Customer Service Review: Spencer's Gifts in Lynchburg, VA

Spencer's Gifts has been in River Ridge Mall for as long as I can remember. And I've been shopping there for just as long and never had any problems. However, I never needed to return anything either. Their customer service has spiraled downward over time.

Two years ago, I had a job where we could dress up for Halloween. So my mom went to Spencer's and bought some stuff that I asked her to get. However, she also bought some Halloween makeup that I didn't want. So, I had her return it before Halloween so the store would still have a chance to resell it.

The lady at the register told her that their return policy stated no refunds on Halloween items returned within, I believe, two weeks of Halloween. She asked them where was this posted, and they said that it was on the receipt. If a policy is going to be so strict then it should be posted in the store. They gave her a gift card, but I didn't want it.

I contacted the store manager myself and she said that she couldn't do anything. I did a chargeback on my credit card, and since Spencer's didn't appeal it, I was credited for the approximate $15.

The gift card that they gave my mom was good for one year. I wasn't going to use it since I did get my money back, but I figured I deserved it for all of the hassle and inconvenience. Before the year was up, I looked at their store online and found an item that I wanted to order. I placed the item in the shopping cart, entered the gift card number, and then I reached a page that said I didn't have enough money on my gift card to pay for the item. And charging the additional $2 to a credit card wasn't allowed. I abandoned my shopping cart and called the Spencer's Gifts website's customer service.

I was told when I called in that I had to go to the local store and put another $2 on my card. But then I was also told that my gift card only had about $3 on it. This wasn't right since I was within the year to use it, meaning no fees had been deducted.

Since they suspected some type of fraud, I was transferred to their security department. I was accused of fraud and everything else that they could think of. I told them that all they had to do was check the records and they would see that the item was never shipped.

After all of the trouble, it turned out when I entered the gift card number on the website that it deducted the money from the card (for the item minus shipping) even though I didn't complete the purchase. It took two months for them to get the issue straightened out and the money returned to the gift card.

In the end, I bought the item that I had originally wanted in the local store rather than online. It was the second time that I'd been in the store recently. Every time I want to buy something in that store I'm left standing at the register for a while as I wait for someone to come ring me up.

Spencer's Gifts needs to improve their customer service for my local store and the online store.