Re: Vanson Leathers complaint
April, 2006
Pauline was very bad at calling me back (just like everyone else at the Company) so I called her daily to get a status report.* The Company was very resistant to refunding me the money, repeatedly saying they wanted to earn my business again.* My point remained that I had no confidence in the Company or the product and wouldn’t use it anyway (these products are supposed to protect your life and safety in crashes, so confidence is a big issue).* Finally, Pauline said “Well, it doesn’t look like I can change your mind so we will refund your money.”* I asked if I could ship the products using their UPS shipping account, and set up the shipment.* I also called to confirm the full amount that would be refunded ($XXXX.XX) so that there would be no confusion.* Pauline said “I will make sure the person in charge of refunds knows the amount.”
The Company received the goods, so I called to find out when I would get the refund.* The next day, I heard from Pauline.* She then said she had a proposal.* She would send my jacket and pants to a tailor that was visiting a dealer in California that would fix my order on the spot.* I stopped her and reminded her we had already come to an agreement that was amicable.* She said she had made a mistake and was not authorized by the owner to give a refund.* This was not discussed, and she was now going back on her verbal agreement.* I was quite upset, but did not resort to anger or name-calling (though I was very angry).* I reminded her we had an agreement and that she must talk to the owner and get me my refund.* A week later, I was finally told I’d get the refund.* The refund didn’t post until another week after (lots of phone calls and unreturned messages were left).
The refund finally posted (another employee, named Lori, was in charge of accounting and refunds).* The amount that posted was $XXXX, not the proper full amount of $XXXX.XX.* I called to find out why and was told by Lori “That is what Pauline told me to refund, and I don’t know anything else.”* Pauline called me the next day and told me the reason the refund was for that amount was because they were authorized to keep a portion of the deposit, per the clause on the original order.* I was floored.* Two times, Pauline and her boss had gone back on their word and this last time, she had basically lied to me when she said I would get my full refund and to go ahead and send the order back.* The amount of $XXXX was never discussed nor was that clause, which I feel exists for cases of buyer’s remorse rather than a complete customer service failure.* In my opinion, Vanson Leathers not only continuously demonstrated complete incompetence, they are also dishonest people with bad intentions and no desire to do the right thing.* I understand that I legally signed a contract on the subject of retaining a portion of the refund, but I was given a verbal agreement prior to my returning my order that I would receive my full refund.* It was not until after they had received the goods and refunded me a portion of my order that I was told (after I called!) that I would not receive the full amount.
I feel that Vanson Leathers owes me the balance of $XXX.XX for this situation to be resolved.* I am not asking for punitive damages or interest.* I just want what is owed to me, and what was promised.* I will definitely never purchase anything from this Company again.
Thank you
{edit: forgot to add that when Pauline finally told me they "weren't going to do anything else for me at this point (re: refunding the correct amount), I asked who the decision was coming from. She said the owner. I asked to speak to the owner. She said "he is not available." Basically they shut me down.}
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