Costume Supercenter

Review: On 10/19/15 I ordered a Halloween costume for my son. The amount (including shipping) was $41.45. I was checking my bank statement on 10/21/15 and I saw 2 charges pending from Wholesale Halloween Costumes in the amount of $41.45 on 10/19/15 and then again on 10/20/15. I contacted my bank and they advised me to contact Wholesale Halloween Costumes to try to resolve it before a dispute was opened. I chatted with someone online by the name of Cam from Wholesale Halloween Costumes and explained what was happening. Cam told me this.. "The 1st amount is an authorization and the second one on the 20th is the actual charge.. The first one will fall off in 5-7 business days. You were only charged once" I then explained that I understand when this is all said and done, I will only be charged once but in the mean time, I am out $82.90 instead of the amount I authorized, which was $41.45. Then Cam said "I do understand that it shows pending that is the authorization for us when your order is placed and places an authorization onto your account for the amount of your order so we know there is enough in the account for us to deduct the amount when your order is shipped. The 1st on 10/19 is the initial authorization and will fall off in 5-7 business days." I again explained that I have to budget my money to the penny and that the $41.45 they are holding is actually my gas money until I get paid. Cam said "We are unable to lift the authorization as it will fall off in 5-7 business days. I do apologize and I'm sorry you're upset with the situation but it will fall off in the next few business days" I told him that I will NEVER do business with this company again. The company should post something on their site that they do this before the person checks out. This is not ok. Maybe $41.45 isn't a lot to some people but it is a lot to me. This has caused a huge inconvenience to me & my family. This could of been easily avoided if they told people about the hold they place on the funds.Desired Settlement: I would like to have at least 1/2 of my purchase amount refunded to me. I would also like to see that the company put on their website that they place a authorization hold on peoples bank accounts. This way this doesn't happen to more people. I'm sure that I am not the only person this has caused a major issue for. I'm a single mom of 3, I don't have extra money laying around.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern, I have reached out to our finance department, and they confirmed that the account was charged twice in error. We sincerely apologize for this. We have processed a refund for the double charge of $41.45. The transaction ID is [redacted]. For the inconvenience, we have also refunded the shipping charge on the orig order of $7.99. Both refunds should be reflected in the customer's account in about 5-7 business days. Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I ordered two costumes that didn't fit, so I returned them immediately. I have been waiting to get a refund on these costumes. I finally received 2 refunds but was charged another 66.96 on the same day. They charged me twice! I called them through live chat and they couldn't resolve my issue. I even told them I had proof on my discover card that they charged me last month and again this month.Desired Settlement: I would like to see the most recent charge on February 28th credited to my account of 66.96.

Business

Response:

On order# [redacted]..the customer did return the item and the refund was processed on 2/17/15 in the amount of $28.81. Due to a system glitch with our Payment Processor, the refund was not successful. On 2/28/15, the refund was sent through again and should now be verifiable through the customer's bank. The refund transaction ID# is [redacted]On order# [redacted]3...when the customer placed this order on 2/5/15, there was an authorization hold placed on the funds in the amount of $66.96, authorization# [redacted]. Due to a system glitch with our Payment Processor, we never collected the funds for this order and the authorization hold expired. We re-authorized the customer's card on 2/28/15 again in the amount of $66.96, authorization# [redacted], and we've collected the funds. As the customer was waiting on a refund for the return of this order, the refund was sent on 2/28/15 in the amount of $36.98. The refund transaction ID# is 7[redacted]. This refund is verifiable through the customer's bank.

Review: Merchant double bills your credit card when you place an order.Ordered merchandise in the amount of $90.30, merchant authorized 2 transactions one for $90.28 on 4/15 and another for $90.30 on 4/16. As of 4/20 the items were received and transaction processed, but vendor refuses to release the $90.28 even though the bank processed and paid them $90.30. Stated that the transaction would be refunded in 7 to 10 business days. Merchant stated that it is their practice to double bill customers.Desired Settlement: Wholesale Halloween Costume immediate release of $90.28. Charging a customer 2 times is an illegal business practice that needs to be handled by higher authorities. The practice of double accounting is illegal: there should only be one authorization and one transaction per order and not two authorization and one transaction and one refund (7 to 10 business days) per order.

Business

Response:

The customer placed this order on 4/15/15 and there was an authorization hold placed on the funds in the amount of $90.30, auth# [redacted]. When the order shipped out on 4/16/15, we collected the funds from the customer’s financial institution. The customer was only charged once. As a merchant, we do not have the ability to “release” an authorization hold. That is a bank function and it can take 5-7 business days for some banks to release funds back into a customer’s account. The customer needs to contact their bank, provide them with the above authorization number and ask the bank to release the funds as they have already transferred the required funds to us.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:On 4/15/2015 the merchant placed a pre-authorization hold of $90.28 on my bank account for an online purchase I made which totalled $90.30. On 4/16/2015 the merchant placed a 2nd pre-authorization hold of $90.30 on the account. Once I realized I had 2 pre-authorization holds totalling $180.58 on my account, I immediately contacted the merchant. On 4/16 I questioned the 2 pre-authorization holds and was told that what they did was normal and the hold would automatically drop off when the merchandise ships. On 4/16/2015 the merchant charge of $90.30 was processed and the merchandise was received; however, the pre-authorization hold of $90.28 was still on the account. I contacted the merchant and was informed that my bank was party responsible for not releasing the pre-authorization hold. Went into the [redacted] bank in [redacted] and they looked at the transactions and informed me that the merchant would have to authorize the release of the funds. On 4/20 I contacted both the bank and the merchant about the authorization hold of $90.28 still being on my account (6 days). The merchant on a taped conversation informed us that this is how they process their transactions and the hold of $90.28 should be released in 7-10 days. I then informed all parties that a pre-authorization hold of $90.28 is unacceptable and could result in bank fees if there are outstanding checks being processed against my account that they need to decide who will be responsible to pay the fees. The merchant (Amy #1047 the Manager at Wholesale Halloween Costumes) stated that she would be upset as well if she only had $180 in her bank account. This insult only **lidates that they indeed placed 2 pre-authorization holds on the account when I only placed one order with them for $90.30. Additionally, during the taped phone call on 4/20 they provided John at [redacted] Bank a Return Authorization Number which he used to remove the pre-authorization hold. Keep in mind there was no merchandise returned at that time--I have since returned a few items and really wanted to send everything back. The reality is that I was unable to access $90.28 in funds for 7 days (April 15 to April 21) for a transaction that I never authorized. They never admitted that it was a mistake--their only response was this is the way we do business and it's your bank that is at fault. The pre-authorization hold was finally released on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

Business

Response:

As the authorization hold has now been released by the customer's bank, please consider this complaint resolved.

Review: Last Wednesday I've put an order through. One of the item I chose was available when I order it but appeared to be back order when I received the confirmation email. I called costumer services back right away to make sure that the rest of my order would ship. Your employee assured me that it would (it was around 8h15pm). Today I called to make sure that everything was sent since I did not received the shipped confirmation email. The person told me it has not shipped because of the one item. I ask to speak with a superviser. I was transfert to [redacted] ([redacted]) who told me there was nothing that she could do I didn't had the name of the person I spoke to. I tried to remind her that I cannot be hold accountable for your employees lack of professionalism by leaving note in file when they receive calls but she continue saying that she couldn't do anything to help me. I ask her if she could send the order on a 2 days shipping and give me a credit of the shipping fee amount on my order and she refuse saying my only option was to pay those extra charges. I then proceed to cancel my order. Then I had this idea that all your calls are monitored so I called back and ask her to listen to the call I placed on Wednesday at around 8h15pm so she could hear the information that was told and, as a serious business, take the blame and do what you have to do to fix the problem. She refuse saying that since I canceled the order there is nothing that she could do for me. Now I'm asking you to fix this problem. I know that I am not more then a water drop in the ocean for your business right now but I can't believe that this is the way your doing business. I would like to have what I was supposed to before HalloweenDesired Settlement: I would like them to ship my order today on a two day delivery and that they take the charge for this shipping for giving me the wrong information so my kids can have they re costume for halloween. If it's impossible because of the time frame, I juste want to let you know the kind of business they re doing.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern, We apologize for the mis-communication the customer received. We have created a replacement order that will ship from our warehouse tomorrow with next day delivery free of charge. We re-added as many of the items that were available, but there were 2 costumes that are not in stock, the [redacted] and [redacted]. We will not be able to get these before the Halloween holiday. We apologize for the inconvenience and will have the calls reviewed that the customer placed to our call centre. if there are any other questions we can assist you with, please let us know. Sincerely, [redacted]Customer Service ManagerCostume SuperCentre###-###-####

Review: I ordered a Halloween costume in September, but it was too large. I returned the item in a few days. The costume was received by Costume Supercenter Oct. 13th. I have contacted the company several times via email and phone to check on refund status and keep getting delayed. As of this posting, November 23rd, I realize I will not get my money back by contacting Costume Supercenter directly.Desired Settlement: I would like to see my refund of $36 that I was promised.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern, Our finance department has reviewed [redacted] account and have reprocessed the refund today. The following message has been forwarded from our finance department: [redacted]

[redacted] can use the transaction ID when speaking with her bank to confirm the refund. Thank you. Sincerely,[redacted]Customer Service ManagerCostume SuperCenter[redacted]

I had a negative customer service experience with this company over a very simple product problem. They handled the matter in an argumentative matter with me via email and could have easily resolved it using common sense. They demonstrated inflexible thinking over a very small matter when it would have been much easier for them to keep me as a customer and handle it with understanding and good service. Apparently - not their style.