At Christmas time, I purchased a significant amount of stuff from my local Brookstone store. One item was located NEAR other items that were marked as "Discontinued - Sales Final". The labels were clearly marked; defining the item, the discounted price, etc.
I attempted to return this item. I was told that it was not returnable because it was a discontinued item and all sales were final. I advised that this particular item was NOT marked as a discontinued product. The manager argued with me while another sales associate "listened in" and proceeded to collect a sign/label from the shelf. She brought it back, whispered to the manager, and the manager presented it to me. I pointed out that this label was NOT for the item I was attempting to return. The sales associate said my item was "discontinued, too". I again, pointed out that the labels define specific items and this was not labeled as such. The associate replied "oh, well we took that label down earlier today." I asked to see the label. I was advised it had been disposed of. I argued that there was no label for this item. The manager basically said "too bad."
I asked for the corporate headquarters number. I proceeded to call them and followed the verbal prompts to reach the person with whom I would file a complaint. The voicemail was that of the assistant to a VP of customer service. I was advised to leave a detailed message about my problem and a phone number where I could be reached. They've never returned my call.
In addition, the one item I bought from the discontinued rack was a digital photo frame. It doesn't work. I cannot save any of the settings once I make changes and it will not read the photo files. Of course, if they won't accept a return on the item that wasn't actually on clearance... I'm sure they won't accept this. After doing some reading online, it appears many people have experienced similar issues and Brookstone has not made good on their purchases either.
A plug in the accessory kit I bought for my son's iPod doesn't work either. Overpriced junk, apparently. Altogether, I'm out about $100. While the product quality alone gives me reason enough to not go back, I certainly wouldn't consider shopping at a place that has such little respect for its customers. I'm infuriated that I can't even get a return call!
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