading after ‘When Steven paid Neiman Marcus $682 for a Bugaboo stroller’ and started laughing. Hard.
Congratulations consumerist.. with this story you’ve officially jumped the shark.
For $700, that stroller better be driving me to work every day. Ah, to be rich and entitled in America.
To School Marm XXOO,
The rule about quotation marks you so correctly refer to seems to this old-school gentleman (quasi-finest eastern boarding school and finest New England liberal arts college)so offensive to syllogistic thinking that he has long used the British “style”, and urges all correct-thinking folk to join him. I do congratulate you on diverting some attention from the post-absurd tone of many of our brothers and sisters, however.
To those not-enamored of NM’s karma,
I was once married to an employee of Neiman Marcus, and from that experience, I doubt very much the OP has given us here a fair and balanced account. Should I be proven wrong, I will gladly send everyone who wants one a copy of the “$250 Cookie recipe” from Neiman Marcus’ golden years-when Stanley Marcus himself walked those back halls…
Yours in the joint search for truth and justice.
@missdona: re: the Stokke, my brother-in-law received one as a gift for their 1st kid. His wife is a public school teacher and my BIL was, until a few months ago, unemployed. I have the sneaking suspicion they would have preferred the money so as to fix their basement sewage problem. Oh well…
Hair? What the hell are they using it for? A bear?
He lost my sympathy after reading “$682 for a Bugaboo stroller”. Get a regular one and donate the difference to needy children.
700 for a stroller!?!?! Are the wheels encrusted with diamonds? I’d settle for dragging my kid around in a box with taped on wheels, okay maybe not. But 700!
Well, I had my experience with Neiman Marcus just few days ago. I ordered 2 dresses from them. They were not in original packing, also one was tag missing. The other dress has a buckle that’s discolored. They offered me 10% off. But I don’t think it’s worth it. What ticks me off is that the girl I was talking to me told me that if I do decide to send it back, then I should send it in original packing. I explained to her that it never came in any packing just wrapped up in tissue. She suggested to send the tissue paper back with the dress. Instead of genuinely apologizing, she is being a smart ass about the situation….way to go…Neiman