I talked to the actual salesman who sold me the dead sea product today. When he called me on my cell I kept his number. I couldn't remember (or pronounce) his name so I just put him in my contacts as 'Kiosk'.
I never got a response to my two texts so I thought I'd give him a call. When I called he answered but I wasn't sure what he said (he may have said 'hello' in Hebrew... he mentioned he was from Israel). I started talking anyway and he remembered me. Did he remember me because my refund was forthcoming? Or did he remember me because I took his photo? Or did he remember me because when I gave him my cell number, he put me in his contacts under 'sucker'??
Turns out, none of the above. He possibly remembered me because I was so hell-bent on getting my money back and took the time to fill out that 4 page refund request. He said he can't help me with my refund because he's moved to back to New York and no longer works with them (the kiosk owners I presume), but reminded me that I could stop by the kiosk at either mall in the area to talk to someone. I thanked him for his time and hung up.
Seriously considering going back to the mall with my camera to document the salesmanship these people exhibit. And take printouts about the unfavorable reviews of the products themselves and the stories from unhappy customers. But I don't know if I'm nervy enough to go up to potential customers of theirs and share this info with them. I don't know if mall security would escort me out of the mall for doing what I view as a public service - saving people from being parted with their cash! I'm usually not a fan of confrontation - I like to take care of things via letters or phone calls - not face to face. I'm easily flustered face to face. And sometimes, I make silly purchasing decisions when face to face. <sigh>
Who got Billie's goat? Companies who try to rip me off in one way, shape or form! This blog is devoted to letting others know of their antics and my progress in making things right. I hope my little corner of the blogging world motivates other people to learn their rights as a consumer and to stand up for themselves if they've been wronged
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Article on these kiosk sellers in Wall Street Journal
I think it's an abomination that the malls are allowing these salespeople to be so assertive in their sales tactics. Malls across the country have received complaints but I suppose as long as they keep paying their rent, the mall management is happy.
And again, the fault does lie with the consumer. They didn't steal our money in the usual sense of the word. They didn't attack us in a dark alley. But Sears never got my money this way. No Wal-Mart employee ever coerced me into making a purchase. If a big store had this type of salespeople people would complain and the Attorney General's office would step in put a stop to it.
So why are there so many posts, videos, and articles written about these Onsen and dead sea product salespeople - yet nothing appears to change? They continue without mercy to glean money from unsuspecting consumers strolling through the mall. Reminds me of a cat lurking in the tall weeds, just waiting to pounce on some poor, defenseless critter...
Thanks to my Midwest friend for sharing this article with me.
http://sec.online.wsj.com/article/SB122826483720274329.html
And again, the fault does lie with the consumer. They didn't steal our money in the usual sense of the word. They didn't attack us in a dark alley. But Sears never got my money this way. No Wal-Mart employee ever coerced me into making a purchase. If a big store had this type of salespeople people would complain and the Attorney General's office would step in put a stop to it.
So why are there so many posts, videos, and articles written about these Onsen and dead sea product salespeople - yet nothing appears to change? They continue without mercy to glean money from unsuspecting consumers strolling through the mall. Reminds me of a cat lurking in the tall weeds, just waiting to pounce on some poor, defenseless critter...
Thanks to my Midwest friend for sharing this article with me.
http://sec.online.wsj.com/article/SB122826483720274329.html
The Onsen refund journey begins...
This blog was thought of after some efforts to recover my money, so I want to bring you up to date with those efforts.
On May 18th, I had a coupon for a freebie in the mall. I hadn't been in the mall in ages and was going solely to score the freebie (now I know why greed is one of the seven deadly sins...). On my way to receive the freebie, that's when Keren, the saleslady with superpowers stepped in front of me and said, "may I ask you a question?". And it went downhill from there. She offered me the cure to any skin ailment I have (am I the only one who doesn't appreciate strangers dissecting their skin problems out of the blue??). She started at $112. Then she kept going down and down in price. I must have at some point had some strength to ward off her sales superpowers because she finally suckered me in for only $29.99. (Interestingly, the receipt says '$30'. Sure it's only a penny - but it just shows their level of integrity).
Later on May 18th is when I discovered their no refund policy and that I just seemingly donated my money to Keren and her posse of extreme salespeople.
About June 25th, I returned to the mall and inquired about a refund. I was told by a male salesperson that they don't take returns but assured me that I got a great deal because the item I paid $30 was really a $112 item. I told him for $112 product, you'd think it would have received much better reviews on the internet. Surprisingly, he didn't have a response for that. <smile>. I thanked him for his time and promptly went out to my car to call my credit card company to ask them to help me.
The nice Capital One representative mentioned to me that it's in their merchant agreement that they do not refunds. He said he was relatively certain I wasn't getting my money back via a chargeback.
So I went back into the mall. The salesman had told me no. Capital One has basically said no. I don't know what came over me, but I began taking photos of the kiosk to show there was no signage letting customers know that once they parted with their money, they weren't getting it back. I contemplated waiting for him to get a customer and then go to that customer and tell the customerthat they don't have a return policy and that the reviews of the products were anything but great. But I thought that might be pushing it (at this point anyway - it's still in the back of my mind!).
Here is a photo of the kiosk and the gentleman asking me what I'm doing. I shared with him that I was taking photos of the kiosk because I wanted people to know that they don't have signage to let consumers know of their no return policy
This photo shows the salesman with his hand out to me, gesturing me to come closer, presumably so others didn't hear our conversation.
This is when he informed me that he'd take my name/number and talk to his manager. I asked why he couldn't issue a refund right there. He reiterated he needed to speak with his manager. So I gave him my name/number. Could this be progress?
I headed back out to my car, ready to leave and my cell phone rings. It's from an out of area number I don't recognize. Turns out it's the kiosk guy asking me to return (for the 3rd time!) to fill out a refund request. Well you can be sure I took him up on the offer and returned back into the mall.
He gives me this form (I would have taken photos of it if I'd have known it wasn't the end of this tale) that is four pages in length with some sort of coffee stain in the corner. YES - four pages. They wanted the typical information - but they also wanted my birthday. I was pretty sure it wasn't so they could send me a greeting card, so I left that blank. It asked questions on how I liked the products, etc. Weird stuff for a refund form and definitely the longest refund form I've ever filled out.
I gave it back to him and he said they had to send it to his home office. I was okay with that, given that I didn't have any choice but to be okay with that.
One week goes by. I don't hear from them.
Two weeks go by, I don't hear from them.
Three weeks... Four weeks... you get the idea.
During this time, two wonderful friends have been poking around the internet, sending me links to stories of shoppers nationwide who have been 'kiosked'. I think they were trying to reassure me that I wasn't the only gullible person on the planet to be parted with my money over promises of perfect skin. It worked - I felt better that I wasn't the only one. Then I got mad because I wasn't the only one.
Since it's been a month since I filled out the paperwork for the refund and heard nothing, I decided to text them since I didn't feel like driving back to the mall. I actually feared succumbing to their supernatural sales power again and instead of getting a refund, giving them more money. So texting was the way to go!
June 27 - I sent a text requesting the status of my refund.
No response.
June 28 - I sent them another text asking about the status and giving them a date to contact me by or I was filing a complaint with the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection.
No response.
June 29 - a friend and I are talking and joking that I should come up with a blog to detail my journey in trying to get my money back. Well one hour later, I'm putting together my first blog (please be kind - I've never blogged before!) because the refund status isn't looking like it's going my way.
June 29 - I called mall management and was given a local telephone number for the kiosk.
June 29 - I call the 877 number of Onsen (the skin care line). I was just covering the bases - I wasn't expecting much from the conversation but I wanted to ask them how they can sell products without a return policy in the mall, yet have a return policy on their website? I was told that the kiosks are individually owned and it's up to each individual owner as to refunds. I was then told I would be transferred to customer service. I was jamming to some international tunes while on hold and then I heard "Goodbye" and was hung up on.
June 30 - I called the local number I was given for the kiosk (I even remember seeing a telephone on the kiosk!). It's been disconnected. I thought maybe I transposed numbers, so I called back the mall management and spoke with a very nice lady named Mary Jane. She gave me the number again and it was the same number I had dialed.
I'm nosy so I asked her if she's has any complaints about this particular kiosk. She said they have and I could fill out a complaint card at the customer service area of the mall.
Well filling out a complaint form isn't good enough for me. A complaint form at the mall isn't going to yield me my money back... although next time I'm in the area of the mall, I do think I'll do my civic duty and fill out a complaint card anyway.
On May 18th, I had a coupon for a freebie in the mall. I hadn't been in the mall in ages and was going solely to score the freebie (now I know why greed is one of the seven deadly sins...). On my way to receive the freebie, that's when Keren, the saleslady with superpowers stepped in front of me and said, "may I ask you a question?". And it went downhill from there. She offered me the cure to any skin ailment I have (am I the only one who doesn't appreciate strangers dissecting their skin problems out of the blue??). She started at $112. Then she kept going down and down in price. I must have at some point had some strength to ward off her sales superpowers because she finally suckered me in for only $29.99. (Interestingly, the receipt says '$30'. Sure it's only a penny - but it just shows their level of integrity).
Later on May 18th is when I discovered their no refund policy and that I just seemingly donated my money to Keren and her posse of extreme salespeople.
About June 25th, I returned to the mall and inquired about a refund. I was told by a male salesperson that they don't take returns but assured me that I got a great deal because the item I paid $30 was really a $112 item. I told him for $112 product, you'd think it would have received much better reviews on the internet. Surprisingly, he didn't have a response for that. <smile>. I thanked him for his time and promptly went out to my car to call my credit card company to ask them to help me.
The nice Capital One representative mentioned to me that it's in their merchant agreement that they do not refunds. He said he was relatively certain I wasn't getting my money back via a chargeback.
So I went back into the mall. The salesman had told me no. Capital One has basically said no. I don't know what came over me, but I began taking photos of the kiosk to show there was no signage letting customers know that once they parted with their money, they weren't getting it back. I contemplated waiting for him to get a customer and then go to that customer and tell the customerthat they don't have a return policy and that the reviews of the products were anything but great. But I thought that might be pushing it (at this point anyway - it's still in the back of my mind!).
This is when he informed me that he'd take my name/number and talk to his manager. I asked why he couldn't issue a refund right there. He reiterated he needed to speak with his manager. So I gave him my name/number. Could this be progress?
I headed back out to my car, ready to leave and my cell phone rings. It's from an out of area number I don't recognize. Turns out it's the kiosk guy asking me to return (for the 3rd time!) to fill out a refund request. Well you can be sure I took him up on the offer and returned back into the mall.
He gives me this form (I would have taken photos of it if I'd have known it wasn't the end of this tale) that is four pages in length with some sort of coffee stain in the corner. YES - four pages. They wanted the typical information - but they also wanted my birthday. I was pretty sure it wasn't so they could send me a greeting card, so I left that blank. It asked questions on how I liked the products, etc. Weird stuff for a refund form and definitely the longest refund form I've ever filled out.
I gave it back to him and he said they had to send it to his home office. I was okay with that, given that I didn't have any choice but to be okay with that.
One week goes by. I don't hear from them.
Two weeks go by, I don't hear from them.
Three weeks... Four weeks... you get the idea.
During this time, two wonderful friends have been poking around the internet, sending me links to stories of shoppers nationwide who have been 'kiosked'. I think they were trying to reassure me that I wasn't the only gullible person on the planet to be parted with my money over promises of perfect skin. It worked - I felt better that I wasn't the only one. Then I got mad because I wasn't the only one.
Since it's been a month since I filled out the paperwork for the refund and heard nothing, I decided to text them since I didn't feel like driving back to the mall. I actually feared succumbing to their supernatural sales power again and instead of getting a refund, giving them more money. So texting was the way to go!
June 27 - I sent a text requesting the status of my refund.
No response.
June 28 - I sent them another text asking about the status and giving them a date to contact me by or I was filing a complaint with the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection.
No response.
June 29 - a friend and I are talking and joking that I should come up with a blog to detail my journey in trying to get my money back. Well one hour later, I'm putting together my first blog (please be kind - I've never blogged before!) because the refund status isn't looking like it's going my way.
June 29 - I called mall management and was given a local telephone number for the kiosk.
June 29 - I call the 877 number of Onsen (the skin care line). I was just covering the bases - I wasn't expecting much from the conversation but I wanted to ask them how they can sell products without a return policy in the mall, yet have a return policy on their website? I was told that the kiosks are individually owned and it's up to each individual owner as to refunds. I was then told I would be transferred to customer service. I was jamming to some international tunes while on hold and then I heard "Goodbye" and was hung up on.
June 30 - I called the local number I was given for the kiosk (I even remember seeing a telephone on the kiosk!). It's been disconnected. I thought maybe I transposed numbers, so I called back the mall management and spoke with a very nice lady named Mary Jane. She gave me the number again and it was the same number I had dialed.
I'm nosy so I asked her if she's has any complaints about this particular kiosk. She said they have and I could fill out a complaint card at the customer service area of the mall.
Well filling out a complaint form isn't good enough for me. A complaint form at the mall isn't going to yield me my money back... although next time I'm in the area of the mall, I do think I'll do my civic duty and fill out a complaint card anyway.
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