Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Beware of Joann.com Deceptive Billing Practices!!!!!

I had a very miserable experience today with Joann's Fabric and Craft Store and I feel it is important for everyone to know so that you can watch your bank statements. I made a purchase for $57.73. Joann's website claimed my CVC on my bank card was incorrect. So I resubmitted the CVC. Never was I told they had already put an authorization on my debit card for the first CVC.

5 Days later on my bank statement I noticed that Joann's had billed me twice for the $57.73. As if that was not bad enough I noticed that Joann's had also billed me for $42.76.

I called Joann's toll free number today and talked to a supervisor. She told me that because the CVC did not go through Joann's decided not to fill my first order. So there was nothing they could do. It was up to the bank to remove the authorization and it would take 3-5 days!

And in regards to the $42.76  it was because they had shipped my order in two shipments. There was another billing coming for $14.97.  So a $57.73 purchase currently has $173.19 tied up at my bank. As a result I can not purchase my medication and well have to go without it until this is resolved!!!!!

She told me she  would send an email to me to take to the bank, but it was up to the bank if they wanted to remove the charges or not!!!

I have a friend with an online store.  Never did a situation like this occur. I have another dear friend who placed an international order with Joann's. No where on the site did it say they would not accept her international VISA. They charged her VISA and then did not accept the order! So her money was also tied up! And they did not even have the courtesy to send her an email to explain. She had to contact them!

Joann Fabric and Craft Store where is your accountability? Your customers assume they can trust you. What happened to customer service? I am no longer doing business with you and I don't care what sales you offer. Nothing is worth have 3 times the purchase price withheld from my bank account. I will take your coupons to Micheals. Micheals has never charged my debit card 3 times the agreed upon purchase. And by the way I made the purchase on April 15 and it is April 21st. So it is already past your so called "blame the bank for 3-5 days!" This was your error.

UPDATE: Here's the email I received from Joann's today after I posted: Notice that Joann's date is February 24-it is really April 21st! So apparently Joann's makes a practice of this activity. And also notice that now they are saying 7-10 days for the bank to clear this up. When I called it was 3-5 days! Here's the letter:

February 24, 2011

Dear Valued Jo-Ann Customer,

 We're sorry! Our records indicate you attempted to place a recent order at Joann.com and due to an unexpected systems error, there were multiple authorization holds for the same transaction placed on your credit card. These holds were not actual charges, so funds were not debited from your account. Please rest assured that we immediately corrected the issue with our credit card processor, FirstData, however it may take 7 - 10 days for your financial institution to release the authorization holds. Credit card protection laws prohibit us from intervening directly with your bank, therefore we suggest if the holds have not been removed as of today, you should contact your bank directly and use this message as proof of our error.

Our first priority is always to provide a good experience for our customers and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If you incurred any overdraft charges as a result of this error, Jo-Ann Stores will reimburse you for those fees. You will simply need to contact Customer Service with a copy of your banking statement showing the total amount of the fees.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Jo-Ann Customer Service Department at 1-888-739-4120.

Sincerely,
 Joann.com
Customer Service Department

I find it interesting that Joann's never mentioned that they would take care of any bank fees that may occur when I called. I also had to insist that I speak to a supervisor before this letter was offered. And in reality the first person I spoke to gave me a hard time when I insisted I speak to a manger. She told me, "There is nothing a supervior can do about this."

Its also interesting that when I called I was told it was my fault because I put in a bad CVC. Now it is because of a "systems error?"

So hopefully I will not have any fees as a result of this, because I caught it in time. Lesson learned here, check bank accounts daily due to irresponsible merchants.

So anyway this letter came too late for me to go to the bank tonight. I will need to deal with it after my neurology appointment tomorrow. I can hardly believe they will do anything when they see the date is incorrect by 2 months.

Elizabeth

8 comments:

  1. I am so sorry this happened! I've totally been there....not with Joanns but I had my identify stolen last year and couldn't pay my rent. Luckily, everyone was really nice about it but still, it was a huge ordeal.

    My biggest problem with Joann's seems really petty in comparison but I absolutely HATE when they have an ad about a sale and then don't have any (or very few) of the product. This happens all the time in the scrapbooking section. I basically don't trust their ad anymore at all.

    Again, I'm sorry this happened to you and hope this issue is resolved quickly.

    Cara

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cara,
    Oh I am so sorry! I have been there on the stolen identity issue. I won a Presidential Award and the company who planned the event had an employee who stole our identities. And it was really bad because they had a ton of info due to the fact we had to have a security clearance for the event. So a wonderful and awesome experience ended up with aery negative consequence. It's a long hard battle to over come isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow Elizabeth, what a headache for you. For Joanne to hold that much of your account is just wrong. It seems to me customer service has left the building. It's no longer about keeping customers happy as much as it's about making a buck. I know it's frustrating for you but I do appreciate you putting this post up. I will not be ordering from Joann online! I'm sorry this happened to you.

    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is ridiculous. Seems illegal to me. I think I would keep calling them back and talking to some one higher up

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi :o) Thank you for the sweet comment on/about my blog. You really made me smile!

    Thank you, too, for the warning about JoAnns's. I do most of my shopping on line and it is good to know what to watch out for. I hope you got your situation resolved!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow I'm so sorry about this situation... We really appreciate that you share with us to let us know that extremely dangerous make purchase with JoAnn
    Thanks for commenting in my blog,
    Have a great Easter ;-)
    ~Maria Elena~
    http://mariaelenaworld.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Elizabeth - this is Vicki from Incredibly Dangerous - thank you thank you THANK YOU for sharing this! I mean that. Listen...I think we should all share our horror stories AND the good stories we have of spending our hard earned money --- whether it is online OR in person.

    I do not mind dropping some major moola on anything - whether it is food for my family or the newest line of patterned paper...but I surely do not want to be duped - and I expect good customer service - not even GREAT...and I want to get what I paid for ... if I spend a dollar on paper - then I realize its not top of the line paper....

    Listen...would you mind if I shared your story on my blog? I really do think we need to warn others about this - cause truth be told, I don't always watch the numbers on my credit cards...my debit card...yes, cause thats what I use most often...but if I am on a spending spree...and have done a lot of shopping, I have to say, I can overlook something and think "wow I spend more than i thought" when I really didnt!

    Anyway if I can share this of course, I would be glad to have a link back to your site.
    I think it is great you shared this. I actually stopped by to thank you for coming by my blog again and enjoying the vids...(also was going to tell you I will send you an urgent message when its time for our boy getaway! LOL) but got so heated up when I read this! LOL talk to you soon ... xoxox Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vicki,
    Please feel free to share my story. That's exactly why I posted to get the word out there. It did finally clear up, but I had to go three days without my insulin because of it. With having an ex more than $30,000 behind in child suppport I literally live on a budget that has no breathing room, so this was a painful experience.
    Thanks! Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and leave a comment! I appreciate all of my wonderful readers! Elizabeth