d**k's Sporting Goods Corporation REFUSED me picking up a gun safe I purchased (with receiept) Flower Mound, Texas

For starters, the first rebuttals were spot on, and none of them claimed to be an employee for the company.  I am, from a store in the Chicago land area.  I am a full time supervisor, and understand the exact nature of this transaction, as I oversee the cashiers (I cannot leave the front end during my shift unless someone else is there to cover).  So here is how things go.

The customer purchased a gun safe, and was having the store hold it so it could be picked up at a later date.  At the Point of Sale, either the cashier, a manager, or the sales associate directly selling the item, in this case the lodge associate, will fill out the Customer Pick-Up Log.  There are 2 columns, with the left column divided into a top and bottom.  In the top left column, it is filled out day of purchase.  It requires a customer name, telephone number, item description, the receipt information (date, register number, transaction number (which, when combined with the store number, is how we can pull up a receipt if the barcode won't scan), and expected date of pickup (an estimate)).  The bottom left has a section for when the customer is actually picking it up.  In that section, at Point of Pick-up, it requires a supervisor or manager signature, signature of the individual picking it up, date of pickup, and an ID number.  Yes, when the pickup is being made, an ID is required, because if the customer wanted someone else to pick up the item, they can.  The ID is taken down, so if there is an issue, it can be tracked by the authorities (I'd imagine at least, and that's what I tell customers when I explain needing an ID).  A receipt is also required.  The right column is used for a copy of the receipt, taken from the held item.  

The customer is told they have 30 days to make said pickup.  If it's been close, or beyond, 30 days, just sitting there with a sold sticker and a receipt on it, then the managers begin to occasionally call the customer as a reminder that their item, that was paid for, needs to be picked up.  If after a handful of calls, no pickup has been made, the store then contacts the Loss Prevention manager, who stops in each store at least once a month.  It goes from there.  I'm not sure how long it can be held before additional action has taken place, but as the previous posters mentioned, a 6-12 month time frame sounds reasonable/accurate in my estimation.  Whatever the date, there is some legal, written, guideline somewhere.  I personally have not read it, but I imagine that at least the store manager would know.  

When it comes to keeping the pickup log, I'm not sure how long is required, but again, there is a date written somewhere.  I believe it's either the store manager or loss prevention manager who removes it from the regular location, and what happens beyond that, I'm not sure of the policy, but I would imagine it is likely filed for at least a number of months, if not years.  If I had to make a guess, I'd say 3 years sounds accurate (tax exempt must be kept five years, same with credit slips, so 5 years could be the guideline too).  The rationale for not showing the customer the log, I'd need to know the exact policy on storage, but a full 2 years after purchase, it wouldn't matter.  It would have to go through the corporate level anyways.  That's well beyond the managers hands.  I could maybe understand forgetting about a $50-100 item.  Maybe.  But $551?  With having a d**k's Credit Card???  Even if all customer information was lost, just being a DCC holder, it is another avenue towards tracking down some proof of purchase.  2 years later, not sure, but if any of the same associates were there from the time of the purchase through 2009, when the attempt to pickup was being made, someone would have remembered.  In lodge, even a poor associate would remember a story being told like that, especially if they were the customer who sold the safe.  The store manager was likely on the phone with LP numerous times before the customer went to corporate, and there would have been tracking of the situation, given how unusual it was.  A high money item like that, and also given how big it is and how much space it takes to store it, someone would have known something along the way.  

Not being refunded by GE Money is a no brainer.  It was a legit purchase made by the customer.  From the credit card company's standpoint, no fraud was made, and just because you lost your item, it's not on them to fix it for you.  I am surprised corporate didn't just cave to the customer, as our corporate isn't the most intelligent and often caves just to hope they return and become a lifelong customer.  But I do agree with corporate here, 2 years later, I would understand being charged a storage fee, and that didn't happen.   In my honest opinion, it sounds like a scam.  I at least it is a scam, and not that the customer is really, truly, that foolish to not notice $551 that they don't have and having a separate account to get an extra discount and extra reward points.  

Then, finally, how come this report is coming about in 2011, years after the incidents all took place???  The only reason I even commented, and in this much depth, is because I am so dumbfounded at just how extreme of a case this is, and shows just how irrational customers can be capable of being.  I've seen a lot in my time in retail (started with Jewel-Osco, now been with d**k's Sporting Goods since May 2008 and on the verge of another promotion), and this one is one of the most absurd incidents I could even imagine, let alone actually happen.  Hope someone who reads this enjoyed my analysis.  It amused me to read the report to that extreme.  Good day everyone

It was considered abandoned after a reasonable period of time (6-12 months).

Credit card disputes must be filed within 90 days, not three years.

Today's been an exceptional day for reports not making a lick of sense. What on earth actually transpired here?
Did you buy this thing on a layaway plan? Why did you buy this item in 2007 and not take immediate possession of it? Was it a special order that was on back-order or had a long lead time for delivery? Was it supposed to be picked up at a later date in store, or delivered to your home?I'm just not understanding why you did not have immediate possession of this item, let alone still not have it after years.

Businesses, by the way, operate on fiscal years financially and typically there will be a limit on recovery of anything they owe you if no attempt is made to redeem it within a certain amount of time, including gift cards etc (expiration dates). One reason of course can be written off as greed, but the other reason is they need to close the books on liabilities at some point. They cannot just keep a liability on their books forever because someone failed to collect on it.

Please fill in all the missing dots.

You found your paperwork a year later and expect everything to still be okay? I would imagine d**k's thought, reasonably, that you were trying to rip THEM off. Why, at this late date, 2011, are you posting this? I would also have to agree with Ms. Taggart.

I know you don't want to hear this, but you weren't Ripped Off.  Put yourself in the merchant's shoes and consider what you would likely do.

I AM truly sorry you lost your paid for gun safe.

Please tell us you didn't wait 3 years to attempt to pick up the safe.