Trudy's Hallmark Shop — Local services in Arlington

I came in here on December 22nd to buy Christmas presents. They had a bunch of great stuff and the staff seemed pretty friendly. I got a Christmas card and some socks and asked the clerk if they had Amazon gift cards. She said yes and I asked for one worth $50 and she gave it to me. Before she rang me up I asked her (because I’ve never bought gift cards before) if A) I had to pay an activation fee and B) does the person receiving it need to call to activate it. She said the fee was included in the price and should be available to use immediately. She proceeded to ring me up and there was an error activating the card. At this point she tells me they have been having issues with their gift cards and she can’t activate it. So my debit card has already been charged $63 and some change. So she refunds the $50 gift card and I ask her when it will be available and she said “refunds go through immediately” and I said okay and walked out of the store to shop at the mall for 3 hrs. I was alerted that my bank balance was low and I checked and my card and the charge was never refunded, nor pending, nothing. So I went back into the store and found the cashier that helped me and I showed her my receipt and said it never got refunded. And she proceeded to tell me refunds go through immediately in store YET I still have a charge on my card and the money is still gone so it never got refunded. So she and I went back and forth and told me it was my bank. I work for the bank I bank with and it wasn’t on my bank so she finally got the manager after she still went back and forth with me who told me that the charge would take 3-4 business days. Well that isn’t going to work because I needed that money to buy Christmas presents and I don’t have “3-4 business days” that’s my whole point of going there. My issue is, if you KNEW that you were having issues with activating your giftcards why not tell the customer BEFOREHAND before charging their card and not being able to issue a refund. This is dishonest and I don’t appreciate being lied to. You need to be transparent about whatever issues you’re having, you know when your machines don’t work you should inform the customer of the issues before taking their money. Now if she had told me “hey, we are having issues activating your giftcards and it may or may not work, do you want to try it? “ and then I tried it thank it didn’t work then. That would be on me. But no, instead she took my money and then told me after the fact and then wasn’t able to return my money. That is dishonest and unacceptable and I will not be back here again, and I’ve let people know of this so others won’t get duped as well....

BAD BUSINESS BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE

The store locks their doors prior to the posted operating hours, they close by their "store clock." If you decide to visit this place I would call and ask them what time their "store clock" says so you can compare it to your phone clock.

If you order something through hallmark.com for store pickup, be warned that you can not just show proof of the order and pick up the item. They have to ring it up through their computer in order to receive an item that is already paid for. If they lock the doors and shutdown the computer, they will not give you the product you already paid for.

If you have a complaint or wish to speak to a manager, be prepared for the "run around." First, they will walk off to get a manager and return stating that they are the manager. When someone does that, it gives the impression that the "Store Manager" DOES NOT WANT TO TALK TO THE CUSTOMER. Second if you ask when the MAIN Store manager will be in, you are told the employees can not give out that information. You basically do not have anyone to talk to about sorting out a problem. BASICALLY, the employees working pretty much have their say and there is no one higher up to go to.

It's just bad business. No respect for the customers and misinformation posted physically on their doors as well as online. If you want to be treated like your business doesn't matter and you like being lied to, enjoy the visit. Otherwise, I do not recommend...

Questionable customer service. I bought a few boxes of Christmas cards the other day and was given a strip of shiny hallmark stickers to seal them with. At first I paid no mind to them but once I got home and started putting everything together, I realized they actually look really good on the cards. Well, I had 20 cards but only 8 stickers. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to pick up enough to cover the remaining cards, boy was I wrong. Went back and bought a few things and at time of check out i asked about them. Was told I could only get them if I bought a card, I asked how many cards would I need to buy to get the stickers I need and was given some spill about how I should have been asked how many I needed when i bought the cards before and they would have given me the stickers then and also how they dont give the stickers for cards sold in the box sets (which btw is what i bought when i was given them originally) I asked if I could just pay for the stickers and was told no. ....ridiculous honestly. Something so small is this really the hill you choose to die on? How much could the things...