Equipped with a coupon and store credit, Scott thought he was in a great position when he placed an order on Borders.com. But a snafu left Scott empty handed, with his order canceled, his balance drained and his coupon vanished.

He writes:

I just wanted to write about my recent experience with a purchase I made at Borders.com.

As part of their Borders Reward promotion, I received $5 in Borders Bucks to redeem at Borders or Borders.com now through this weekend. In addition, I received a coupon for 33% off any one item through Thursday. I normally don’t buy much from Borders, but with the coupon + rewards I figured I could find a gift for someone.

I ordered a DVD listed on the site as on backorder, but that it would typically ship in a couple weeks. No problem, I thought. The DVD was originally $11.99, but with 33% off and my $5 in Borders Bucks + free ship to store, it only cost me a little over $3. I received the order confirmation, all of that, even with an approximate receiving date.

A couple minutes later, I receive an e-mail from Borders saying that my item is being canceled because either I have canceled it or it is out of stock. Never mind that on the website, it still just lists the DVD on backorder, so anyone could make the same mistake I made.

No big deal, I’ll find another DVD to purchase. But unfortunately, when I went to apply my coupon code, it says it had already been used and could only be used once–on my canceled purchase. I send an e-mail to both their customer service e-mail and their online orders e-mail, and don’t get anything back.

Today, another 33% off coupon finds its way into my inbox (a separate promotion), so I go back to the site to use the coupon. The coupon goes through, but I see that my Borders Bucks have also disappeared! In the cancellation e-mail, it says: “Borders Bucks redeemed at the time of your order have been added back to your Borders Rewards account.” So after taking my coupon, Borders also saw fit to not return my Borders Bucks, on an order that they canceled.

What’s going on here?

Have you ever lost a gift card or coupon on an online order? What do you think Scott should do to get his virtual money back?

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