How to lose a customer

How to lose a customer

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on July 3rd, 2008, 6:11 am | Life

It's sort of surprising at any time to encounter a company that appears either destined or determined to drive away a loyal customer. But today, I think I've come across one. I've never seen my wife so angry at anyone... not even at me. Brylane Home is in some really hot water this morning.

The whole thing started back in late April, when we were both shopping for gifts to give each other for our 30th anniversary. My wife was uncertain about what to get me and she saw that Brylane had an offer of gift certificates for Fossil watches -- a brand that I had been checking out frequently over the past few years. So she got out her Brylane home Visa card and ordered a gift certificate, so that I would be free to get just the right watch for myself. Apparently, that decision got revisited pretty quickly as she found something more to her liking a few hours later.

So she called up Brylane customer service and asked that her order be canceled. All would have been well on this, perhaps, had it not been for the fact that the request for a gift certificate had already been sent to Fossil. Here's where the story gets murky.

The order to stop processing the gift certificate apparently got fouled up at Fossil's end. They indeed never sent the certificate to our home -- but they billed Brylane anyway. Brylane turned around and billed us... for something that we never received. My wife called Brylane to dispute the charge (the web site for their charge card has no e-mail functions at all), and they started their process of handling the dispute. This was, mind you, early May now.

The first thing they did was to send us a form, asking for the details of our dispute. My wife filled it out and sent it in. The form didn't ask for details that she thought were needed for a complete description of the problem, so she added a letter to the mix. About three weeks later (late May... after our anniversary had been celebrated now), we received the same form, asking that we describe the details of the disputed transaction. Once again, feeling some trepidation, we filled out the form and sent it in, along with a note saying that we had already done this and that we thought it was about high time that the bill started to reflect the fact that this charge was no longer our responsibility.

Yesterday -- early JULY! -- we received a mystifying note from Brylane, saying that they were writing to verify that we had dropped our dispute in a phone conversation (that my wife says she never participated in), and that the disputed amount will be due -- with interest accrued since April -- by the middle of this month.

I have never seen a company as inept as this. At least, I like to THINK it is ineptitude... :evil:

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:It's sort of surprising at any time to encounter a company that appears either destined or determined to drive away a loyal customer. But today, I think I've come across one. I've never seen my wife so angry at anyone... not even at me. Brylane Home is in some really hot water this morning.

The whole thing started back in late April, when we were both shopping for gifts to give each other for our 30th anniversary. My wife was uncertain about what to get me and she saw that Brylane had an offer of gift certificates for Fossil watches -- a brand that I had been checking out frequently over the past few years. So she got out her Brylane home Visa card and ordered a gift certificate, so that I would be free to get just the right watch for myself. Apparently, that decision got revisited pretty quickly as she found something more to her liking a few hours later.

So she called up Brylane customer service and asked that her order be canceled. All would have been well on this, perhaps, had it not been for the fact that the request for a gift certificate had already been sent to Fossil. Here's where the story gets murky.

The order to stop processing the gift certificate apparently got fouled up at Fossil's end. They indeed never sent the certificate to our home -- but they billed Brylane anyway. Brylane turned around and billed us... for something that we never received. My wife called Brylane to dispute the charge (the web site for their charge card has no e-mail functions at all), and they started their process of handling the dispute. This was, mind you, early May now.

The first thing they did was to send us a form, asking for the details of our dispute. My wife filled it out and sent it in. The form didn't ask for details that she thought were needed for a complete description of the problem, so she added a letter to the mix. About three weeks later (late May... after our anniversary had been celebrated now), we received the same form, asking that we describe the details of the disputed transaction. Once again, feeling some trepidation, we filled out the form and sent it in, along with a note saying that we had already done this and that we thought it was about high time that the bill started to reflect the fact that this charge was no longer our responsibility.

Yesterday -- early JULY! -- we received a mystifying note from Brylane, saying that they were writing to verify that we had dropped our dispute in a phone conversation (that my wife says she never participated in), and that the disputed amount will be due -- with interest accrued since April -- by the middle of this month.

I have never seen a company as inept as this. At least, I like to THINK it is ineptitude...

If it's a Visa card, have you also sent a letter of dispute to the biz adress on the back of their billing statements?
Good luck. This sounds like total bs on Brylane's part. PS- never heard of the company- want to look them up,

C. Alice wrote:If it's a Visa card, have you also sent a letter of dispute to the biz adress on the back of their billing statements?

I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure the forms that were sent to us were sent there. My wife has been handling this, as the card is in her name.

Good luck. This sounds like total bs on Brylane's part. PS- never heard of the company- want to look them up,

The link for their site is in my initial post. What other info that might lead you to, I can only guess.

I never heard of them either. GOOD LUCK!!

Update: My wife called these jackasses this morning, and the customer service rep she talked with said that the company's records show that they never received any forms of mail correspondence regarding our dispute. Sounds like someone has been tossing our letters in the trash when they came in. I'm getting seriously P.O.-ed over this.

Call them to let them know "The Knight of BAAWA is very displeased indeed!"

Sanjuro wrote:Call them to let them know "The Knight of BAAWA is very displeased indeed!"

Well, they got my wife to use the "f"-word. On such rare occasions, I usually start looking for cover. :mrgreen:

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:I have never seen a company as inept as this. At least, I like to THINK it is ineptitude...

My sympathy. Usually it takes an insurance company or a government agency for that kind of extended ineptitude.

If it makes you feel any better, I've got a leak in a water-line somewhere below my front yard and a small, but growing swamp. Can you say "huge plumbing bill"?? :wink:

This is why you send those dispute letters via certified mail, return receipt requested. And try to get a fax numner and fax one as well. And you make and keep a copy of the dispute form for you own . It's because the idiots of the world all have the same job position as the people who got your wife to say " FFFFFFF_ _ K!!!!"

Yeah -- keep copies of every bloody thing. My wife is a fanatic about using out printer in copy mode. Hope that will help.

Well going on memory from working at Card Service....

Basically you have to charge-back something, then they dispute it.... then you recharge it and they dispute it, then you charge-back it a 3rd time.... and then they can't dispute it.

It's technically up to their credit card processing company....

which if you could find out who it is, calling and raising h.e.l.l. can often be helpful.

Lastly, the final option is mediation between a Visa dispute resolution agent and the company and yourself.

Since the use of the card forbids legal action (again going on California laws about 10 years ago)...

Whatever the mediation decides is the final action.

Liv wrote:Well going on memory from working at Card Service....

Basically you have to charge-back something, then they dispute it.... then you recharge it and they dispute it, then you charge-back it a 3rd time.... and then they can't dispute it.

It's technically up to their credit card processing company....

which if you could find out who it is, calling and raising h.e.l.l. can often be helpful.

Lastly, the final option is mediation between a Visa dispute resolution agent and the company and yourself.

Since the use of the card forbids legal action (again going on California laws about 10 years ago)...

Whatever the mediation decides is the final action.

"mediation" might have been the thing in CA but that's not what's in the card agreements. It's ARBITRATION, and the card customer is going to lose 99.98 % of the time. Arbitration forums used by the card co's - well, just google about them. Arbitration was designed to streamline matters and reduce costs ( back in the early 1900's but it's consumer- abusive these days- at least in credit card baqttles.
Here's the good thing though- if the card issuer sues you over the bill, the case will be in state court and would have to be heard in Guilford Co. or wherever it is you live. THEN you have a chance in hell of winning.

Update: This is so bloody frustrating. The day I posted this thread, my wife called to re-open her dispute. She was told that a member of the dispute-processing department would call her at a time that was convenient to her.

Every day of this week, she waited until the last minute before she headed off to work. No calls.

Today, she called back in to find out what was going on with the dispute. The customer service rep told her that there was no record in the system that a call had been requested. She said, "Get them to call me today. I'll be home all day." The rep she talked with assured her that she was sending an e-mail to the appropriate department while they were on the phone, and would know when the e-mail was opened. My wife stayed on the line until the e-mail showed as opened

No call has come today. She'll be calling back shortly and asking immediately for a supervisor. My mind stays boggled... :roll:

Send the company an invoice for your labor in resolving the issue and accrued interest.

From last night's phone call, further boggling. I knew something was wrong when I heard my wife start shouting into the phone. Not a good sign. Apparently, when she asked to speak to a supervisor, the telephone drone who had answered her call told her that speaking to a supervisor wouldn't help resolve her problem. Seriously, how stupid are these poor dopes?

Well, yelling appears to have gotten this idiot's attention (I can just see the reactions to this from the people who listen to the tapes that are made "for quality assurance"), and my wife finally got to talk with the supervisor. The supervisor listened to the complete tale of woe, took notes and promised to call us back tonight after she's had a chance to talk with authorities who only work during the day, and when my wife expects to be home after work.

This will be a story to relate to our grandchildren one day.... :roll:

Well you've got me on the edge of my seat....

Make sure after every representative you speak to you ask for their name and personal address so you can send them a subpoena if the process doesn't get resolved and it goes to litigation.

That generally perks them up quite a bit...