Turns out over night they changed the policy! Now you have to spend $50.00 in order to use the code. Not only was that NOT the agreement as this was all that was stated in regards to it:
Welcome to CSN Rewards, the program that keeps on giving! We’re excited to have you join, and can’t wait to shower you with Rewards dollars and special promotions. Your current Rewards balance is $15.00. As a member you will receive a number of benefits that will make shopping easy:
- 3 % back on all orders
- Double rewards during private email events
- Refer a friend and earn $15.00 in Rewards.
- Member-only promotions and savings
Now, you went and made me look bad by posting all over Twitter, Facebook, my blog, and emailing ALL my friends and family that IT WAS STRING FREE and NO MINIMUM.
I understand that you musn't have realized how popular it would be but I played by the rules and so should you!
To my readers, friends, family, followers, and fans:
I apologize for sending out tweets, posts, emails, and links I thought I was passing on to you a great deal. While its still a great deal if you planned on purchasing from CSN.com its still not what I told you it would be. So I apologize. But it wasn't what CSN told ME it would be either.
To CSN:
You should honor all the codes that you gave BEFORE you changed it as well as EMAIL people if you do something like that. I have gotten emails from readers who said they spent quite a bit of time on your site (which helps your stats!) looking for what they wanted to find out afterwards about the code. They weren't happy with me.
Besides, wasn't keeping in touch with your valuable members the whole point of the referral program? You took 141 emails just from my link alone. I'm pretty sure you're not UNsubscribing all these people!
The part the truly upset me and what made me write this post was that not only did you accept my order but AFTER you changed your mind YOU CANCELLED MY ORDER! Stand behind what you say and if you change your mind at least HONOR your already purchased orders.
I am so disappointed in your company. I don't think I could ever bring myself to recommend your site again.
Email:
Hello Jennifer,
I am writing to confirm that we have cancelled the following items from your
order #10487173 at CSN Stores:
1) Melissa and Doug - Food Groups Play Set (Qty. 1)
Your new order total is $0.00.
We have had to cancel your order using the CSN Rewards promotional code. Please
note the following Terms and Conditions:
"Referrer credit may only be redeemed on orders over $50, one per household."
You will not be charged for the cancelled items. Please note it may take 2-3
weeks for a pending charge to expire on your account. If you paid with a check
or money order, you will receive your refund check in 2-4 weeks.
Please feel free to email us or call us at (800) 593-5251 with any questions.
Regards,
Justine
CSN Stores
800-593-5251
http://www.csnstores.com/
PLUS NOW YOU'RE GOING TO HANG ONTO MY MONEY FOR 2-4 WEEKS!
It may have only been very little (plus $6 shipping) but it is MY money. Pending money is STILL held money out of my account and others.
SO WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS!!!
34 comments:
I'm glad to see that you did this. It really bolsters your credibility and integrity that you would make this post. Thank you!
Thanks! I was nervous posting this. I've never said anything negative about a company. But I vouched for them. I gave you my WORD. I am a review blogger. If my opinion and words can't be trusted then my whole blog is tainted.
I hope others don't see this post in poor taste. I have received a few emails from other bloggers who are equally upset. Thanks for the support!
You have GOT to be kidding me? They sent emails saying you get the $15. THEN let you use the code...NOW they're canceling it?
Thanks for sharing this - that's horrible business on their part.
I redeemed my $60 credit today and received an invoice. I earned them under the first terms and was never informed they have suddenly become void. I fully expect to have it denied in the same unprofessional and frankly unethical manner. It's it a service to the public when such a company is exposed. Thank you for posting. I sincerely hope they decide to do the right thing.
WOW!! That is horrible. CSN contacted me a few weeks ago, but I just didn't have the time to work with them (they wanted me to do a review and all sorts of stuff) I am so happy now that I didn't do it - What a horrible way to conduct business - I definitely will NEVER do anything with them.
I got it for some sort of discount? I only paid $5 some for a thing that was $13 - still thought that was good. :)
Donnetta,
I would think so b/c if my order was cancelled then that would mean the blogger I originally linked off of was then pulled the $15 that my order gave them. HUGE ripple effect.
Good for you for writing this! I missed the post on this store but I know I'll never go there or purchase. Hopefully that will keep them honest; to know that people will respond and retaliate when someone is doing bad business.
I deleted the post so no one else would link up!
thats to bad that they did that...i was going to order from them for the first time...they are going to be missing out on new business!
That is very wrong what they did. So much for credibility.
Very interesting as I've had a bit of a panic with them earlier. hmm
Thanks for posting J.
Oh wow, that is horrible! I just ordered a Christmas present from them this afternoon, guess I'll be receiving an icky email pretty soon as well, YUCK!!
Anyway, thanks for the heads up and thanks for the great job YOU are doing!! :)
I definitely agree that this was done in poor taste. I think CSN will find that this has a huge negative effect on their business. You simply cannot promise one thing and go back on your word. And on top of it Do Not make us bloggers look bad! We value our readers and do not want to put them through this!
I have an award for you! I love your contests:)
http://travelinglacey.blogspot.com/2009/11/blog-award.html
Amen Sister!! That is exactly what I was wanting to say... it is so embarassing when a deal isn't what it was supposed to be...especially when the company OFFERED the deal. Thanks for taking the time to do that ... sometimes it is the wake up call a company needs to push them to do the right thing!!
That really sucks! I was looking forward to the $15 referral as well. :o( I am glad I was able to at least get in a couple of orders (already shipped) in since it will help out with Xmas. I am interested to see if they respond.
I never have done business with them and never will. thank you for letting people know when a company is not ethical. It keeps others from getting burned from them in the future.
wow! I am glad i read this post because they just contacted me to do a review... now I am second guessing doing it. Thanks for being honest and putting it out there!
omg, i just realized that this happened. i'm so glad you posted this! i'm going to take down my original csn post too. my order actually went through, but my friend's didn't. definitely bad business practice. i'll be linking to your post today.
that explains why my order did not go thru..VERY bad PR on their part...they just lost my business forever doing this. I am sure I am not the only one either. You do not mess with customers like this. If you make a mistake, suck it up and eat it. Good for you and GREAT post!
I saw that shortly after I posted the deal, too! I was so upset! This is not acceptable. I agree strongly that those of us with codes should be able to use them as originally promoted. I will not be shopping there.
When I clicked onto their website, it said they were not taking any new members. Of course I was disappointed. But I am shocked what they had done to their shoppers. False advertising is against the law and unethical. They should have stood by their advertisement no matter what. But word of mouth will hurt them in the end. Thank you for your posting and letting people know what kind of business they do.
Wow, how unethical as a company to do this. I reviewed for them and received this email on the promotion, but had no time to post it. Thanks for posting this!
Unbelievable! I am glad posted too. I signed up but haven't tried to order yet. I won't bother now.
I can't believe that!! I'm so sorry, hon! And nobody should be mad at you!! That's absurd.
I'm never going to work/buy from them again. Ever! I just got contacted by one of their people to do another review--and after I asked some questions I never heard from him again.
Quality work, CSN!
And thank you for posting this so everyone can know--that took a lot for you to do! xo
You are so within your rights to post this and I'm another totally ticked off blogger. What a deceitful and rude thing for them to do. My readers and friends will be hearing about this. And warned to not partronize such a company.
wow, shame on them---what jerks! It's not your fault---I don't blame you a bit. I guess they put too much on their plate but dang, they handled it SO wrong AND keeping your money!? Ugh!!! I am glad I didn't get anything yet (and now won't) but I am sorry for those who did....the company is going to regret the way the handled it; that's for sure!
that's odd... i'd noticed that my 'referral link' to friends wasn't working today, but I'd gotten notification that my item was shipped.
did they cancel your husband's order too? i thought that i remember you blogging that you'd referred him and gotten a second toy for $5 too?
That totally sucks.
I'm sorry to all those people who were cheated out of this-This is definitely very disappointing.
Thank you for posting this, though! It's good to know that you stand up for your own :)
Here's an email I received from them:
Good Morning Jennifer,
I hope you are well and that you are preparing for the excitement of the holiday season. I have seen you most recent post on CSN and wanted to make you aware of our most recent updates. Unfortunately, we have had to temporarily suspend our CSN Refer A Friend Program. There was an error in processing the promotional code for the offer. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to relaunch the program as soon as we can. Please rest assured that any affected orders will not be processed and your credit and personal information will not be stored. Again. I apologize for the confusion and please let me know if you have additional questions.
Thanks,
Tyler
For some reason, I felt iffy about them, and this confirms why. what a shame! Thanks for sharing this info!
I just wrote a long letter to CSN regarding my disappointment in their company. I am so glad to see you and other bloggers taking a stand and sharing of their bad service. I am so glad I never got the time to post this code and info regarding the referral program. What a mess. I am sorry to hear people may be blaming you on this. I as a blogger, fan of your site and past customer CSn Stores, know you were just doing your part in networking for them and they went back on their word. Shame on CSN Stores.
Thanks taking a stand.
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So glad you decided to leave me a comment! Thanks for sharing what you have to say! ~Toodles, Jennifer