EXPRESS Clothing For Women and Men Purchased E-Giftcard: Delayed Delivery 24 HRS, Canceled after 48HRS, Never Contacted Me, Still Took My Money, Refuses To Refund http://www.express.com/home.jsp, Internet

I purchased an electronic gift card (e-giftcard) from Express.com on December 15, 2011.  Express.com is the website for the popular clothing store known as Express.  This was the first time I ever used their website.  It's also the last time. 

The gift card was a Christmas gift for my brother.  There were some items he wanted to wear on Christmas day and Express had them.  After I placed my order, I received a confirmation e-mail with an order#, the details of my online transaction and a statement that read:  "We will send you confirmation..." when the gift card is received.  I called my brother and told him to expect it in his e-mail soon.  But after several hours, he still hadn't received it nor had I received the awaited confirmation of receipt.  I then checked my bank statement and saw that Express received payment for my order.  We waited but nothing arrived. 

The next day,  (December 16, 2011) he still hadn't received it so I called the company and provided my order#.  I was told, "Everything is fine, we take special precautions to avoid fraudulent transactions, it can take up to 48 hours for delivery of the e-giftcard."  E-giftcards are supposed to be fast and convenient and never, not with any other company, have I ever had to wait for anything other than instantaneous delivery.  This delay, I told them, was absurd.  They did process the charge, the product was paid for, why wouldn't they just deliver it?  I was then assured, "It will most likely be in his e-mail today, do not worry."  So, we waited... again.

The next day,  (December 17, 2011) the e-giftcard STILL had not arrived so I called the company later that night to be certain we'd crossed well over the 48 hour mark.  But before I did so, I found the tracking number on my receipt and attempted to view my order status on their website.  All I received were error messages as they are obviously experiencing technical problems.  Anyway, on the phone with Express again...  I was told, "Your order has been canceled."  I asked why.  They said, "Your billing address did not match."  It most certainly does match.  I asked, "How else could you have received payment for it then?  The bank wouldn't allow the transaction if the billing info I provided did not match."  I told them I wanted a refund.  The customer service rep then told me, "We did not charge you."  I told them they did in fact charge me, 2 DAYS AGO.  They denied it.  I spoke with their 3rd shift supervisor and he too, denied that their company charged me.  ARGH!!

I then called my bank.  My bank said, "They did charge you and they wouldn't have been able to do that if the billing address did not match."  I was right.  My bank was right.  Express was WRONG, on pretty much every level.  After discussing the situation with my bank further, they explained, "The money is in 'hold' status, inaccessible to you, and if they don't claim it by the end of December 21, 2011, the money will be returned to you."  So, I have to wait until the morning of December 22, 2011 to know if the money will be put back into my account and if it doesn't, then I have to file a dispute so my bank can investigate the charge.

It's Christmas for God's sake.  I don't need this aggravation or having my money tied up because Express screwed up... badly.  I explained the situation to my brother and he understands but that doesn't change the fact that he won't have his Christmas gift in time for Christmas.  I will never do business with EXPRESS again and I will be sure to tell as many people as I can about my misadventures with Express.com.  Consider yourself warned!