Consumerist
Rachel used a $100 gift card to pay for her Christmas gifts, but Sur La Table decided to take the funds directly from her debit card. Sur La Table apologized for the error, but instead of overnighting Rachel a refund check as promised, they inexplicably charged her an additional $31.89. Now Rachel is angry and wants an explanation.
Dear Sur La Table Customer Service Management,We would think refund checks take six to eight weeks for, um, processing, if only Sur La Table's customer service representatives weren't so insistent that a check could be issued within one week. Since customer service hasn't retrieved your money, follow our guide to executive customer service and take your complaint to CEO Kathy Tierney at (206) 613-6000. For added protection when making future purchases, pass over the debit card and instead use a credit card, which gives you the power to file a chargeback.Hello, my name is Rachel. I am a student in my mid twenties from Cleveland, Ohio, and I would very much like to give feedback on my Sur La Table online shopping experience.
First of all, I want to say that I am not a regular shopper at your store. Quite frankly, as a lower-class college student who works part time as an accountant and office manager at a non-profit and lives on a very low-budget- nearly fixed income, it would be rare for me to be able to afford the gorgeous items that your store offers. I usually walk into your store and spend nearly an hour gazing at (and drooling over) the luscious array of cookware and bake ware, consciously taking note of items I can ask my parents for on the occasion that I receive Christmas or birthday gifts.
Keeping this in mind, you can imagine how excited I was to receive a $100 Sur La Table gift certificate for Christmas. In fact, I came home Christmas night and spent at least two hours picking out exactly what I wanted, and even allowing myself to spend almost all of the money I received for Christmas on the remainder of my order. I felt guilty for doing so, but was entranced by the variety of fabulous options I had. I was sooo excited to receive my order.
I was extra excited when one of the ten items I had ordered arrived just two days later! I figured since your company boasts to have such immaculate customer service, that you may have sent items as soon as they became available so your customers would receive them faster. Excellent! However, the next day (12/29), I go to buy groceries with my bank card, only to find that I would be overdrawn if I did so. How could this be? The math just didn't add up.
Lo and behold, your company with immaculate customer service charged $165.15 to my bank account. Funny, as I had placed my order using a $100 gift certificate, and knew that I should only be charged around $65 for my order. I called your call center the next day, and was told that it was an error on your behalf, and a check would be issued to me shortly. I asked why the money couldn't just be placed back onto my credit card. I was told that the accounting for gift cards was different, so this was not a possibility. As an accountant myself, I understood and sympathized with your situation, said that I'd hope the check would be sent out within a few days. I was assured it would be. I was also told that my order had been sent days ago, and should arrive the next day, if it didn't come later that same day.
A week later, when zero out of my nine other items arrived, as well as no refund check in sight, I started to worry. I sent a query electronically through your website, and two days later, there was still no reply. I decided I would call your phone center, yet again. This time, I was told that it was, in deed, an accident on your behalf once again, and somehow, only one of my items got shipped. I was told that you were indeed, very, very sorry, and that my items would be sent expeditiously. I suggested that overnight shipping would be a good idea, and the customer service rep said that she would "rush" my order. I again inquired about the refund check and was told that it was "in processing" and would get to me in a few days.
Well guess what I did get a few days later (1/15/08)? My check? NO. My 9 MIA items? NO. I got another charge to my bank account for $31.89. What the hell was this charge for? I still hadn't received my items, nor did I order any more items, so basically I knew I was paying for a third customer service blunder. Now I was in the hole to the tune of $200 for an order that was supposed to cost me $65.
Now maybe this kind of shit isn't a big deal to your regulars- people who have disposable income to blow on $800 espresso machines and tea that costs $25 per box, but it's a big deal to me, a woman who can't even afford a daily coffee from Starbucks and keeps a box of Celestial Seasonings bags in her desk that she purchased from Dollar General. $135 is three weeks worth of groceries for me, or my electric, heat, and car insurance bill. You get my drift.
So, of course, I call your customer service line again. This time, I spoke with a manager named Judy, and was told that the $31.89 charge on my account was a mistake that occurred when my order was reprocessed, and would promptly be returned (which it was: a not-so-prompt FIVE days later) and PROMISED that my check, that was still "in processing," would be written out that SAME WEEK and OVERNIGHTED to me, just as my nine-item replacement order that I still hadn't received supposedly was. I said I was okay with this, but really upset that the situation wasn't handled more expeditiously. I felt lucky when the rest of my nine items from my original order placed on Christmas finally arrived the next day- an unacceptable 21 days after I had initially ordered them.
That brings us to the present. Today is February 4th, and it is has been 42 days since your company STOLE $100 out of my bank account. I thought that emailing the details of the situation to you would be a better idea than having to yet again, drone on and on to a customer service representative about this situation one more time, only to receive useless and untrue information in return. I am absolutely DEMANDING my money back immediately, or will be more than happy to proceed to contact my bank, credit card company that represents my bank account, Washington state's Better Business Bureau, as well as BBBonline about this situation.
I look forward to your prompt response as well as an appropriate resolution for this completely ludicrous situation. I also look forward to taking my future petty business, which your company obviously does not value, to my local Williams and Sonoma.
Dismayed, disappointed, and shaking my pointer finger at you,
Rachel
Comments
One little tip on letter writing - don't start off saying that you want to give feedback on your experience, especially on a letter of this length. Get their attention right away by saying something like "I am writing to express my (anger, disappointment, rage, fury, etc.) about an outrageously bad customer service experience at your company's hands."
This is why debit card = bad.
letter is about 8 times longer than needed. could have made the same point with less theater.
A friend of mine worked for them years and years ago.
He called them "Surly Table"
Most apropo.
Don't even bother writing the BBB. Getting published here on the Consumerist is far more effective. An EECB cc'd to the consumerist got very quick action for a credit card SNAFU that happened to me over the holidays and it wasn't even published!
It goes to show you that no company is truly 'immaculate'.
I got bored after the 4th paragraph and gave up, particularly when I noticed there were another 10 or 12 left so I'm going to say this: BE BRIEF, get to the point, and stop yammering on.
And can someone clarify one thing- if you use your Visa (or Mastercard) debit card and its processed as a credit card (no pin used), do you still have the power of a chargeback??? If so, then CHARGEBACK!!
I don't mind the length, but she should have avoided sending it until she'd cooled down again. She starts out very business like, but towards the end, the anger and a few swear words come out, and that can change the tone.
I do wish her luck, though.
@homerjay: Yes, if you use a "debit" card without a PIN, it is processed as a credit card transaction.
Probably not the best idea to use curse words in a letter where you're asking for a company to help you resolve an issue. If I were reading that on the other end, I'd be kind of offended and less inclined to help the gal out.
@sncreducer: As someone who has worked in the customer service industry for over a decade I wholeheartedly agree with you.
While this is a horrendous experience...
There are a few things consumers should know when writing to companies. The majority of this letter is written very well, however using foul language (and yes in this setting "hell" and "shit" count) and rhetorical questions will automatically cause you to sound crass and disingenuous. Always remember what it is that you are writing - a business letter.
Had the portion of your letter beginning at 1/15/08 been as well written and professional as the first half any rep worth their salt would have bent over backwards to compensate you. As this letter ends, I would guess you can cut any compensation you may receive by at least a third.
Please understand I am not condemning the letter entirely or the consumer in question, I genuinely hope that you are adequately compensated.
@levenhopper: You are half correct. The charge can be processed as credit, but it is still a debit card and the legalities of a credit card do not apply - although there is quite a bit of debate about this right now in the legal world.
Yeah the cursing = not the best idea. They're completely in the wrong, but getting super angry isn't going to work in your favor. It definately won't make them want to expedite their response.
@MARTHA__JONES:
agreed. I think anyone who writes a letter to customer service should take a few moments and read it over once they're done just to see how it looks to someone who reads it. keep in mind the CSR is exactly that: an employee who REPRESENTS you and your experience. if you're going off on the CSR, chances are they won't respond as well compared to if you were logical, calm and focused.
Yes letter's too long and this is why banks have promoted debit over credit (your money at risk, not theirs). But nobody's mentioned yet that you don't need their permission to complain to your bank. Bank will credit to your account while they investigate...
That's way too long a letter. If I were the one reading it, I would have discarded it after realizing that you didn't even mention the problem in the first few paragraphs.
Good communication is about being concise and to the point. Nobody wants to waste their time reading 1000 words when 100 would have done the job just fine.
@everyone above: i think the letter is the appropriate length. it describes & contains everything; she could pass this letter to a judge in court to get a judgement. all of the work on her side is done. good job!
What is "processing" anyways? Why can't someone pull out the computer, print off a check and send it?
"procesing" = making a month's interest on your money before paying you.
While the letter needs a stronger opening paragraph, I really appreciated the overall length and the writer's change of tone as the story got worse and worse. It conveyed the writer's journey from excited shopper to disappointment, annoyance, and finally rage.
On the question of how long it's appropriate to wait for a refund, the answer is about 10 minutes. They can pull money from her debit card, as they've proven twice. The same interface can put the money back. Issuing a refund check instead is a way to stall and hope the customer never receives or never cashes the check.
@matt: A check is never issued directly from the CSR, it has to be approved and must go through the department with the ability to issue the check. Typically this takes anywhere from 3-8 weeks.
However as noted aboved, Sur La Table told the customer her check would be issued within a week so it should have been.
I do not feel the letter was longer than appropriate, it was valuable for the company to understand in this case who they stood to lose as a customer.
@bostonmike: You are absolutely incorrect with regards to the length of time required for a refund. Even if the company had posted the refund back to the customer's debit card it would have taken at minimum 3-4 business days, but that would depend on how long it took for her bank to process the funds into her account - for most banks that takes at minimum a week. Some banks take as much as 30 days. It is impossible for a refund to a debit card to take less than 2 days.
I always use credit cards over debit, go home and send an immediate bill payment for the amount I spent out of my account. Protection of a credit card + no consumer debt ftw.
@MARTHA__JONES: I figured there was something like that in place. What doesn't make sense is the 3-8 weeks. I just can't fathom why it takes less than an hour to get a manager to call the department that has the authority to write checks and have them do it. Bizarre.
I am one of those people who are appauled by actions like this, I cannot beleive a company would steal from someone. Especially since they would gladly throw someone in prison for stealing from them, I recommend a two part fix. First, File a compaint with your bank, they can goto bat for you and get the money back, second while performing the first. Contact the company CEO as listed above, File a complaint with the BBB, You should be able to get resolution, Though it may take a little while, ----Best of luck
I have a fairly hefty purchase history at Sur La Table, thanks to my wife.
I'm writing a polite letter to them, citing this story, and asking if they're aware of your story, noting that it doesn't seem like the service that I associate with their brand.
I haven't the foggiest clue if it will help, but companies should be aware that their large customers have legitimate concerns about how smaller customers are treated.
Isn't there equivalent of a chargeback on a debit card as in tell your bank: "I did not authorize this charge, I only authorized $65. The rest if fraudulent."?
First let me say that I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Sur La Table. What a terrible way to end the holidays!
I bank with Wachovia and use my debit card as a credit card all the time. Any time I had a "suspicious" charge, they cleared it up immediately. Any problems with an online order was treated the same way as a credit card order, and the bank (along with Visa) took care of the issue. Perhaps every bank has a different policy regarding debit/credit cards, but I've found Wachovia to be pretty good about resolving issues -- maybe you could talk to your bank and see if they could reverse the charge, since it was unauthorized.
very simple. file a report with the police for theft.
It seems like cussin' in letters like this is likely to be counter-productive. You may be pissed off, but saying "What is this shit?" just makes you look rude, and firm-but-polite tends to work better in the long run.
@MARTHA__JONES: No, but it easily could have been done in five, as evidenced by her 30something dollar charge being refunded.
Call your bank/credit union/whatever on Monday. It's been over a month, and if Sur La Table won't step up, they will
Really? 1087 words to say "I like your stuff, please correct your accounting error"?
Cripes.
Can someone explain to me how if "Rachel used a gift card" to pay for her purchase, the company debited her bank account? What detail am I missing here? Plus, has she checked the balance on the gift card? Help me to understand this novella. thanks.
I thought the letter was fine. And the answer should be obvious. Since they have property in your state (ohio), file in small claims court. Make sure you file for the full amount, with interest, and any overdraft charges you might have received (or other charges), and a little extra for not being able to buy food and going hungry.
Would probably help more if your car was broken and you didn't have the money to fix it because they stole it from you, but not everything can be perfect.
Rachel used a gift card for $100 and $65.15 was supposed to be charged on her card. Instead SLT charged the entire total to her card.
They promised her a refund check within a week and now 42 days later she has received neither the check nor the goods AND an additional $31.89 was charged to her card.
@BrentNewland:
Small claims court filing fees alone are generally between $50 - $75 and no, you cannot include that amount in your damages to be awarded by the court. Secondly, forgoing the rather tedious legal discussion involved, even assuming you could get "a little something extra" in a case like this, small claims court generally does not have the jurisdiction to award punitive damages, therefore any award would be limited to the actual damages suffered, (money taken and possibly overdraft fees.)
Rachel, while legal action is always a possibility, I would encourage you to pursue other avenues first. You are far more likely to get more comprehensive compensation by doing so. And, as previously stated while this is a large amount of money to you, it wont go far within the legal system.
I don't see why the heck Sur la Table couldn't have cancelled and refunded the original order, and than placed it again using the gift card. Piece of cake and monies flush out in a few days instead of a month and a half.
@stpauliegirl: that's what i was thinking.
yes, sur la table screwed up. yes, they should have process a refund by now. but, as Consumerist recommends, keep it short + stay professional. i think throwing out the 's' word might work against you.
Hate to say it, but this is a very poorly written letter for it's purpose IMO. You talked too much about irrelevant stuff and seemed almost sarcastic when you talked about the "business" at hand.
It should be more direct and without the emotional outbursts (some emotion is good, but too much sarcasm is bad).
I hope they do solve your complaint and you get your $100 back and maybe even another GC. You certainly deserve it for what they put you through.
ALSO, I don't know why people are so stupid...
NEVER USE A DEBIT CARD ONLINE OR OVER THE PHONE!
NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER!!!!
I used to work for Williams-Sonoma and we had an excellent customer service program. I'm sorry this happened to you and feel like you should be offered an incentive gift card or discount on a future purchase. That's what we would have done after so much hassle on your part. I'm glad to know this about Sur La Table. I'll be sure to avoid them in the future.
Small claims court filing fees alone are generally between $50 - $75 and no, you cannot include that amount in your damages to be awarded by the court.
That certainly isn't a universally true statement.
I think the letter was good, a little TL;DR though. However, if I was from Sur La Table and I read this, I'd totally understand why she was cursing and everything. Soooo, I hope everything turns out okay for her.
I won't be ordering anything from Sur La Table, I'll just walk my butt over to Bed Bath & Beyond or Williams-Sonoma or something.
@MARTHA__JONES: I've received refunds/credits to my debit card the very next day. It is certainly possible. Evidently, you have not had the same experience, but you shouldn't assume your experience (or lack of it) is the only possibility.