Sam’s Club Sucks
On July 26, 2018 I attempted to order a Genie QuietLift 550 1/2 HPc Belt Drive Garage Door Opener from their Web site at www.samsclub.com .
It was on sale for $129.98 which is a very good price, especially since it came with free shipping.
I went through their checkout process, charging it to my VISA card, and got the message, “We’re sorry, the credit card CVV information you have entered has been declined by Issuer. .....”
I reentered all of the credit card information and got the same results.
I called VISA. They said that they had authorized the charge. It was Sam’s Club that had declined it.
I called Sam’s Club customer service and spoke to Person #1.
That was the beginning of a long frustrating attempt to make Sam’s Club sell me the garage door opener at the advertised price.
They still haven’t done it and they still have not made it right for me.
My experience with their customer service has been that they either read from a script or they make things up. At least one hung up on me.
I got to an upper level but that hasn’t worked either. I suspect that the long delays at that level are them running everything through the Legal Department.
Since the Federal Trade Commission had their teeth pulled decades ago I filed a complaint with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. I did that because the Sam’s Club headquarters is in Arkansas.
Where it stands now is pretty much nowhere. But they will keep my complaint on file for monitoring and future reference.
If Sam’s Club is screwing with you, the way to contact the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office is here:
https://arkansasag.gov/forms/file-a-consumer-complaint/
It says that a consumer complaint form may also be downloaded and mailed or emailed. Their email address is:
Consumer@ArkansasAG.gov. They also have a Hotline: 800-482-8982.
If Sam’s Club is screwing with you file a complaint with the Arkansas Attorney General. If enough people do it they will see the extent of the problem and may be able to do something about it.
Of course, I might be the only one Sam’s Club is screwing with.
But I don’t think so.
In what follows, where I am reproducing emails I have eliminated the parts that quote other emails. I have also done some minor reformatting to make them easier to read.
Jed Margolin
Virginia City Highlands, Nevada
September 5, 2018
After posting this on September 5 and sending Sam’s Club a link to it they offered me a $100 gift card.
I thought about it for a day or two and said ok.
They say it will be good at Sam’s Club warehouses, the Sam’s Club Web site, and Walmart in-store and online.
And they said: The E-gift card is valid until the year Jan 1st, 3025 so it will never expire.
That’s interesting. The gift card is good for almost 1007 years. This could be a good intro for a science fiction story.
I have myself frozen and awake in 3018. There is still $10 on the gift card. A Court rules that Walmart has to pay interest on it and pay me in New New New Dollars. It comes to enough money to own Walmart.
By then Walmart has merged with Amazon, Apple, Google, and China. They own most of the planet. Now I do. When the name “Microsoft” appears on Jeopardy 3000 no one knows who they were. Elon Musk’s Mars colonies were so successful that he declared himself the owner of Mars and gave himself a huge tax abatement for his new warp drive factory.
And I have a robot friend named Bender.
JM
September 9, 2018.
This is how it started.
After spending several hours over several days on the phone with Sam’s Club customer service and getting nowhere I filed my complaint with the Arkansas Attorney General (https://arkansasag.gov/forms/file-a-consumer-complaint/)
Here is what I filed:
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This is a complaint about fraud committed by Sam’s Club, 2101 S.E. Simple Savings Drive, Bentonville, AR 72716-0745.
On July 26, 2018 I attempted to order a Genie QuietLift 550 1/2 HPc Belt Drive Garage Door Opener from their Web site at www.samsclub.com .
It was on sale for $129.98 which is a very good price.
I went through their checkout process, charging it to my VISA card, and got the message, “We’re sorry, the credit card CVV information you have entered has been declined by Issuer. .....”
I reentered all of the credit card information and got the same results.
I called VISA. They said that they had authorized the charge. It was Sam’s Club that had declined it.
I called Sam’s Club customer service and spoke to Person #1. She said VISA had declined the charge. I told them they were wrong and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor (Person #2) said the same thing but she would escalate it to the next level. I told her the item goes off sale on the 29th. She that they would resolve it within 2 hours.
I got a temporary credit card number from VISA, used it to pay for the item, and got the same result. “We’re sorry, the credit card CVV information you have entered has been declined by Issuer. .....”
I called Sam’s Club customer service again. Person #3 said there was no record of my having called and that this next level escalation takes 24-48 hours. He promised to escalate it and gave me a Reference Number: 180726013070. I read it back to him to confirm it.
I called back later to see if Person #3 had done as he had promised. He hadn’t. Person #4 said the Reference Number was not a valid Reference Number.
I told Person #4 that either their Web site had been hacked or they had decided not to sell the item at the advertised price. Person #4 looked it up and said that they were waiting for VISA to authorize the charge.
No, they are not. Every one of them has lied to me.
Either their Web site has been hacked or they have decided not to sell the item at the advertised price. Since they refuse to guarantee that they will sell me the item at the advertised price after it goes off-sale in three days it looks like the latter.
There used to be a Federal agency that would hold a company’s feet to the fire when they pulled this crap. Sadly, the Federal Trade Commission stopped doing this sometime in the last century.
You are my last hope. Please help me.
Jed Margolin
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I attached a file I made from the Sam’s Club Web site. Click here.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> To: <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2018 1:00 PM Subject: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
August 3, 2018
Jed Margolin jm@jmargolin.com
Re: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
Dear Mr. Jed Margolin:
Your complaint to the Consumer Protection Division has been received and assigned to me for processing. It will take some time to attempt resolution of your complaint. We will notify you of any progress made on your behalf.
Your file number is 18-08172. If you have any questions regarding your complaint, please contact us at the phone number or email listed below.
Sincerely,
Liz Garcia
Investigator Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge 323 Center Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Office: 501.682.3561 │ Fax: 501.682.8118 liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov │ ArkansasAG.gov
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From: Jed Margolin [mailto:jm@jmargolin.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 2:43 PM To: Liz Garcia Subject: Re: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
Dear Ms. Garcia,
I received a message today from Sam's Club regarding my complaint. I am attaching it so you can hear it, too.
The caller said his name was Jeff Samual? Daniel? Tamual? I can't make it out.
He said his phone number is 1-417-680-2344. That part came through very clearly.
That number (in Joplin, Mo) does not work. It is a fake number. He withheld his Caller ID number so I do not have another number to call.
He also said he was going to send me an email. I did not get an email from him.
Sam's Club clearly has no interest in settling this matter. Their only interest is in aggravating me even further.
I would like you to fine them. I think a fine of $680,000 would be enough to discourage them from their continuing contemptible behavior.
Regards,
Jed Margolin
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Here is the phone message I received from Sam’s Club. Click here.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> To: "'Jed Margolin'" <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 1:44 PM Subject: RE: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
Good afternoon Mr. Margolin. Thank you for the additional information you provided to us. I also could not understand his last name and I tried to call the number but it did not go through.
I have left a voicemail for our contact at their Executive Escalations Division regarding this matter. I will let you know when I receive a response from them.
Thank you.
Liz Garcia Investigator Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge 323 Center Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Office: 501.682.3561 │ Fax: 501.682.8118 liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov │ ArkansasAG.gov
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Jed Margolin
From: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> To: <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 3:07 PM Subject: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 [Incident: 180815-008124]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may re-open it within the next 30 days by replying to this email.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172
Response By Email (Jesse ) (08/15/2018 06:07 PM)
Hello Jed,
Thank you for being a valued Sam's Club member. Providing excellent member service is our top priority.
Please accept my apologies for the trouble you experienced while attempting to purchase an item that was on Shocking Value. According to the photos that were provided it appears that the denial code and AVS reason code were reflecting that the account that was trying to be charged didn't have sufficient funds available.
We understand that you wished to have purchased this during the sale, but given this was a not an error within our system but rather a payment issue we still want to assist. As such we wish to provide an E-gift card for $40 the difference in price from the sale to it's current listed price. Should this be acceptable please reply back so that we may issue that card for you as soon as possible. If you have any additional questions or concerns please feel free to contact us or use the Help Center link located at the bottom of any page on www.Samsclub.com.
Sincerely,
Jesse
Sam's Club Corporate Support Specialist 2101 SE Simple Savings Drive Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
Question Reference # 180815-008124 Date Created: 08/15/2018 06:07 PM Date Last Updated: 08/15/2018 06:07 PM Status: Resolved
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Jed Margolin
From: "Jed Margolin" <jm@jmargolin.com> To: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> Cc: <esamssc@samsclub.com> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2018 4:55 AM Attach: samsclub_2018_0815.pdf
Subject: Re: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
Dear Ms. Garcia,
I received an email from Sam’s Club yesterday which I have attached: samsclub_2018_0815.pdf .
A. It contains the statement:
Please accept my apologies for the trouble you experienced while attempting to purchase an item that was on Shocking Value. According to the photos that were provided it appears that the denial code and AVS reason code were reflecting that the account that was trying to be charged didn't have sufficient funds available.
The statement is demonstrably untrue.
1. When I called VISA they said they had approved the charge, it was Sam’s Club that had declined it.
2. My credit limit on that card is well above the amount of the Genie Garage Door Opener.
3. I got a ShopSafe card number which is a new credit card number valid for a set length of time and with a credit limit that I set for $180 which would more than cover the $129.98 cost of the Garage Door Opener. When I tried that card Sam’s Club responded with the same message: “We’re sorry, the credit card CVV information you have entered has been declined by Issuer. .....”
(Don’t worry, I have closed the ShopSafe card number.)
4. The phrase “didn't have sufficient funds available” is not a phrase that is used with a credit card. It might be used with a checking account or a debit card but not a credit card. With a credit card the phrase would be “exceeded customer’s credit limit.” I obviously had not done that.
Sam’s Club made it up.
And Sam’s Club’s response is not only untrue, it is defamatory.
My FICA score is currently 800. If they damage it I will have to sue these Evil Lying Bastards (ELBs).
B. In their email the ELBs have offered me a $40 gift card.
1. Even if I accepted it, it would not cover the difference in cost of the Genie Garage Door Opener.
Reno’s sales tax is 8.265%. The sales price was $129.98 . The total price would have been $140.73.
(Their Web site said the total cost would have been $139.86. Perhaps they were using Storey County’s sales tax rate. (I live in Storey County, not Reno which is in Washoe County.
Shipping was free.
The current price is $169.98. https://www.samsclub.com/sams/genie-quiet-lift-belt-drive-garage-dooropener/prod22390572.ip?xid=plp_product_1_4
With sales tax it would be $184.03. Shipping is no longer free. With shipping it would be $199.20.
The difference is $59.34 . They couldn’t even get that right.
2. Considering the amount of my time that they have wasted, and that they have now defamed me, and possibly damaged my credit rating, this has to cost them a lot more than $40, whether it goes to me or to the State of Arkansas. You should fine them $680,059.34 .
And even if I accepted their gift card it wouldn’t do me much good unless I could use it at Home Depot.
Sincerely yours,
Jed Margolin
P.S. - The message from Jeff whats-his-name with the fake phone number was simply contemptible. The cover-up is always worse than the original offense, isn’t it?
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Jed Margolin
From: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> To: "'Jed Margolin'" <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2018 5:50 AM Subject: RE: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172
Thank you for the additional information. As of today we have not received Sam’s formal response to our office although it will most likely be similar to what they sent to you. I will send it to you as soon as we receive it.
Unfortunately we cannot obligate them to offer anything additional to the gift card but we will keep your complaint on file for monitoring and future reference.
Thank you.
Liz Garcia Investigator Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge 323 Center Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Office: 501.682.3561 │ Fax: 501.682.8118 liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov │ ArkansasAG.gov
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I received a phone message from someone who said her name was Laura from Sam’s Club. Click Here.
Then I received an email from her.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> To: <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2018 5:47 PM Subject: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 [Incident: 180815-008124]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within hours. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172
Response By Email (Laura) (08/30/2018 08:47 PM)
Hello Mr. Margolin,
I phoned and left a message for you.
If you would be so kind to respond and let me know when a good time to call would be, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Laura
Corporate Support Member Relationship Care Professional Sam's Club 2101 SE Simple Savings Drive Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
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I sent a response to her.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Jed Margolin" <jm@jmargolin.com> To: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> Cc: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2018 6:06 PM Subject: Re: Consumer Complaint No. 18-08172 [Incident: 180816-001371]
Dear Sam's Club,
I have received a telephone message from someone identifying herself as Laura. See attached file.
She said to reply to this email and tell her when a good time to call me would be.
I think you are wasting my time again.
Call now, before 6:30pm Pacific. 775-847-7845.
1. All you had to do was to sell me the garage door opener at the advertised price (with free shipping that was promised). You refused to do that.
2. Then you belatedly offered me a gift card with a value less than the difference between the sale price and the current price.
3. You have already wasted at least three hours of my life. Those are three hours that I will never get back. And now you want to waste even more.
4. It is up to YOU to come up with a solution. Not me. You are acting in bad faith again.
5. Your explanation that my credit card was declined for insufficient funds is stupid. I consider your last email a threat. If you report to the credit reporting agencies that my credit card was declined for insufficient funds this conversation is over. Your company will hear from my attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schrek. I assume that your Arkansas headquarters is where you accept legal service. Please confirm.
6. According to Ms. Garcia of the Arkansas Attorney General's Office they will keep my complaint on file for monitoring and future reference. I suspect that most of the people you have cheated and threatened don't know whom to contact. So I will start blogging this on my Web site (www.jmargolin.com) whether you call me back or not.
Have a nice day,
Jed Margolin
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She didn’t call me back. Perhaps she had gone home immediately after she sent me her email.
She didn’t call me back the next day. And still hasn’t.
So, I am keeping my promise to blog it.
Jed Margolin
Virginia City Highlands, Nevada
September 5, 2018
P.S. - Sam’s Club should change their name to the ELB Club.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Jed Margolin" <jm@jmargolin.com> To: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> Cc: "Liz Garcia" <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2018 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 [Incident: 180815-008124]
Dear Laura.
I have kept my promise to blog it: http://www.jmargolin.com/samsclub/
Regards,
Jed Margolin
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They looked at this blog. This is from my server log:
161.167.229.17 161.167.229.17 - - [05/Sep/2018:11:50:39 -0600] "GET /samsclub/ HTTP/1.1" 200
10857 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
It came from:
IP Address 161.167.229.17
Country United States
Region Arkansas
City Bella Vista
Latitude & Longitude of City 36.481460, -94.273260 (36°28'53"N 94°16'24"W)
ISP Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Local Time 06 Sep, 2018 06:30 PM (UTC -05:00)
Domain walmart.com
Net Speed (COMP) Company/T1
IDD & Area Code (1) 479
ZIP Code 72714
Weather Station Bella Vista (USAR0043)
(When an IP address does not resolve to a domain name I use: https://www.ip2location.com/)
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From: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> To: <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2018 3:18 PM
Subject: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 MARGOLIN [Incident: 180815-008124]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may re-open it within the next 30 days by replying to this email.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 MARGOLIN
Response By Email (Jesse ) (09/05/2018 06:18 PM)
Hello Mr. Margolin,
Thank you for being a Valued Sam's Club Member.
We are truly sorry that the offer of $40 was not sufficient to cover the cost of the purchase of the item you were attempting to order. Please accept our apologies after review of the item and it's current cost including taxes and shipping we would like to offer an E-gift card for the value of $100.
Should this be an acceptable offer reply back to this email correspondence. Once we have received your response we will issue the gift card as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Jesse
Sam's Club Corporate Support Specialist 2101 SE Simple Savings Drive Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
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I thought about it for a day or two.
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Jed Margolin
From: "Jed Margolin" <jm@jmargolin.com> To: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> Cc: <liz.garcia@arkansasag.gov> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2018 11:15 PM
Subject: Re: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 MARGOLIN [Incident: 180815-008124]
Dear Sam's Club,
I accept your offer of a $100 gift card as long as:
1. It will be valid for a period of at least one year; and
2. I can use it in your warehouse as well as on your Web site.
Jed Margolin
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From: "Sam's Club Member Services" <esamssc@samsclub.com> To: <jm@jmargolin.com> Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2018 3:41 PM Subject: AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 MARGOLIN [Incident: 180815-008124]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may re-open it within the next 30 days by replying to this email.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
AG - Complaint Case - 18-08172 MARGOLIN
Response By Email (Jesse ) (09/09/2018 06:41 PM)
Hello Mr. Margolin,
Thank you for your replying back to my last email. The gift card as agreed upon has been issued.
As requested the E-gift card was processed to the email on file. Also to answer your questions.
1. The E-gift card is valid until the year Jan 1st, 3025 so it will never expire.
2. The gift card can be redeemed both in club as well as online both at Wal-mart locations and Sam's Clubs.
Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us or use the Help Center link located at the bottom of any page on www.Samsclub.com.
Sincerely,
Jesse
Sam's Club Corporate Support Specialist 2101 SE Simple Savings Drive Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
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