for those of you without a teenage daughter here is a moment of explanation that you will need... forever 21 is a clothing store in the mall with MILLIONS of poorly organized, poorly constructed but very reasonably priced trendy items for teenage girls. it is one of the FEW stores that i allow millie to shop in at our mall because over my dead body is she setting a foot in abercrombie or hollister. and if she does step in there over my dead body, i feel sure that the Lord will give me satisfaction and will make everything in there not fit her or make her look 20 pounds heavier than she is. i serve a God of justice...

anywho... back to the beginning of the tragic tale....

millie is in forever 21 and has picked out a lovely yellow sundress, poorly made, but only $29.80.

for those of you without a teenage daughter here is a moment of explanation that you will need... forever 21 is a clothing store in the mall with MILLIONS of poorly organized, poorly constructed but very reasonably priced trendy items for teenage girls. it is one of the FEW stores that i allow millie to shop in at our mall because over my dead body is she setting a foot in abercrombie or hollister. and if she does step in there over my dead body, i feel sure that the Lord will give me satisfaction and will make everything in there not fit her or make her look 20 pounds heavier than she is. i serve a God of justice...

anywho... back to the beginning of the tragic tale....

millie is in forever 21 and has picked out a lovely yellow sundress, poorly made, but only $29.80.

the manager says that we can go to the mall customer service which is just right upstairs and talk to them since it is a mall gift card. so we head out to do that. i consult a mall map and mall customer service is not “right upstairs” as the manager had indicated. it is in another time zone on the furthest corner of the mall. ugh.... but it was millie’s mistake, so we should have to go and correct this....

but then i ask millie what button she had pushed that had voided the card. and she said that she had handed the card to the cashier and the cashier had voided the card. and then asked millie for cash to pay for the purchase....

i turn around so fast that the mall shifts on its axis a bit and i head back into forever 21 so fast that several seams fall off of poorly made garments in my path.

i ask FIRMY but politely to see the manager again. she comes out and says “are you back already?” 

“ummm, no. i don’t know if you are aware of this but it was your cashier who made the mistake and voided the card”

“yes, i knew the situation.”

“well, if it had been my daughter’s fault then we would have been responsible for rectifying the situation, but since it was the store’s fault, i think you should have to figure out what to do.”

however she kept insisting there was NOTHING they could do, that we would have to go home and wait for 2 days for the money to magically reappear on my card. 

well, i have been waiting 41 years for money to magically appear into my life AND IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET LADY! i didn’t say that, but i thought about it...

anyway finally i asked her if SHE could call the mall office, which she did after an eye roll and nary an apology to me or to millie. my poor teenage daughter is now trying desperately to remember if there are ANY stores at the mall that her mom isn’t mad at and she is most likely now thinking “hmm, i wonder if sears has any trendy clothing next to their lawn mower section?” or “could i witness to mr. abercrombie and his life change dramatically as he now features clothing to protect one’s chastity as the new spring line”. 

nothing came of that phone call. or to the next one to discover who issued the gift card except for the wait two days for the “magical reappearing money because we are so david copperfield like” line again. finally manager lady says that if she could find a fax machine (which they don’t have there) she could fax in a report and we might have money an hour or two after they received the fax. 

i tell her that i am done shopping for that day and isn’t there anything else they can do. she says that she can’t think of anything. i tell her that i can think of a few things they could do in the name of customer service and decency and getting me OUT OF HER STORE....

1) they could exchange our gift card for a store credit and then they could use the mall gift card in two days to reimburse themselves.

2) they could offer us a discount on the dress IF we do return to purchase it.

nah, she can’t do anything like that. but she can hold the dress until that night. 

BUT I WON’T HAVE THE MONEY FOR TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i say at a low volume but high seriousness level.

i explain to her that we walked in with $35, it was taken from us and now they are telling us we have to COME BACK TO THE MALL in a few days to get our money back.

she says yes, that i what happened. like it is a perfectly reasonable thing. 

which it isn’t to me.... really, it seems a bit THIEF LIKE....

i sent a kind of nice-ish note to the corporate office upon arriving home.

My daughter and I were shopping at the Forever 21 store in Governor's Square Mall in Tallahassee, FL on Saturday, March 21st. My daughter attempted to use a Mall Gift Card that she had received as a gift. The cashier made a mistake and voided the card. My daughter was told that she would have to pay cash for the items and that she couldn't use the card.

I then spoke to the manager and we were told that there was nothing that could be done. The manager attempted in no way to help us or to give us any suggestions other than to wait a few days and come back. She did not seem to understand that this might be an inconvenience to us in any way. 

I asked if there was anything that the store could do because I did not want to have to come back another day to complete the transaction. Finally the manager said that she could try to call the company that issued the card. She did so and after a few minutes returned and said that the money would be back on the card in two days OR that she could try to find a fax machine, fax some info, and after a few hours it might be back on. She indicated that this would be a lot of work for her to do but she would do it if we wanted her to.

i told her that we were done shopping (since we had no money on the gift card) and that we didn't want to wait a few hours so we would have to come back later. I inquired about whether the dress my daughter had selected would still be on hold for her and she said that she could only hold it until that evening. When I reminded her that we wouldn't have the money on the card for a few days, she said that she would "try" to hold the item for a few days. 

These days, we are not doing much shopping and we are watching carefully where our money goes. My daughter and I have enjoyed the reasonable prices at your mall store and the wonderful selection of clothing. But we will NOT continue to spend our money there if there is not customer service to match the prices and selection. 

Thank you,

Lea Marshall

and this came back to me rather quickly....

Dear Lea,

On behalf of Forever 21, we want to extend our sincere apology for the poor service you received from the Governor's Square store location in Tallahassee, FL. Here at Forever 21, we strive to make the shopping experience as pleasurable as possible for our patrons. Please be assured that any and all concerns where this is compromised is not taken lightly or dismissed as permissible by any means. 

Your complaint has been addressed and the appropriate persons responsible for that district as well as, the store manager and staff have been made aware and if applicable, re-trained as a result of your concern. 

Again, please accept this apology and we look forward to serve you better. 

We hope that you continue to be our valued customer.

If you have any further questions/concerns, please call our customer service line at (888) 494-3837 or by emailing us at online@forever21.com. Our representatives are available to take your calls and email Monday through Friday, 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and Saturday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Sincerely,

Sandy A

Forever 21 - Customer Service

of course nothing says “continue to be our valued customer” like perhaps a GIFT CARD or a DISCOUNT... we will see what happens when i go back in and attempt to find the dress that the manager said they would hold until i came back... and if they are not holding that dress... well, you will hear all about it on the news...

“also injured in the fracas were 56 mannequins wearing totally inappropriate outfits”

the $$$$$$ has not magically appeared onto the card yet (i keep calling he 1.800 # on the card to check my balance). i am giving them until tomorrow. that will be THREE days after the voiding. i am giving them three days in the spirit of Christian generosity and because it is so close to easter and if Jesus can rise from the grave in three days....well, you get my point.

side note... when i explained the whole story to adam (who was on a boyscout camp out with maxx all weekend) he said, “wow, your life is just like job’s”. sarcasm is much cuter on me than on him. good thing he was away at the campground when he said that or he would have faced the wrath of a woman who is twice the age of “forever 21”....