Burlington Coat Factory, Cuyahoga Falls, OH - unable to get refund

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on June 1, 2002:

From:

RE: Burlington Coat Factory, Cuyahoga Falls, OH - unable to get refund

My wife surprised me with a new leather coat Christmas morning she paid cash for from Burlington Coat Factory in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Upon trying it on I found out it didn't quite fit right.

She said no big deal-she bought it back in OCTOBER on Grand Opening Day at the store, AND ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO "POLICY" SIGNS POSTED she was definitely assured that (even though it was bought in October of 2001) "if it didn't fit right it would be no problem to return it for a CASH REFUND." All receipts were still intact as I went back on the 27th of December and found no other XXLT sized coats left in any style on any racks! I had the assistant manager called and he confirmed to me that "Oh we'll have another BIG shipment of Leathers coming in 2 weeks.

I said "are you sure," and he said "well they dont tell us whats on the truck it just shows up and I should go ahead and get a "store Credit" for $190 to use in 2 weeks. I returned in 2 wks-there were obviously no new mens coats infact alot less were left as they were now being spread out to fill the gaps. I left empty handed again NO CASH - NO COAT assured more would come in and (in a span of 3 months) I RETURNED 5 MORE TIMES. watching the supply dwindle.

Now I SENSED THE GAME and frankly this was ENOUGH! I explained my situation with the STORE manager this time and was informed that to get my money back I had to call the "Customer Service" people at the Corp. offices and she gave me (oddly enough) a PRE-PRINTED name & phone number SLIP from a stack neatly sitting next to the register and was told in a sarcastic tone "Good Luck? Hmm. The next Monday I called the Corp. office but no one returned my call. The next day Tuesday called back and was greeted this time by a very rude indignant women who showed absolutely no customer empathy in my situation and stated "thats just the way it is" and "tough."

I must have been just bothering her. I told her after 7 visits to the store its obvious no new coats are coming in and all I wanted was my money back from my cash purchase. From the rude attitude she gave me I then stated I really didn't think I should need to get an attorney and she said "fine-get your attorney-we have attorneys too!" "We'll do battle." I asked for her boss and was of course told he was not available and left my phone number. I again had to call twice before a Dave Sistero -V.P of "Customer Relations" returned my calls and listened to my complaint and experience as a 1st time CUSTOMER of Burlington Coats.

He refused MY cash back request over and over and stated he stood by the policy, and swears all the signs and policies where posted- "your wife must not have seen em", "that cashier couldn't have said that about getting any cash back if the coat doesn't fit" and then with a very condescending tone he said he would "search for any coats left" in my size and have them all sent to the store nearest me but I'm not getting any cash back. He'd have someone call me and I could go try them on even though he didn't have an idea of what I was looking for.

It wasn't 20 hrs later that he had his assistant call and inform me that "Sorry sir, all of our mens basic black leathers of your size are gone, and the new ones won't be in for AT LEAST ANOTHER MONTH, MAYBE, but we'll keep you posted". I was irate! My reply now was "tell Mr. Sistero that I'm now an EXTREMELY UNHAPPY" customer. When I first attempted to get my money back (January 14th) I told at least 15 people my story and now I'm going to tell AT LEAST 30 more people NEVER TO SHOP AT BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY or they'll rip you off.

So now its June and nothings solved! I'm out $190. A customers money should not be taken this way! My next steps-The Better Business Bureau, The Ohio Attorneys General, and maybe the Consumer Investigative Team from a Cleveland FOX8 News Channel.

This is not right to do this to a consumer! They don't care! A burned consumer!