Sharper Image Does Not Honor THEIR OWN Return Policy!!! Ripoff Kansas City Missouri

I never shopped at Sharper Image until 2.5 years ago when I moved to Kansas City.

The first time I ever purchased anything through them I bought an Ionic Breeze with my credit card. To start with, the store gave me the wrong one, so I took it back. They gave me a new one, which quit working shortly after, so I took that one back too and got a replacement. When I decided that I did not want the item any longer, I took the Ionic Breeze back to the store, gave them my receipt and asked for a refund.

So what happens?....they go into their computer, pull up a record of all my purchases and returns, give me the third degree and cross-examine me about how many times I have bought and returned items to their store, then they tell me they will not give me my money money back! What's even worse is....the manager told me he would give me only 75% of what I paid for the Ionic Breeze, not my full purchase price!!! So in effectually, he was charging me a 25% restocking fee, and cheating me out of $100!!! Yeah, okay...it's okay for them to steal, but if I walked into their store and took money out of their own cash drawer, I would be arrested and would be sent off to jail!

I had my receipt AND was returning the item within their 60 day money back "guarantee" return policy. I was following the rules that THEY set in place for returns, but they would not honor their own return policy and give me my money back. The manager gave me this bullcrud that he was basing my return NOT on the date that I had purchased the most recent Ionic Breeze (10/27/06), BUT ON MY FIRST PURCHASE at the store back about 2 years ago when all the problems started with them giving me the wrong item, then one going defective on me.

This is absolute b.s. They have a return policy, and I followed the rules for returning the item, but they have ways to get around their return policy and to not honor it!

If I bought a gift for someone and they wanted to return it, then the receipt would be looked up under MY name, and based on MY purchase/return history, my friend would be declined to return the item.

I've NEVER been blacklisted by any company for returning items to a store until I shopped at Sharper Image. SHARPER IMAGE BLACKLISTS PEOPLE!

I was not happy about the manager (at the store located on the Plaza) telling me that he was going to give me only 75% of my original purchase price, so I told him I wasn't sure what I was going to do about accepting it, so I told him I would think about it. I left the store, and drove something like 25 miles to their other store in Leawood, Kansas. And by the time I had arrived their, the person in charge already knew my name and was told to not give me my money back - the manager from the other store had called ahead and warned him that I might be coming. I feel like they treated me like I was some common thief!

The manager at the store on the Plaza just had to be a busybody and stick his nose in my personal business!!! I should have just gone to the store in Leawood to begin with, but didn't do it because I don't like the manager who works there.

I was so pissed off by then that I took the Ionic Breeze and threw it across the room and told them they could have it. I have NEVER done anything like that before, by the way - I just snapped and flew off the handle....don't know what got into me - I don't normally do that. But I was so upset that when I left the store that I couldn't drive. So I had to stop at a gas station and called Sharper Image's main 800# and complained about the way the stores were treating me and told them I wanted to return every single item I EVER bought from them. They basically told me the same b.s. about basing my refund on the most recent purchase on my first Ionic Breeze I bought when I was given the wrong color/model about 2 years ago!!! They told me that they would email me a shipping label so I could return the item, but they still will not give me my $400 back, and would only give me MERCHANDISE CREDIT.

I don't ever want to go back to these stores and do business with them ever again, so what good is merchandise credit? And like I said, I originally purchased the item WITH MY CREDIT CARD, but they still will not give me my money back in the way I paid for the item.

This is bad business. I get treated better than this at WalMart. I know that Macy's or Nordstrom would never do this! Returning items to a store is part of doing business, and if Sharper Image does not want to take returns, then they should post a "NO RETURNS - ALL SALES FINAL" sign in their store, since it seems that it is up to them to bend their own rules to their own liking, instead of honoring their 60 days money back "guarantee" with a receipt! After all this, by the time I got home, I burned up a quarter tank of gas, and for what? I still accomplished nothing. Sharper Image has my money, and they won't give it back to me! Merchandise credit is not the same as giving someone their money back, because it's only credit, NOT $$$CASH!$$$

As much as I shop at WalMart, Target and other stores, and return things to them, as long as I have my receipt, and it was within the allotted return period, they gave me my money back - no hassles. They NEVER went into their computers and pulled up my purchase/return history and hassled me, crossed-examined me, and gave me the third degree about everything I have bought and returned like Sharper Image did....or told me they would only give me store credit, or only part of my purchase price. I don't need to be harassed and hassled like that, and I would much rather shop somewhere else where I will be treated more decently and humanely, and where I KNOW I will get my money back when I know am following the return policy! I would much rather shop somewhere else where the company is honest and doesn't bend their rules any which way they like just so they can wiggle out of giving me my money back.

My experience with Sharper Image has not been a good one in the short time I have been shopping at their stores. So I will not recommend to anybody I know now OR in the future as long as I live that they shop at their stores. They pretty much screwed themselves. I was looking at purchasing a massage chair that costs like $4,000. But now I'll be taking my money somewhere else!

Tammy
Grandview, Missouri