Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/25/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 7/2/22 I purchased a $120 (4 day-1 hr each) gift certificate for "Crochet" Lessons from "Needle Nook", located on *************** in ******* **, for my mother's 70th birthday gift. I was told by the cashier(s) that I could get a refund for the certificate if my mother didn't like the gift. On 7/23/22 when I returned to Needle Nook, I was met with a short elderly lady with a mischievous smile, sitting in the middle of the store. I explained my situation to her and she then proceeded to tell me that they would not be able to issue me a refund. Which was surprising because when I purchased the gift certificate I specifically asked the cashier ladies if I would be able to get a refund and I was told "Yes". But this short elderly lady (whose name i didn't get) was telling me "no"; she then tried to convince me to bring my mother to the store anyway to which I responded, "no she's not going to come, she is not interested in the hobby anymore". She then asked if I would accept a store credit, to which i responded, "no", because we were never going to need anything from this store. She then asked if i knew of anyone else who might be interested in the classes. I suggested myself but was then given a completely different class schedule from the one i was given when i purchased the gift certificate and soon quickly realized that the class hours would not work with my schedule. When i bought the certificate i was told they had saturday classes, but that story has since change. Out of anger and frustration i left the store very disappointed leaving the certificate behind on the table with the old lady who had a mischievous smile. Because of this situation i was unable to buy my 70 yr old mother a gift for her birthday. If they had just told me from the very beginning that the certificate was non-refundable i would never have purchased the certificate. Attached is a print-out from my bank statement for the fee taken. I just want to buy my mom the gift she really wants.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2022

  Customer came in to shop for a gift for his mother for her birthday.  He stated he would like to give her crochet lessons for her birthday on July 21st.  I told him we had a special sale going on where he could purchase 4 classes for the price of 3.  He said he would do this and proceeded to pay for these lessons.  At no time did we discuss returning this gift for a refund.  We would never have told him that as we have a posted sign that says no refunds.  Only exchanges within 90 days.  Our receipt states this also.  In addition he would be trying to return something that was on sale at 25% off.  Receipt states no returns on sale items.

  Customer stated he would take the lessons instead and I explained we could do this any day Monday through Friday.  He said this would not work for him.  I urged him to bring in his mother to look around and see if there was something else she might like to select.  We have a good selection of tote bags, cases, scissors and many other items.  He declined.  I also offered him a store credit that could be used any time in the future. He handed me his gift certificate and said to give it to someone else.  I tried to talk further with him but he left.

  I am sorry that he is not happy with these results.  We have had the same return policy for the 46 years I have owned this small business and never waver from it.  I cannot remember the last time someone objected to it.  We take pride in our customer service and would never tell a customer something that was not true.  We offer free help to customers when they need it.  Our objective is to teach new students to knit or crochet and keep the craft going.  We dont cheat our customers.  I hope we can work out an answer to this problem.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/26/2022

   
  Complaint: 17616601
  
  I am rejecting this response because: As i said earlier, i asked the 2 other employees who charged the fee to my card, if i could return the gift certificate if my mother didn't want the gift. They said yes. I took them at their word. Once i got their confirmation i didn't feel that i needed to start looking for signs to prove them wrong.
  Lets be clear, ***************************** (the owner) never processed the sale, she didn't process my payment. We never discussed a refund as an option when i purchased the gift. I spoke with her 2 other employees, that processed the transaction, one of them was in training if i recall correctly. Maybe if ****** had been the one doing the training and processing my payment then all 3 of us would have heard her say "just so you know sir, we don't process refunds. Are you sure you want to buy this gift certificate for your mom? ", then i would understand but that never happened.

  As a business owner, she needs to be more transparent about her store's policy, by mentioning to each customer that her store doesn't accept refunds at the point of sale (cash register), before taking people's hard earned money.  I wouldn't be surprised if a sign was recently repositioned in front of the cash register following my recent complaint.

  The only fair resolution i seek is a complete refund of my money. I'll even accept a 10-15% fee for the refund but just from reading her latest response i already know she won't accept my offer, because she is greedy. So, i want 100% of my hard earned money back, Period! Full stop.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/04/2022

  In the interest of closing this complaint I sent an offer to ****** to refund his money one week ago, 7/28.  Sent to his email address listed on complaint. As of this date I have not received a reply from him (I need his credit card number to issue a refund).  
  

  I made the offer, he did not respond.  I consider this matter closed.