Macy’s

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Thanks for Nothing – Summer 2020

Periodically we share offers from sellers that just make you scratch your head or chuckle because of the contradictions in the advertising or surprises in the fine print.

Example #1

In an online promotion, Macy’s promised to take $11.99 off a box of a particular brand of chocolates when you made any purchase. But, when reader William-Andrew went to check out, the system did not take off the full $11.99.

*MOUSE PRINT:

$11.99 off

The Macy’s online call center refused to fix the overcharge, but once stores reopened, the manager there gladly gave our consumer back the difference. Thanks for nothing (at least online), Macy’s.

 

Example #2

While we’re dumping on Macy’s, reader Gay R. sent in a coupon that promised a generous 25% off for their credit card holders. The back of the coupon, however, noted a list of exclusions in miniscule type that seemingly left little the coupon could be used for.

*MOUSE PRINT:

coupon exclusions

 

Example #3

Joe W. says he visited the Sears in Danbury, CT and had to send in a picture of a “blowout” deal he saw on some tools while getting his car repaired.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Sears Blowout

He said “at least they were brutally honest.” Thanks for nothing, Sears.

 

Example #4

And CVS was offering the same amount of savings on these masks that only looked like they were on sale.

*MOUSE PRINT:

CVS masks

Thanks for nothing, CVS.

 

Example #5

If you didn’t look carefully, you might have thought it was your lucky day to find a genuine bargain on parking downtown.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Parking $4
Credit:Reddit

 

If you find a funny or oddball offer that could be spotlighted here, please submit a copy to us.

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A Macy’s Rebate Gone Wrong

SensorGel pillowRight after Christmas, Consumer World promoted a deal on a SensorGel pillow at Macy’s as “Bargain of the Week.” It was $20, but there was a $20 full price rebate.

In January, MrConsumer’s own rebate submission was denied by the rebate fulfillment house indicating that no receipt was received. Of course I had included it. Calling them quickly revealed that indeed they had my receipt in their records, and the rebate was approved.

Then in February, some consumers contacted me saying that their rebate was denied because they purchased the pillow online rather than in the store. Here is what one consumer was told when he engaged the rebate folks in a chat session:

Macy's rebate denial

After complaints like this starting coming in, we checked the fine print of the offer on the rebate form.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Macy's rebate fine print

Clearly, right on the rebate form itself, both online and in-store purchases were permitted for this rebate.

Since it appeared that many purchasers may have had their rebates wrongfully denied, we contacted Macy’s PR folks, asking them to investigate, and if they discovered that customers were indeed owed money, that they honor those submissions. After multiple contacts, Macy’s did not reply to our inquiries.

So, MrConsumer had to use some back-channel methods to get Macy’s to do the right thing. He contacted the former CEO of Parago, the rebate fulfillment house that Macy’s uses, to ask her help. This remarkable woman dropped everything eight years ago to address a similar problem with a Norton rebate. She did the same again by contacting the new CEO at Blackhawk Network, the new owner of the fulfillment house.

A week later, a representative of Blackhawk called to say that after discussion with Macy’s and a review of all the denied rebates, they are making good for some 150 customers! And they are also going to more accurately state on the rebate form when an offer is restricted to in-store or online sales only.

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The Macy’s Columbus Day Sale that Wasn’t

About fifty years ago (yikes, how time flies), MrConsumer discovered Macy’s big “Whale of a Sale” on Columbus day. Van Heusen button down shirts were $1.99 and Levi’s were about $6. These were crazy deals, even back then.

Five decades later, Columbus Day sales are not what they used to be. But, this year Macy’s advertised $49 button down shirts for $5.99 — not bad, given 50 years of inflation.

Macy's 5.99 shirts

So MrConsumer hightailed it down to the big, flagship Macy’s store in downtown Boston in search of those shirts. Walking in circles around the men’s department led nowhere. Three salespeople who were shown the ad looked like they never knew these shirts were on sale. A fourth paced the store in search of them. Having no luck, she finally called the department manager. The manager indicated to her that this was a national ad and this store didn’t carry them. What? An advertisement that is distributed locally does not have that merchandise available locally?

More incredible is the fine print footnote in the Macy’s circular:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Macy's yes we got no bananas

What? A disclaimer that says we may not have what we advertise? As a friend is fond of saying, “I have lived too long.”

We asked Macy’s to comment on the non-availability of any $5.99 shirts and how they believed that their small disclaimer could overcome various advertising laws that require stores to have the goods they advertised. A PR spokesperson for the retailer replied:

The advertising that you referenced was noted as “clearance” merchandise, and the image shown was selected to represent the category (in this case men’s sportswear, sportshirts, knit tops and more – also evidenced by the range of original prices). As this is remaining clearance inventory – which varies by store based on sales in each location – we include the notation that the pictured items may not be available at your local Macy’s.

We don’t think that any reasonable consumer would expect to find THAT particular shirt, but clearly there is an expectation of finding SOME $5.99 shirts.