Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Thank you for the opportunity to look into this. Your order shipped and was delivered by FedEx on Friday, January 9th. Our membership program for had unique challenges with order payment. There were many consumers who were impacted by changes to credit card numbers
because of compromised accounts. That did cause orders to be delayed as we tried to capture new account numbers. We did send emails out during the summer months to alert members who were affected. Unfortunately, it appears that the email was not received. When the credit card was updated in September, the order was not released. This was escalated to a supervisor and the order was shipped with the next batch of orders being processed. Moving forward, we have changed the payment processes for new and renewed memberships that will prevent credit card declines and order delays. Thank you for your patience and hope you enjoy your ornaments

This issue was resolved through the Hallmark customer service team by mailing an $8 gift card that can be used at any store or online.   This was mailed on 10/25/15.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may...

update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.   Thank you!
Regards,
[redacted]

Here are the details:8/2 - consumer calls to request assistance placing the order.  agent places order for 3 items on her behalf.  Consumer receives order number ([redacted]) by email.8/3 - consumer receives an email notification that states that 2 of her three items have shipped and the...

other will ship separately.  consumer contacts customer service to check on the status of the third item.  Agent confirms that it's shipping separately.  She also asked about the status of her Crown Reward points.  Agent correctly informs her that points will appear in her account after the items ship.8/3 - a few hours later, the remaining item on the order ships.8/4 - consumer contacts customer service because she believes she was overbilled.  Agent explains that items on the order are charged when they ship.  Because they ship separately, they will bill individually but will add up to the total.  The first 2 items that shipped charged her account $38.45 of the original $57.67 authorized for the total of all items.  On 8/4, when we attempted to collect the balance, $19.22, the credit card was declined.  Our system attempted to reauthorize and collect the $19.22 for the remaining item that had shipped and this second attempt was successful.  This is a standard business practice, not unique to Hallmark. 8/4 - 9:30 am - consumer calls back again to see if the points had posted to her account.  They had not yet posted but the agent helped to make sure her account was linked and encouraged her to check back in a few days.8/4 - 2:46 pm - points are posted to the consumer's account for the amount of purchase8/5 - 5:49 am - 500 bonus points are posted to the consumer's account8/6 - consumer receives first shipment and emails us to let us know that an item was missing and she requested that it be reshipped.  Consumer received an automated email to state that we were not open on Saturday or Sunday and that her request would be processed within 1-2 business days.8/8 - Agent received the email and submitted a reship order request on her behalf for the missing item.8/8 - consumer copied and paste her original email into a new email requesting a replacement of the missing item.  a second agent begins to also work on this request.8/9 - consumer receives confirmation by email that the reship order is being processed.8/10- consumer receives confirmation by email that the replacement order has shipped.8/12 - reship order is deliveredAll of the transactions, shipments, communications, earned points and bonus points were executed as stated in the terms and conditions of our website, Crown Reward loyalty program and customer service response times.   When we were made aware of a missing item, a reship order was processed promptly and shipped to arrive in less than 2 days.  I'm very sorry that our team disappointed Ms. [redacted] by not helping her understand how her account would be billed and that one of the items was missing from her order.  I have posted an additional 1000 points to Ms. [redacted]'s account. Please let me know if you require additional details.[redacted]

[redacted]Phone:  ###-###-####Email:  [redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
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,
[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:The company did NOT take care of their mistakes.  IF I need to sign up for another club to get catalogs, which makes no sense since I have received various catalogs in the past & attached the back of one in the scan I provided to the complaint, then WHY DID THEY NOT INPUT ME INTO THE CLUB AS I STATED IN THE COMPLAINT  Remember I am going on what I was told several years ago so that means company gave me incorrect information & they can input me into another club because of the incorrect informationI sent the Revdex.com the email history between myself & the company to prove what I state hereI will be awaiting the catalog I simply requested  I should NOT have had to have gone through all this work to get a catalogAnd per my complaint:
4 IF in incorrect club to be put into correct club 5 due to all problems & confusion a free 2017 ornament when released in July PLUS the catalog I did NOT receive
Regards,
Kris C[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:The response did NOT clear up issues  I did NOT receive the catalog with the 2017 ornaments in it & company did NOT respond properly to my complaint
Regards,
Kris C[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  Hallmark fixed the problem BUT DID NOT SAY A WORD TO ME  That I did not appreciate
Regards,
[redacted]

This issue was raised to our internal group that manages our Corporately owned stores.  Typically, that management team researches and provides follow through with the store and the consumer since they are more familiar with store policies.  Because this was escalated during the busiest...

weeks of the year, our group offered to send a gift card for the inconvenience of the delay in having some follow up from the store.  Once the offer of the gift card was accepted, it was processed and mailed on January 21st.  The gift card amount of $20 exceeded the amount of the discount the consumer expected to receive.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:As I have explained to Hallmark over and over, I am not stupid and I recognize when my account has a pending transaction and when the money is gone!!!!!  They are incorrect in their assumption as to what happened.  The bank proved to me that Hallmark is the one who screwed up.  I had two complete debits of 33.95!!!!!  Since both have now been credited back to my account and since I had to cut up my card to prevent Hallmark from debiting me a fourth, etc. Time, I consider this matter closed and will not put myself through the frustration and degradation suffered by this company!And, while it may say "regards" below, that is not from me!  I wish Hallmark no such kindness!  I was extremely poorly treated and continue to be so by the spurious response given to the Revdex.com!!! Once, of course, they sent the response to the right person!  I hope the lady from 2014 whose complaint answer they sent to me first, has also stopped doing business with these people!!!!!!
Regards,
[redacted]

Hallmark Marketing made the difficult decision to end the Card Rewards program in June.  We accepted submissions into consumer accounts through June 29th and offered all remaining rewards in our inventory through August 9th.  Unfortunately, the most popular of these rewards were claimed as soon as they were made available.   New rewards were added and made available on the 10th of each month.  In addition, all program members were sent an email on that day encouraging them to come to the website to select their rewards.   After reviewing the responses received from our consumer services team, it appears that full explanations were not provided and there was not much effort invested in trying to make something good come from this feedback.  Because the program closed and June 29th was the last day to record purchases, our staff was not able to input the value of the purchases made on July 1st.   In addition, all credits earned prior to that date that were not redeemed by 8/9 were forfeited according to our program terms.   All remaining rewards have been distributed.  Although I’m not able to offer an exact redemption of credits for the $38 of cards that were purchased on 7/1, I will send $25 in [redacted] gift cards.   This would be greater than the equivalent award that could have been earned if the maximum number of cards were purchased during the program.  This was also the single most popular reward selected when the program was active.

Thank you for making us aware of the delay in processing the refund.  The return of this item was permitted as an exception to normal process since there are no returns on personalized products.  As you know, we cannot resell an item that has been created specifically for an...

individual.  Because you expressed confusion over receiving your original order in different shipments at different times (because of processing time for personalized items) they agent approved a return and provided specifics on how to send it back.  There were several factors that caused the delay.  It appears that the USPS return label that was used was not the FedEx return label provided in the original shipment.  While this did reach to a front office on 12/18, it was not received in the same location as all other returns that were pending processing.  This was routed into the returns area and because the information sent back to us in the box was confusing as they compared it to the incident details, the returns coordinator was unsure if you were returning a duplicate order or there was something wrong with the personalization of the order and needed it to be corrected in some way.  A manager sent an email to you on 12/29 referencing the order number and to confirm that we had received the return and needed to clarify.  There had been no response to this and it automatically closed after several days without a response.  We have also spoken with our representative who replied to the previous emails to make sure that she does a better job of setting expectations about returns.  During peak holiday time frames, we ask people to allow a two week window to process returns.   Our corporate offices were closed for a few days around the holidays, however, we were still within a 2 week window when our supervisor reached out for clarification.  We are reviewing our policy around closing incidents when they have not been responded to.  Regarding the incidents - the new incident number was linked to the previous incident number as the original incident number was completed and closed.   This should have been better explained as well that it is all connected.  The credit has been submitted to PayPal and should be visible in the user's account shortly.

We are sorry to hear that your subscription isn't what you hoped it would be.  While the ecard program does carry the Hallmark name, it is fully managed by our sister company, Hallmark Labs, based in California.  Because we use a different set of tools to manage our businesses, I'm not...

able to research and make a recommendation on this case.  I would suggest reaching out to the ecard team directly using one of the contact methods listed below: Please visit [redacted] and click on "Contact Support" on the right hand side to send an email or you may click on Live Chat for assistance, which will be displayed if a chat agent is available.If you would prefer to speak to someone, you may call ###-###-####.  You are able to leave a message if you call outside of hours or while the staff is on another line.

We researched Ms. [redacted]’s concern and located the new Crown Rewards account that she set up using the Hallmark.com website.  An email is sent out to welcome new members to the program.  This email also includes a link to a $5 coupon off good toward a purchase at a Hallmark store. ...

That purchase will trigger a mailing which will include a permanent membership card.  Typically, the welcome email arrives within 7 – 10 days of enrollment.  Ms. [redacted] joined Crown Rewards on the day before we launched a refresh of the program.  While the offer is still valid, the emails were suspended for about a week during that transition.  We confirmed that the email and link to the coupon was sent on 10/13.  As of Monday, it did not appear that the coupon had been used.  If the coupon is not redeemed within the next few days, the coupon will be emailed again to her early next week. We have followed up with the agent who was handling Ms. [redacted]’s question.  The agent combined the details for receiving a membership card (an instore purchase) with the details for receiving the coupon (an email within 1-2 weeks) into one response that was not clear or accurate.  Thanks,Chris

Thank you for the opportunity to respond.  I see that you have contacted us many times regarding this question and I'm very sorry that our explanation was not clear.  I do see that you are an active member of our Crown Rewards loyalty program.  And one of the benefits of that program...

is to receive mailers periodically that contain featured items, promotions and even coupons.  The one included in the photograph is an example of that mailer.  I believe your question is in regards to the Keepsake Ornament Dream Book.  Several years ago, we discontinued mailing these catalogs out.  However, they are available in most Gold Crown stores.  If a store is not be conveniently located, we have created an online, interactive version of the Dream Book.  This is available to anyone who would like to view the new line of ornaments and you may create a WishList as well!  You can access this version using this link:  http://www.hallmark.com/ornaments/keepsake-ornaments/We do offer a membership to our Keepsake Ornament Collector's Club, also known as KOC.  This membership may be purchased online or in stores or by calling 1-800-Hallmark.  The annual membership fee offers newsletters, a choice of premium ornaments not available in stores or to non-members, and an invitation to register to attend special events.  Another benefit of  a paid membership is receiving a copy of the DreamBook within the membership kit each spring.  Unfortunately, these are not available to be mailed out separately.  If you wish to view more details or enroll in this program, you may find that information here http://explore.hallmark.com/keepsake-ornaments/keepsake-ornament-club/I hope this provides more clarity to the options that are currently available to see the Dream Book.  We are very sorry that we are unable to send you what you have requested, but we will pass along the feedback. Best Wishes, Chris C[redacted]Consumer Services ManagerHallmark Cards

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
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,
[redacted]

Mrs. [redacted] placed her order on 7/7.  At that time, we our credit card service obtained an authorization for the purchase amount of...

$33.95.  Once the order was successfully placed, the service attempted to settle the charge on the credit card for the full amount of $33.95 a few hours later.  At that time, the settlement failed to go through.   We attempted again to reauthorize the transaction on 7/10, but we were not successful.  We made another attempt a few hours later.  At this point, we successfully authorized the credit card for $33.95.   The transaction was completed and the charge was processed on 7/17.  At this time, we shipped the order. If Mrs. [redacted] was using a debit card for her purchase, the authorizations will put a hold on her funds until the transaction settles.  Perhaps this is why she was seeing things drop off her account.  All debit cards hold funds until purchases settle.  It’s just not quite as visible when the settlement clears on the first attempt or very close to the time the authorization was requested.   This is not a function that Hallmark controls, it’s the manner in which debit card processing is done for online purchases.  I’m very sorry that our team was not able to explain this more clearly when Mrs. [redacted] called us.  Each time, the agents did conduct research to ensure that we were not charging her incorrectly, often consulting with supervisors to be certain.  Our agents are not able to reverse authorizations because this would have prevented us from shipping the ornaments.  I show that the ornaments were delivered via USPS on Tuesday, 7/21.  Because of her concerns, Mrs. [redacted] was credited for $33.95 on 7/22 and she will be able to continue to use her membership benefits for the balance of 2015.