OfficeMax Won't Send Customer A Refund Gift Card That Works
When Dave bought a monitor from OfficeMax he opted for the MaxAssurance insurance plan. His bet that the monitor would break paid off, but he's been unable to cash out because OfficeMax keeps sending him gift cards that won't work. He writes:
A few years back I bought a Soyo 24" LCD monitor from OfficeMax after reading the stellar reviews it was getting — it was a quality panel at a very affordable price. Well the first one I received had problems so I had to take it back to get another monitor. This one too was plagued with problems. I should have probably known better right then and just kept my money but I decided to try a third time and finally I got a perfect monitor. I got the MaxAssurance Insurance plan on the monitor with hopes that I'd never need to use it...
...fast forward a few years and the monitor started having major problems. Vertical lines and a flicker that was more-or-less constant. I contacted MaxAssurance who promptly sent me a label to return the monitor with. Since OfficeMax couldn't fix the monitor or because they didn't carry the specific model anymore, they refunded my full purchase amount ($319.93) in the form of a MaxAssurance card which works like an OfficeMax gift card. I was surprised with how fast all of this happened and was quite pleased...
...until I actually tried to redeem the card for actual merchandise.
I've had this gift card for over six months now. Or should I say multiple gift cards from OfficeMax for over six months now. Let me explain.
After I received the card I looked on their website and didn't see a monitor that could replace my 24" screen so I found something else to buy with it. I purchased a laptop using the MaxAssurance gift card. About a week later I get an e-mail saying that the laptop isn't available for purchase anymore. Hmmm, that's strange. No biggie I thought, stuff happens, so I called up OfficeMax who then issued me a new gift card. I asked if they could refund to the MaxAssurance card to which they told me no, that they'd have to issue a new gift card.
TWO WEEKS LATER, I get a new OfficeMax gift card in the mail. I check the amount on it and see that it's the right amount. I keep it on my desk a while until I see something that catches my eye on OfficeMax.com - a computer this time. I go through the checkout process and purchase the computer (which was IN STOCK, like the laptop was). I get no e-mail from OfficeMax this time so I figure it went through and I'd be getting in the computer in a few weeks. A week later, I still have not heard anything so I login to my OM account and check my orders.
This time, it says that the computer has been "discontinued" and that it would not be shipped out. Gee, thanks OfficeMax for letting me know. I check the Gift Card balance — which was $0.00 — and immediately called up OM and talked about the situation. Once again they couldn't refund the money to the card and said that I'd have to wait for a new card to be re-issued to me.
TWO WEEKS LATER, I get yet another OfficeMax gift card in the mail. About a month goes by before I see anything else that interests me. This time it's a computer again.
Any guesses what happened?
Is it:
A.) The order went through and I'm typing on the new computer right now!
B.) OfficeMax gave me TWO computers instead of one!
C.) The computer is DISCONTINUED and OfficeMax didn't alert me via e-mail and now I'll likely spend another two weeks waiting for another gift card to arrive so that I can play the OfficeMax LOTTERY yet again!
If you said anything BUT C.) may the Flying Spaghetti Monster have mercy on your soul.
OfficeMax.. if you are reading this.. PLEASE LET ME USE MY GIFT CARD!
As if you needed yet another reason not to purchase extended warranty and insurance plans with electronics purchases.
Does anyone have some advice for Dave to get OfficeMax to pay up?
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Comments:
Like groundhog day
I would find it humorous if his gift cards are magically deleting their stock from existence. I would pay for a card that could do that.
Um...I'm assuming there isn't an office max in his area, otherwise he should just drive to the store and buy a monitor and an exec chair (because that's about what it would cost).
If OP wants a recommendation on monitors, for the price...Acer is actually a decent brand. Though I tend to buy the cheapest stuff possible, I'm assuming OP would be the same as he bought a "SOYO" monitor. At least it wasn't hannspree! My God...who was the idiot that came up with that name.
It is kind of funny though, to have made three orders for products that were discontinued at just the right time.
Have you thought about going into a store and picking up the computer? Its hard to say it is discontinued when you've got the box at the checkout line...
At this point I would insist on a cash refund and build myself a computer from parts on Newegg.
@Smashville_can haz star???: Yeah, it should say,
OfficeMax won't allow customer to use his refund gift card to buy anything
@Persistence: Just what I was about to say. Does the lemon law apply to Max Assurance cards? Har, har. Seriously, at this point they should just give him a cash refund, this is absurd.
To use the next gift card: Go to an office max store and buy something that is actually there. This avoids the possibility of them 'running out' after they've taken your gift card (because you won't give them the card to scan until the item is in front of you). I know, it's much easier to deal with them via delivery, but at this point I'd have no faith in their on-line presence and I wouldn't trust them any further than what you can see.
Isn't this the definition of 'bait & switch?' Why are all these discontinued products still being featured on their website?
"Does anyone have some advice for Dave to get OfficeMax to pay up?"
um yeah go into the store and browse for something. i know its a strange new concept but consider leaving the comfort of your home and/or office (maybe during a lunch break or a lazy sunday afternoon) and going to an actual store and get something in your hands before you let them remove the monies from the card yet again
@Laines: No, this has nothing to do with bait & switch. OfficeMax apparently just has a lousy online store.
@kjherron: I don't agree that it has nothing to with it, but I'll let your opinion go without argument.
This sounds like a violation of the FTC Act. Pretty clear and solidly a violation.
A consumer must be informed when an order has been canceled. They must be refunded if they have been charged. They shouldn't be charged unless the merchant reasonably knows the item is expected to ship forthwith.
I assume that OfficeMax is well aware of this and so I suspect that this "MaxAssurance card" is something of a technological snafu for them. I can't imagine what, however.
The OP should ask for a standard gift card or cash.
@Laines: It may not precisely or legally meet the definition of "bait and switch," but the effect is pretty much the same ... Office Max refuses to sell what it promises.
@Laines: It's probably just lousy inventory management. It's possible they use a drop shipper (2nd/3rd party distributor) to fill online orders so they don't actually check inventory until the order is made. Meaning a lot of skus will show up in their store as available but have been discontinued and liquidated through that distributor.
That's my guess.
@Persistence: If he could do that he wouldn't set foot in an office max, staples, or office depot. ;)
@twophrasebark: The gift card deal is probably built into the contract on the extended warranty. Remember, this is a 3 year old monitor. It's probably currently worth the price of a box of paper clips.
@mhkohne: But take the online price that you find, because OM sometimes runs higher prices in store, though they always happily match their online price for me!
@Laines: I've never seen bait and switch applied to the online realm... It might apply but I'm doubtful. The bait part is specifically advertising a given product to get you in the doors - that is a significant outlay on your part in response to the ad, clicking buy now, not so much so. Most telling in this situation is that they are not attempting to switch you to an inferior or more expensive product, so I don't think it meets the requirements of bait and switch - just a poor business practice, not a deceptive one.
Report them to the Attorney General in OP's state and OM's HQ state for fraud.
As an ex-employee, I'm sorry to say I've seen this before. It was always a regular occurrence after an order was placed (in-store, though), that a few days later the store would receive an email alerting US to call the customer and tell them its been "discontinued". It seems nobody maintains the ordering system at headquarters.
I would demand a little something extra the next time you speak to them, for their inexcusable ignorance to you, their customer. In the store, the manager was obligated to take any steps necessary to make sure that any unhappy customer left pleased (unless, of course, their requests were extravagantly ridiculous). Considering you'll be on the phone, and not invoking fear to someone's face, it may be a little harder. But, I'm sure if you put the person you're speaking to on the spot and question their "bait and switch" business practices, you'll get what you need to get.
That whole company is run by a bunch of backward idiots.
@Laines: I think it's time for Consumerist to write an article explaining what a bait and switch is...I see people calling bait and switch on far too many unrelated articles.
@Laines: Goodness, I understand the term. Would this be better called 'Bait & theft?' They have his money. They are keeping his money by claiming to sell him items and then refusing his orders.I wondered if he tried to use the card to buy something for a much larger amount than the card if it would suddenly work.
I currently work for the Max, and my advice would be to just take the card in the store and physically purchase something. The card is essentially just a gift card for the original purchase price plus tax, so it should work like one. People use them all the time in teh store just fine, but I have little experience with the website (totally different entity than the stores, with a lot of products we don't have in-store).
The whole computer system is outdated and unreliable, and your best bet is going to be to physically take the merchandise home with you from the store. Not to mention the registers like to give you arbitrary errors and not allow legitimate overrides or returns and then kick you completely out of the system with a "follow store policy" help message.
The NEON ordering system (buy it in store and we ship it to your house {shipping is free over $50}) is not something I would recommend either, as a lot of times the product shows up to your house without any sort of protective packaging other than what they have off-the-shelf.
I had a guy return 5 of the 7 fold-out tables he ordered that were shipped to him (via UPS, because OM doesn't use their own trucks anymore) because they were gouged and broken. A women came in with an internal hard drive that was only in the original shelf box when it arrived and it looked like it went through a drier full of rocks.
If you must shop at OM, do it only at the store, and check your prices against other stores and online, as 'sale' prices tend to be more expensive than normal prices elsewhere.
Case in point: Every week, they put a brand of disc media on sale for 50-70% off the 'normal' price. So to the average consumer, this is a huge savings. The only problem is that the 100 spindle of DVD-Rs is normally $65.00, and are now marked down to $30.00 for hte same spindle. A quick look online shows that you can still get those cheap Memorex discs for less, namely $25, and with free shipping if you look in the right places.
Also, we just sold off the remainder of SOYO monitors that we had at the store, and they were a joke. By 'sold off', I mean we sold them and they were returned for being faulty a few days later. Just about every one of them came back. I'm not sure where you read those reviews, but I would maybe find some different resources.
As sb01 said, 'the company is run by a bunch of backwards idiots.'
I went ahead and forwarded this story to our open mic program here at OMX headquarters. Doubt anything will come of it but hey, it's worth a shot right?
Hi everyone, I'm the guy with the problem with the OM gift card.
I read the story three times before I submitted, trying to figure out what was missing... and within a couple posts you guys hit the nail on the head:
I have no OfficeMax in my vicinity. If I did, this would have been over months ago. The closest one to me is about a hour and a half away. I can't just go a hour and a half away on the whim especially if they don't have something I want in store, would be a wasted trip.
I've talked to three different employees about converting my gift card into a personal check since this started, since I can actually *use* the money to buy from a store that will actually sell something to me. So far the answer has been this:
"Since it was originally a MaxAssurance gift card, we can't help you." and "You could have requested a check in place of a gift card from MaxAssurance" (which, I didn't know about, AND I assumed that the gift card would actually let me purchase items at OfficeMax.com!)
@vinnycthatwhoibe - I appreciate you forwarding it! They just need to fix their system, it is obviously flawed. If they let you order the item that is in stock, then you should get that item! Not wait a week later to find out it's been 'discontinued' or 'out of stock' since you ordered it.
@obamaramallama: I've never heard of anyone getting a check for their MaxAssurance, but I suppose corporate could swing something like that. I think the best thing to do since you can't get to a store is get a hold of corporate and file a complaint. Every time a customer calls the corporate number, things get resolved and the customer is usually satisfied. I would give you the number, but I don't know it offhand. Check back tomorrow night or Wednesday and I'll see about getting it from work. Technically, the number doesn't exist anymore, but we still give it out when we can't solve the customer's issue. Good luck with your situation.
@neoflux:
Thanks so much neoflux! I'll give the number a try just as soon as I can. If you can provide it sometime this week it'd be grand and I'll let you know my resolution, positive or negative :)
@mhkohne: Yeah, that's what I was gonna say--go to a store. And so what if it costs a bit more in real life. At least he'll have the damned thing, instead of fooling around endlessly.
Headline is pretty misleading here. The card works...but they keep discontinuing his products.