WWYD - Bloomingdales Makes a Mistake

madamerwin

This just came in to my inbox: http://www.jckonline.com/2015/08/19/bloomingdales-accidentally-gifts-customer-pair-10000-diamond-earrings

And I am wondering what you all would do if this happened to you. I think I would have been too afraid to spend the money, knowing that there's no way that it was legit. We've had situations at my work (on a MUCH smaller scale), where we then canceled customer's orders because of pricing glitches - but we're talking about $200 watches, not $25k. Clearly the customers suspected there was a glitch, but then again, it was completely the company's fault.

I do think it's completely ridiculous that Bloomingdale's is telling this guy he must return the merchandise that he purchased in-store, and are only offering him a $100 gift card if he does it (and threatening banishment if he doesn't)... And it seems strange that the company wouldn't have flagged the people who got the fake credit to make sure that they couldn't make in-store purchases in the first place.

novella1186

If I was just given $25,000 out of the blue as a "reward," I would expect it to either be a scam or a mistake, and I wouldn't try to spend it. That's just not something I'd want to fuck with. 

NowIamMrsKlein

I would assume it was a mistake. 

I think that people who rushed to use the card to obviously thought it was a mistake and were trying to use it before it was caught.

 If I suddenly got a 10K gift card in my email, I wouldn't immediately start shopping, I would probably a) question it and do some research into it to make sure I wasn't being scammed. and b) talk to FI about it and if we decided it was legit, decide what to spend it on.

Maybe I am the odd one out in that thinking, but I definitely question before spending.

luckya23

I would keep the earrings and watch and take the "banishment from the loyalty program".

kvruns

I would assume it was a mistake and wait to spend it, mostly because I wouldn't want to have to return or pay back what I bought if it came to that.

madamerwin

@SoontobeMrsKlein - I agree. I would always assume something like this is a mistake, and my general fear of getting in trouble would stop me from spending it until I was sure it was real. BUT - the company made the mistake, and allowed a customer to use the credit in-store. I think that any orders that went through in-store should be honored, but the customers who tried to use it online, who are bitching that their orders were canceled, should STFU and acknowledge that the company made a mistake.

At this point, trying to get the guy to bring it back is not going to work out in their favor. I mean, keep $17k or merchandise and be banned from their loyalty program? Seems worth it. Once the merchandise was out of the store, it's the company's fault and their loss to take. They should have flagged these customer's accounts as soon as they noticed the mistake (which would have been FAST - with an ecom business, those orders would start rolling in immediately).

lyndausvi

Well I would assume it's a mistake.  I'm also not a fan of opportunist.  Who looks at an email and then runs down to spend that kind of money immediately?     He (she?) knew it was a mistake.

That said, after he left the store what can they do?  They let them leave with the products.  I'm assuming they have a receipt.    Big deal they are banned from the loyalty program?  

[Deleted User]

Yikes!!! I would definitely be suspicious if I received that kind of reward via email. I would probably wait and do a bit of research before spending it. 

I'm not sure how I feel about Bloomingdale's actions though. They totally made a massive mistake. I think it's okay for them to ask customers to return the merchandise, but giving them only $100 gift cards sounds a bit like a joke. Hey, you just got $17k worth of crap for free, but return it and we will give you $100! Yeah, people shouldn't want to take merchandise that was bought with "mistake" money, but I would be even remotely surprised if no one returned stuff and cut their losses about missing out on the loyalty program.

banana468

I think the $100 is a bit of a joke here but I think only those knowing that this was probably not legitimate took the opportunity to pounce on it.    

The store is definitely at fault for doing this and the $100 is IMO, a drop in the bucket for this issue.  BUT, I find it really hard to feel sorry for the customers complaining here.

This sort of thing happens all the time on a smaller scale.   And more often than not, the company catches the glitch and cancels the orders.  It's frustrating but it's their right to do it. 

teddygirl9

I disagree with people assuming everyone would think its a mistake - if it came from the actual website, other people got it, etc, I would think it's real. I find it pretty easy to distinguish between spam, scam and real emails, and this technically was a real email.

Anyways, if I were that dude, I'd take by $17k and be gone. The only recourse they COULD have is not refunding him any cash if he tried to return the items.

 

I had something similar happen with a travel company - they were offering a $300 discount per person, per package on Vegas & Mexico vacations (flight & hotel). When I looked at the website for Vegas trips, the actual vacations were priced from $317+. So what did I do, I booked my BF the hooters hotel for $17, myself a nicer hotel for $70, and took that discount. The company realized later in the day what had happened, but they still honoured all the bookings and didn't alienate their customers.

OliveOilsMom

I would not use the reward right away because I would assume its a mistake.  If I have never spent close to that amount of money there, I would immediately think it is a mistake unless the email said something along the lines of Congratulations you have won Bloomingdale's X contest.  Even then, I wouldn't just spend that much money right away.  I'd talk it over with H and see what things we would need for our home.  I imagine I'd have to spent at least a half million dollars at any store to qualify for a $25k reward.

julieanne912

I agree that the guy who used his immediately in the store probably shouldn't have to return the stuff.  But the online orders who got cancelled later that day?  C'mon now.  

loveislouder

My mom went away for holidays and checked her account when she returned 2 weeks later, and there was $19,000.00 of not her money in there, deposited the night after she left.

She called the bank and the bank told her that technically she didn't legally have to give it back because it had been in there for too long, but they would appreciate it if she did. 

She did. But I find it hard to believe a bank would say 'why yes, random citizen, keep 19k of money that's not yours"

madamerwin

teddygirl9 said:

I disagree with people assuming everyone would think its a mistake - if it came from the actual website, other people got it, etc, I would think it's real. I find it pretty easy to distinguish between spam, scam and real emails, and this technically was a real email.

Anyways, if I were that dude, I'd take by $17k and be gone. The only recourse they COULD have is not refunding him any cash if he tried to return the items.

 

I had something similar happen with a travel company - they were offering a $300 discount per person, per package on Vegas & Mexico vacations (flight & hotel). When I looked at the website for Vegas trips, the actual vacations were priced from $317+. So what did I do, I booked my BF the hooters hotel for $17, myself a nicer hotel for $70, and took that discount. The company realized later in the day what had happened, but they still honoured all the bookings and didn't alienate their customers.

Yeah, but... $25,000??? I mean, if it were $500 or something, maybe I wouldn't think it was a mistake. But you'd have to be pretty thick to think a $25K gift card from Bloomingdale's delivered via email was legit.

teddygirl9

Maybe, but it showed some other ones that were $5k, which isn't *as* crazy. So I dunno. I tend to give people benefit of the doubt. $25k is a lot to receive as a random gift either way lol.