I purchased new clothes for my son's middle school graduation for which I received Kohl's Cash. As Father's Day was coming I then used the Kohl's Cash to purchase menswear items for my husband and my oldest son who's also a father. Everything fit them except for one pair of Van's shorts which were too big/long for my husband. Nevertheless, when the bill came, I wrote a check for the entire amount of all the purchases I had made and mailed it. That check was for over $270 as I paid what I owed in-full.
Subsequently, I had peeled one of the "Send $30 and get $10 off" stickers from my newspaper and returned to Kohl's where I purchased two items in order to receive the discount. Bag in hand, I proceded to the Credit Department and presented the Van's shorts that hadn't fit my husband with the original receipt to the cashier and asked for a Store Credit. I knew I would be doing more shopping and didn't want the value of my refund to be reduced as I had used Kohl's Cash to pay for part of the original purchase. I expected to have the store credit be for the exact amount I had paid for the shorts originally (subtracting the 30% I received as a discounted price prior to the Kohl's Cash being applied, the shorts cost just about $19). That is why I asked for Store Credit vs. A refund.
At first the clerk told me that my Store Credit would indeed be for $19. She started to process the transaction when all of a sudden the computer told her I'd made a new purchase early in the day and had used a $10 Off Sticker. She then told me that because of THAT NEW purchase (which had nothing to do with the shorts that I'd already sent the check for), that she could only give me a Store Credit for $9. I was being penalized for a purchase I'd made earlier in the day! Had I gone to the Credit Department and requested the Store Credit before I had shopped using my Peel Off Sticker, I'd have received the Store Credit for the entire $19.
Needless to say, I was furious. I told the clerk to give me the shorts back and that I'd find someone to give them to. Why should Kohl's have $10 of my money and leave me with a $9 Store Credit for shorts I'd already paid $19 for?!? I put my thinking cap on and swapped the 34 inch waist Vans for the identical pair with a 30 inch waist and gave them to my 19-year-old son. Fortunately, he liked them and I didn't lose any money.
I asked the clerk why I was being punished for having made a purchase earlier that day as it had been at least a week and a half between the Father's Day purchases and the hassle over the Peel Off Sticker! She told me the rules had been changed. Customers used to be given the full amount of their purchases less discounts if they requested a Store Credit, but now apparently if you use any other stickers, etc. Before you go to the credit department for your Store Credit, the amount of those reductions will be taken off your Store Credit even though the two purchases have nothing to do with one another. This is highway robbery! I hate kohl's!!! They keep changing their policies and it's NEVER IN FAVOR OF THE CUSTOMER!!! I never shop there for my own stuff as when I want to have fun I go anywhere else but Kohl's. I grit my teeth every time I need something for my husband or sons as I can usually get it there, but it is rarely if ever a happy shopping experience. I suspect one day they'll have annoyed enough customers that they'll got the way of Mervyn's and be long gone.
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