Complaint Review: Burlington Coat Factory - Tempe Arizona

I've heard and experienced very poor service at BCF and haven't gone there in years. The employees follow you around always acting like you are a thief. It was interesting to note for years that all BCF ads had the following disclaimer on them "Not affiliated with Burlington Industries". This stopped when, I think, Burlington Industries ceased operations. Perhaps Burlington Industries didn't want to be associated with BCF for reasons shown in this report. There was another case, in PA I think, where a BCF cashier put a customer's item in the customer's bag after forgetting to ring it. When the security alarm sounded, the BCF manager demanded that police arrest the customer even though it was the BCF's cashier who made an honest mistake. Of course, a nice lawsuit resulted. Since BCF gives no refunds (only store credit) and their prices don't seem that much better than stores like Marshall's and TJ Maxx (who offer refunds), I'm amazed to see anyone shopping in a BCF store. You have many better choices than BCF in my opinion.

Amie, You live in Tempe, Arizona, right? There has to be many other clothing stores to purchase dresses for your twins. I would never again, if I were you, buy anything from BCF. It's obvious that they do not want your business or they would treat you a lot better than they did. In my area, we used to have a BCF and when they started the no money back guarantee, everyone boycotted them and they moved out. When I purchased a few items, and the first thing that came out of their mouths was, "we do not give cash refunds" that was the last time I ever went there. Try it, it's very rewarding.

This is my update to my complaint on rip off report.com. I finally emailed the link to the whole report to every available email address I could find. Almost immediately Mike Prince sent a reply back (even though it was late in the day). He stated in his email that he would send my link on to the proper routes so that something would get done and if nothing got done to email him back. Within 24 hours or less Gloria J. emailed me and apologized for the grief I been through. She asked for a day time phone in the email that she could contact me with. I provided it and that day she called but I was at work. My husband told me she would call the next day. I have found myself busy with work so I returned her phone call when I could which was the very next day in the morning. I spoke to Gloria and she was extremely nice and apologized over and over. She is one of the nicest people I have dealt with at BCF. She assured me that I would be able to take the dress back at my convenience and would get store credit. She also stated that she would inform all of management at the Tempe store to this and make sure that I would have no problems. I have received that email shortly after her conversation. Mr. Prince and Gloria deserve plenty of recognition for a job well done. They have restored my faith in BCF. I can only hope that others in their company will be able to learn from their outstanding example. I will continue my update after I am able to go to the store.

:26 a.m. 01/20/05 I called the corp office in New Jersey. I was put immediately on hold at 11:27 a.m. I was on hold for an extended period of time. Then finally someone picked up, no on id'ed themselves on the phone so I have no idea who I have talked to. I was on hold for 10 minutes. I hung up and called back. I then spoke to a customer service rep who did not id herself. I gave her a quick over view of the problem and she put me on hold after asking about the store and my name. She came back to the phone and informed me that she would not take the dress back either because of the damage if she had been in the store. I had explained to her that the dress was barely worn and that I was not only calling because of the dress but BCF's lack of customer service and their ability to follow up on this matter. NO one has returned a phone call or gotten back to me. She says she has to call the store and speak to a manager there. Which she does. She then tells me that the both the managers I have dealt with are not in today. That they would not be in till after the weekend. The manager on duty there is not familiar with the situation and would rather the manager that is familiar with the situation deal with it. She then launches off in this tirade about how they will not take the dress back. She keeps interrupting me and not letting me finish what I have to say. I find this frustrating and was vulgar to her. I realize that this was not adult or appropriate of me. I was simply at wits end in dealing with this company. I just want to return a defective dress. I then call the corp office in New York. I get a very nice lady named Simone. I try and explain part of my situation to her. Before I can get even a 3rd of my story out to her she tells me they won't take the dress back and she puts me on hold and then low and behold I am talking to the same women I talked to in the New Jersey office. She was rude and did not let me get a word in edgewise. She then hung up on me. I then try to call back the NY office and get Simone's voice mail. I try to call the office in NJ and try to get ahold of the women whom I now know as Vicki. She was condensing and rude to me again. So I step back from the situation and realize that I need to calm down and my actions to this Vicki were less than adult. I then try to call her back and speak to and tell her that I really am sorry. I really was and still am sorry that I was vulgar to her. I realize that no one deserves to be treated the way I treated her. On the other hand I do not need any of the condescending attitudes and remarks I have gotten from BCF and its employees. When I call back the corp office they hang up on me repeatedly. I then finally get the "supervisor" (Rod Smith) on the phone, which funny enough is what Vicki claimed to be. He demanded to know what I wanted and when I would not give him my name in fear of being hung up on again he said he was the supervisor and he will know who calls his department. When I explained to him that I was really trying to call Vicki and apologize he put me on hold. He then returned to the phone call and stated that she refuses to come to the phone. I expressed that I was trying to be legitimate and I had acted out of WEEKS of frustration. I also tried to tell him that BCF customer service aside from this last event with Vicki lacks something, he told me to have a good day and hung up on me. I then tried to call back and mysteriously the calls ended before I even spoke to a human. I do legitimly apologize to Vicki. She did not deserve to receive the brunt of my frustrations but had I not had weeks of customer service evading me or flat out not doing what they said they were going to do I would not have snapped. I can only hope that I do get the chance to apologize to her.

:26 a.m. 01/20/05 I called the corp office in New Jersey. I was put immediately on hold at 11:27 a.m. I was on hold for an extended period of time. Then finally someone picked up, no on id'ed themselves on the phone so I have no idea who I have talked to. I was on hold for 10 minutes. I hung up and called back. I then spoke to a customer service rep who did not id herself. I gave her a quick over view of the problem and she put me on hold after asking about the store and my name. She came back to the phone and informed me that she would not take the dress back either because of the damage if she had been in the store. I had explained to her that the dress was barely worn and that I was not only calling because of the dress but BCF's lack of customer service and their ability to follow up on this matter. NO one has returned a phone call or gotten back to me. She says she has to call the store and speak to a manager there. Which she does. She then tells me that the both the managers I have dealt with are not in today. That they would not be in till after the weekend. The manager on duty there is not familiar with the situation and would rather the manager that is familiar with the situation deal with it. She then launches off in this tirade about how they will not take the dress back. She keeps interrupting me and not letting me finish what I have to say. I find this frustrating and was vulgar to her. I realize that this was not adult or appropriate of me. I was simply at wits end in dealing with this company. I just want to return a defective dress. I then call the corp office in New York. I get a very nice lady named Simone. I try and explain part of my situation to her. Before I can get even a 3rd of my story out to her she tells me they won't take the dress back and she puts me on hold and then low and behold I am talking to the same women I talked to in the New Jersey office. She was rude and did not let me get a word in edgewise. She then hung up on me. I then try to call back the NY office and get Simone's voice mail. I try to call the office in NJ and try to get ahold of the women whom I now know as Vicki. She was condensing and rude to me again. So I step back from the situation and realize that I need to calm down and my actions to this Vicki were less than adult. I then try to call her back and speak to and tell her that I really am sorry. I really was and still am sorry that I was vulgar to her. I realize that no one deserves to be treated the way I treated her. On the other hand I do not need any of the condescending attitudes and remarks I have gotten from BCF and its employees. When I call back the corp office they hang up on me repeatedly. I then finally get the "supervisor" (Rod Smith) on the phone, which funny enough is what Vicki claimed to be. He demanded to know what I wanted and when I would not give him my name in fear of being hung up on again he said he was the supervisor and he will know who calls his department. When I explained to him that I was really trying to call Vicki and apologize he put me on hold. He then returned to the phone call and stated that she refuses to come to the phone. I expressed that I was trying to be legitimate and I had acted out of WEEKS of frustration. I also tried to tell him that BCF customer service aside from this last event with Vicki lacks something, he told me to have a good day and hung up on me. I then tried to call back and mysteriously the calls ended before I even spoke to a human. I do legitimly apologize to Vicki. She did not deserve to receive the brunt of my frustrations but had I not had weeks of customer service evading me or flat out not doing what they said they were going to do I would not have snapped. I can only hope that I do get the chance to apologize to her.

:26 a.m. 01/20/05 I called the corp office in New Jersey. I was put immediately on hold at 11:27 a.m. I was on hold for an extended period of time. Then finally someone picked up, no on id'ed themselves on the phone so I have no idea who I have talked to. I was on hold for 10 minutes. I hung up and called back. I then spoke to a customer service rep who did not id herself. I gave her a quick over view of the problem and she put me on hold after asking about the store and my name. She came back to the phone and informed me that she would not take the dress back either because of the damage if she had been in the store. I had explained to her that the dress was barely worn and that I was not only calling because of the dress but BCF's lack of customer service and their ability to follow up on this matter. NO one has returned a phone call or gotten back to me. She says she has to call the store and speak to a manager there. Which she does. She then tells me that the both the managers I have dealt with are not in today. That they would not be in till after the weekend. The manager on duty there is not familiar with the situation and would rather the manager that is familiar with the situation deal with it. She then launches off in this tirade about how they will not take the dress back. She keeps interrupting me and not letting me finish what I have to say. I find this frustrating and was vulgar to her. I realize that this was not adult or appropriate of me. I was simply at wits end in dealing with this company. I just want to return a defective dress. I then call the corp office in New York. I get a very nice lady named Simone. I try and explain part of my situation to her. Before I can get even a 3rd of my story out to her she tells me they won't take the dress back and she puts me on hold and then low and behold I am talking to the same women I talked to in the New Jersey office. She was rude and did not let me get a word in edgewise. She then hung up on me. I then try to call back the NY office and get Simone's voice mail. I try to call the office in NJ and try to get ahold of the women whom I now know as Vicki. She was condensing and rude to me again. So I step back from the situation and realize that I need to calm down and my actions to this Vicki were less than adult. I then try to call her back and speak to and tell her that I really am sorry. I really was and still am sorry that I was vulgar to her. I realize that no one deserves to be treated the way I treated her. On the other hand I do not need any of the condescending attitudes and remarks I have gotten from BCF and its employees. When I call back the corp office they hang up on me repeatedly. I then finally get the "supervisor" (Rod Smith) on the phone, which funny enough is what Vicki claimed to be. He demanded to know what I wanted and when I would not give him my name in fear of being hung up on again he said he was the supervisor and he will know who calls his department. When I explained to him that I was really trying to call Vicki and apologize he put me on hold. He then returned to the phone call and stated that she refuses to come to the phone. I expressed that I was trying to be legitimate and I had acted out of WEEKS of frustration. I also tried to tell him that BCF customer service aside from this last event with Vicki lacks something, he told me to have a good day and hung up on me. I then tried to call back and mysteriously the calls ended before I even spoke to a human. I do legitimly apologize to Vicki. She did not deserve to receive the brunt of my frustrations but had I not had weeks of customer service evading me or flat out not doing what they said they were going to do I would not have snapped. I can only hope that I do get the chance to apologize to her.

I am writing my update for my ongoing problem with Burlington Coat Factory (BCF). I recently found the tags that were on the dress. I then presumed that they would take the damaged dress back. I had been to BCF before with items my children had received before with only the tags, not the tags plus receipt and they had cheerfully given me store credit. I then gathered up the dress and a few other items that were going to be returned to the BCF and drove to the store in Tempe, Arizona. I went in and the very nice gentleman at the front door gave me a slip of paper to say that I was returning the items. I proceeded to the customer service desk and began the return process. They refunded the amount for a purse and two sweaters in the form of a gift card. When it came to the damaged dress the sales lady went to the phone and had a hushed conversation with someone and then informed me that they would not be able to take the dress back because I had no receipt. I asked to speak the person she spoke to. She then returns to the phone and requests that this person come to the front. Imagine my delight when it was Caesar the manager I had spoke to before. He asked what my problem was and I told him about the dress. He then LAUGHED at me and told me under no circumstances were they going to take back the damaged dress but yes they would be happy to take back the other 3 items. We exchanged a few words about how it was I was sold a inferior product and how his employer was not going to replace it or remedy the situation in anyway. He basically accused me of buying the dress months before hand and just now returning it. I then asked him if they kept Christmas dresses in stock several months prior to the season. He replied that hey keep stock year round. I bet however if I go in there now or even 6 month from now I won't see a Christmas dress or even a dress remotely resembling this dress. He said that he could call his supervisor and talk to him but was pretty sure I was going to get the same story. I asked to speak this supervisor the he spoke to. Caesar promptly replied that this person was in a meeting and could not be disturbed for any reason and would be in this meeting for the remainder of the afternoon. I asked Caser if he was so busy why was he able to disturb him. He had no answer to that. I stated that I would not be leaving untill I was able to speak this person. Caesar then got back on the phone and called the manager he spoke to. After a few minutes here comes this manager wearing no id, so I have no idea who he was or if he even was a manager. After speaking with this new person for a few moments I got the same song and dance. Only this time he told me I could contact the regional manager. I then requested this number and received it. Of course its not a toll free number. I call the number from my cell phone in the store. Amazingly I have been given the wrong phone number. As a matter of fact the person on the other end of the phone was baffled as to why they would have given out this phone number. He said he would see what he could do to help me and asked me to hold for a moment. After a few moments he came back to the phone and told me I could speak the regional managers administrative assistant. I spoke to her and she said that she would send the manager a email explaining the situation. She said that he would be getting back to me soon. That was over a week ago and I have heard nothing from them. I am giving them till end of this week and then I will be giving them a call back. My husband seems to think that they are just going to string me along untill I give up. Well, I can assure them I will not. More updates to follow.