I have heard of a store credit if you have fully purchased an item but I have never heard of a store credit if you have an item on Layaway. Prom season is upcoming and I went to this particular store to look for a prom dress for my daughter. Being a single mother and all I want to give my daughter the best, so we decided to put this $900.00 dress on layaway, but with the intent to look around more and the ladies told us that we have until 1 Apr to decide on the dress. So I out $200.00 down on the dress. We then kept looking and found “the dress” at another location. Much cheaper then the other one. So i called the first place to let them know that we no longer wanted that $900.00 dress and that I would be down to collect my $200.00 that I put on the dress to, what I thought, hold the dress. They told me that they do not give refunds and that I would be given a “credit Note” to the store in the amount that I put down. I asked to speak the manager and she was not the nicest person to talk to and was not willing to budge one bit. I explained that the main reason why I went there was to purchase a prom dress and nothing else, so why would I want a credit to that store? Again, “this is our policy” was the answer.
I have no issue with paying a restocking fee of $50.00 but I would really like to have the remainder of the money to put on my daughters gradutation dress. Isn’t the whole purpose of their business is to have the customer happy and for them to continue to shop at their locations?
So now it is my job to try to exchange this credit note for actual money.
—one pissed off customer
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2014.
Why the fuck would anyone pay $900 for a prom dress that will probably only be worn once?
Be sure to purchase the Monica Lewinsky jizz repellent coating.
CBC’s “Marketplace” just aired an episode on this type of customer “service” concerning refunds. You should watch it if you haven’t yet. (cbc.ca)
What this store fails to realize is negative publicity will cost them a lot more than the $200 in dispute. Perhaps you should remind them of this.
Apparently you did not ask whether this was a deposit or a down payment. Two different things. Who, other than you, puts something on lay-away? WTF?
Let me get this straight – you’re a single mother yet you’re forking over $900 for a dress THAT WILL ONLY BE WORN ONCE! You really have a fucked up sense of priorities, OP.
The store is holding that dress in good faith that you are going to buy it. That, to me, is what the $200.00 is about. To show that you’re serious about the dress. What good does it do the store to take high end merchandise off the market during which they can’t sell it only to give the money back later on.
The credit note makes perfect sense to me. It says “okay you’re not going to commit to the rest of the $900.00 as originally indicated so we’ll keep that dress and you can use the $200.00 on something else HERE!” That way it’s not a complete loss to the store.
op, I will add to the heap of ‘what were you thinking?’
1. you said yourself you were a 1 time shopper at that store so why would they care if they make you unhappy, you had no intention of being a repeat customer. it’s one time prom. (unless your gal is planning on repeating grade 12 a few times?)
2. layaway is layaway. not ‘on hold and thinking about it’. layaway means you will make payments, interest free, on an item that you cannot pay for in full. unlike credit, you don’t get to have it right away. they keep it til its paid off.
3. I doubt this ‘negative publicity’ will affect future sales for the store, any idiots (single, married or in polygamy) who pays 900$ for a kids prom dress have no sense to begin with, and will continue to flock to stores so their kids don’t set a major sulk or tantrum. good god.
4. and at the risk of sounding like our pal Buddha, no it is not the purpose of their business to make you happy, it’s to make enough money to stay open.
consider this $200 a ‘stupid’ tax. I can’t believe you can read your own words and still feel hard done by.
“2. layaway is layaway. not ‘on hold and thinking about it’. layaway means you will make payments, interest free, on an item that you cannot pay for in full. unlike credit, you don’t get to have it right away. they keep it til its paid off. ” – GDM
Retail outlets that offer layaway do so on their own terms. That being said, most have a policy much as GDM has described for us. It’s usually offered as a way to make purchases easier for the customer to manage, as well as a way to boost sales.
“4. and at the risk of sounding like our pal Buddha, no it is not the purpose of their business to make you happy, it’s to make enough money to stay open.” – GDM
Not quite. It is the purpose of business to maximize profits, which is a little different. Obviously, repeat business is very important .. so a good business will try to keep its customers happy, if at all possible.
“consider this $200 a ‘stupid’ tax.” – GDM
Couldn’t resist a cheap insult, eh? You’re not especially bright yourself, do you even realise that?
Here’s a potential solution .. find a relative or friend that may like this store, and take them there to shop. You pay for it with your credit, and let your friend/relative pay you. No “stupid tax” required!
http://0.tqn.com/d/animatedtv/1/7/5/6/osam…
TTF The single mother is spending the money in the hopes that daughter dearest will meet a THUG, who will get her knocked up, produce a bastard, who will gravitate to welfare, complete with a big arsed stroller, that will block the aisle of the bus resulting in a wave of bitches on here, it’s called the circle of life.
OK, OP, I’m with the rest when I write that was not a good decision on your part. You could have gone to a decent dressmaker to get a one-of-a-kind garment at a fraction of the cost. With your dominant hand, reach around your head and give yourself a dope slap. There, I feel much better.
*Sigh* I also know that the wedding business is full of slimeballs, beginning with the manufacturers and retailers. When the store said you have until April 1 to decide, did they mean which one of their frocks you would buy or did they mean for you to get your money back? They may have made that intentionally vague.
If they still won’t accommodate you, time to go mad dog, guerrilla, commando or whatever. Make a big sign that says “Ask Me Why you Should Not Buy from “store name.” Do not take the sign into the store (it may seem threatening, esp. if it’s on a stake!) Tell the staff that you will be in front holding the sign until you get your money back. Even better if your daughter and some of her chums get in on it. Just the threat of a protest should be enough, but if they demure, follow up on your promise and start the civil protest.
Businesses like these don’t count on repeat business, so they don’t care if you never shop there again. You need to get their attention. BTW, You shouldn’t have to spend more than $150 for the whole outfit. Check out Value Village and other places, then get creative with scissors and needle—make the dress one of a kind with dye, embellishments, lace, etc.
Write the company. Also $900 dollars is a ridiculous amount to spend on a prom dress.
Basil. spot on!
My kid didn’t have no stinking $900 prom dress even though her dad and I could have easily afforded it at the time. We raised her with a set of values that does not include spending copious amounts of cash for frivolous shit.
I disagree with suggesting that this woman make a public protest outside the store, as if the store did something shady or misleading. what right does she have to impugn this store’s name and reputation, perhaps hurt their walk in business when it was her trying to get away with something?
she clearly states at the beginning of her bitch that the item was put on store layaway (twice). layaway is intention to buy in increments, not ‘hold at no charge while I think about it’. she clearly states TO US she intended to keep looking at other dresses in other stores from the start. so she misled the store as to her intentions about the dress.
if 50 people put dresses on ‘layaway unless I change my mind’ just before prom season, then indeed change their minds, get their initial payment back and sally forth to another store, this store is out 50 possible sales. those dresses were off the floor when other buyers came in looking for prom dresses.
I will add ‘unmitigated gall’ to the ‘stupid’ part of tax.
Oh go check yourself into a home for those with dementia GDM.
“Hi, would you mind not selling this product while I wander around town looking for something cheaper/better?”
You paid $200 for a lesson in lay-away.
without a product and/or something of similar value in hand, her money is her money. A lot of you are making a lot of assumptions that the store will be out an inglorious amount of money on one dress that she obviously didnt wait months for to change her mind. You also assume that said high end store is going to sell that exact same dress to someone else or 50 others like that. way to go on the extreme for some weird sense of a point. its bullshit. and go fucking dunk your head in a toilet for even suggesting that. WELL MAYBE if the moon suddenly came crashing down to the earth that business will be out a SHIT LOAD more than 150 bucks (200-50 for a restock, with plenty of time before prom season) there are a lot of you fucking cynical, distempered, mangy slimeballs out there arent you. youd be the first to gripe if someone got your coffee order wrong and they didnt rain Angel Piss down on your head from the high heavens to accomodate you. Makes me sick i have to live in the same area as you pukes. OB, put up the signs, make it newsworthy and get your money back. the rest of you assholes go fuck yourself 😀 and have a nice day.
No, I don’t think you get it.
For one thing, Prom season and the buying frenzy leading up to it has a finite lifespan (until it is resurrected the following year) ending on a specific date.
And that’s just one thing you fail to take into consideration. I think you may not understand the various idiosyncrasies related to retail. I do and I don’t even own a fashionable shop on SGR or live in a fancy condo.
Although, in all honesty with the exact same circumstances if it were me I would have given her the money back and maybe explained how lay-away works. But then again, I would also rinse out a guys to-go mug and given him a free coffee. But that’s just me.
Was the dress off the rack or custom order? Bridals and prom wear are usually custom order, so perhaps that’s why the deposit was non refundable?
When I bought my last bridesmaid’s dress, I had to pay a non refundable deposit and then the balance when the dress came in. The dress was ordered and cut according to my measurements and this is the case for a lot of dress shops: a sample size is stocked and a plus size and the actual dress is ordered.
If this is the case, OB should’ve been aware of store policies.
And what ‘single mother’ in their right mind pays $900 for a fucking prom dress? Actually, single or not who pays $900 for a prom dress? Fuck.
Whenever they failed to honor my mom as a customer, she’d write a letter to whomever as high up the chain as she could find.
They realized if she’d take the time to write the letter to them, that was their one chance before the next letter goes to media and/or everyone she knew.
(pre-FB remember)
I can’t recall a single instance she didn’t at least get a fair compromise… or in one case a shit-ton of stuff out of the time and effort taken.
I think a $50 restocking is more than enough for not even selling anything… they’re being ass-hats about it, that’s for sheezle
(and I have had my distemper shot, but am still a bitch)
First, $900 for a prom dress? Whoever told OB that this was a reasonable price to pay for a single-occasion dress for graduating Grade 12 was clearly out for revenge for something OB did. Take the $200 loss (or try to hash it out with the bridal parlour via the media and risk getting skewered), and go find something attractive and appropriate at, say, the department store or mall boutique where “nice” clothes are available for far less; or, pick up a decent pattern, some fabric and thread at a fabric store, then have someone make a dress for your daughter.