A copy of the letter I sent to K-Mart... Some parts * out to protect anonymity.
To Whom It May Concern:
I have shopped at K-Mart and Sears stores for most of my life and thanks to the way my husband and I were treated at your Duluth - Miller Hill K-Mart store, we will never shop at a Sears or a K-Mart again. I'm just not that much of a masochist.
I lived in Duluth, MN for ten years and moved to *, MN 2 years ago to start a new life with my then fiance, now husband. Since we didn't get to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in January (my husband's grandmother died), we decided to go to Duluth for a special weekend celebration we called "Anni-Valentine's". The weekend of February 15,16 & 17 was to be our special getaway.
We stayed at a hotel, ate at some of the best restaurants in town and did some shopping - including a trip to K-Mart for some kitchen items, jeans for my husband, slippers for me and some underwear for me. It may not sound like a big deal to you, but there are not many shopping options up here - except traveling 1 1/2 hours east or west to either go to the K-Mart in * or *. There are no slippers to be found at *. I've looked.
We purchased $109.04 in merchandise and tried to use our debit card, which was declined. We figured it was declined due to a daily cap of purchases which we had forgotten about. So I whipped out my checkbook, knowing I had over $2000.00 available, and wrote a check. My check was declined by your check verification service - Certegy. I was absolutely dumbfounded and mortified.
There I was, a person who has never written a bad check, being told my checks are no good in front of a line full of people who likely thought I was some sort of scum. I next presented my Sears card, which I had wanted to make a payment on, not rack up MORE charges on. At least that went through. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have just left the stuff on the counter and walked. I'm paying you an obnoxious interest rate because you embarassed me. Now I truly feel dumb.
I was given no reason at the counter why my check was declined, I was just handed the check back, which now had some information printed on it. I promptly went back to my hotel and called Certegy. And apparently my checking account didn't have too many issues - I was able to take out $200.00 in cash at a nearby ATM.
According to Certegy, I have no negative checks on file, nor was any sort of block placed on my account. Duh. I think I would know about that. I was then told by some guy who barely spoke English that my account was blocked because they had seen "Suspicious Activity" on it. He then said I could fill out a form to get reduced restrictions on my account. I went ahead and told Apu he could send it. (Apparently he has left the Qwik-E-Mart...)
So here are the problems I have with this situation-
1) What business does this company have poking through my checking account? I never gave anyone permission to access my account. I believe this is an illegal invasion of my privacy. I plan to ask the Minnesota Attorney General's office about it.
2) There are no posted disclosures in the store stating that my account will be checked over by you or your hired goons. (You really don't have any right to know about those purchases at WhipsNChains.com)
3) my check was declined for no valid reason, causing me embarassment!
4) I now have to pay your godawful credit card bank interest for purchases I now wish I had left on the counter while flipping whatever genius at your company came up with this idea THE BIRD. (A finger is worth a thousand words... Perhaps I could have saved myself some typing here...)
5) Your Certegy people sent me a form that looks suspiciously like a credit application. I am NOT providing any personal information to these people. They have no right to my information and I am just not dumb enough to give my information to them to sell to whatever company they wish. (Or have stolen by some random emplyee as they recently did...)
If you took five minutes to read some of the horrid accounts posted by consumers all over the country about this company, you can see why I will not be doing business with you so long as you use them.
I don't really expect you to respond to this or to give a crap, but I do want you to know that I have posted a complaint on Usa Consumer Complaints.com and. A letter to the Attorney General, Lori Swanson, is also being sent.
As a financial worker in a retail business, I know that bad checks are a real problem, but I also know that there is a right and wrong way to treat people. You folks have made the wrong choice and now I am choosing not to play the game.
If in five years your corporate people are trying to figure out why you are on your way to bankruptcy again, you now have a possible reason - pissed off and embarassed customers who decided to go elsewhere.
At least we can say each place we went gave us something special. * gave us free dessert in honor of our special occasion, as did *, the hotel gave us a discount just because they like us and you gave us some embarassment and frustration we won't soon forget.
Thanks for the memories,
*
KayWay Up North, Minnesota
U.S.A.
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