ButchMayhew.com

Open Letter to Walmart pertaining to the Walmart Debit Gift Card. This is much different than the walmart giftcard, this was a card you can purchase which promises to be a Visa Debit card.  I am not sure about instore purchases but as for purchasing stuff online I did not have any luck with it, and was too scared to try again for my christmas shopping. Avoid these at all costs!!!!

Why I purchased the card.  I had an extra 100.00 lying around that my wife didn’t know about. I purchased this card so I could by some stuff for her online without her knowing about it and surprise her.  I was planning on shopping on Black Friday 11/28 with the final balance of the card from the Khols purchase but in turn was not able to.  Thanks for ruining the Christmas surprise.  My wife now knows what I am doing because literally this has been stressing me out and I needed to vent.  Please see the issues below.

Purchased the card 11/19 at local walmart total 105.44 after the fee.  Fee of 5.44 I guess to cover the card. I paid cash for this and was hoping to surprise Rebecca with an extra Christmas gift.

I attempted to use the card on 11/21 with Khols online.  I made 2 transactions which were dined totaling around 98.00.  Neither went through I went online to check my balance on my card and found that I only had 2.00 left on the card as available balance. I called Khols and they advised that They are not able to process the Walmart Visa Gift Cards and that they would not take this as payment.  I requested they remove the charges from the card, she advised if I had a fax number she could fax over a form which would allow the automatic removal of funds to the card company I was unable to get a fax number that night because the customer service Dept was closed. She advised that within 72hrs the charges would be removed. I had been checking the card on and off and I called in on Nov 28^th to inquire about this issue. I spoke with a Lester and he advised that it takes appx 10 days for the charges to be removed from the card. I requested if I could have a refund at this point and at this time and he advised once the funds were not used and placed back on the card he would be able to get a check sent out to me via fedex. I received a follow up email from lester.urrutia@247customer.com on Dec 1, 2008 with the following “Hello and happy holidays, in order for me to process the refund for your card I would need your First and Last name as well as your  telephone number, I will be processing the refund tomorrow when the funds from the transactions go back on your account,  if you have any questions or concerns you may reply to this email or call us and ask for my extension # which is 7326. thank you very much and have a great day,”   I replied on Dec 2, 2008 “My Name is Brent Mayhew - 205-***-****. Once the funds are back the plan is still to send a check for a refund via fedex? Or is this something I can do at my local walmart with the receipt. I would rather go ahead and the get the refund at a local walmart branch if this is possible (the same one I got it from) But if there may be issues I would just rather wait for the check to come fedex.”    On Dec 2^nd Lester replied – “Mr. Mayhew, Good Morning, the check will be sent to you FedEx, the reason why we cannot send the funds back to the store is because a transaction has been attempted on the card and once that happens only we can refund it to you through the mail. I will be processing the request for the refund today, it will go out tomorrow and you will receive it within 3 business days. I will also try to get the tracking number and send it you as well. “

So after this I waited and On Dec 5^th that Friday after 3 business days I called in because the check had not arrived.  At this point I was advised that a check was never sent and I should just use my Debit Gift Card the funds had been put back on there.  I advised them that this was not acceptable and the offered to Fedex a check.  They advised that this should be received in 3 business days.  The third business day was 12/10 and I waited until 9:00PM CST to call because the check had not been received only to find out that the customer service Dept was closed.  I called back this morning 12/11 to talk about this issue and was advised around 7:30AM this morning that a check had been overnighted and should be to me by the end of the day.  I advised that this was not acceptable and requested a Fedex Tracking number before getting off the phone. I advised if she could not help me that she would need to transfer me to her suerpvisor. She advised that her supervisor would be calling back by the end of the day I advised that this is not acceptable and she advised that it would be nice to have a call back within 2 hours.  I also advised that I was willing to hold if necessary.    Around 8:25AM Valerie called back and advised that a check had not been overnighted and that she could get one sent today to be delivered on 12/12. I advised her that I did not believe her and unless I spoke with the person who was cutting the check or received a Fedex tracking number I would not be satisfied. She advised she would have to call back with a tracking number, and that the people who cut checks do not accept calls. She advised that she would call back with a tracking number. I waited appx 9:47AM CST Valerie called back advising that she could not provide a tracking number and I requested to speak with her supervisor.  (Personally Valerie did not carry herself as a supervisor and it sounds like she is not really a supervisor….)  She advised it would be by the end of the day. I advised that this is not acceptable she advised that her supervisors shift did not start for another 2hrs. I advised that I will expect a callback within 2.5hrs.  She advised that it may be closer to 4hrs. I said that would be fine but I was not happy about this situation.  I am trying not to take my anger out on these representatives because this problem seems to be a bigger issue than bad customer service the processes that are in place are horrible.

Another side note.  I have been unable to reach the customer service dept directly by calling the 1-866-633-9096 number on the back of the card.  The only way I have been able to get in touch with someone through the phone automated system is by going through the lost and stolen dept and having someone transfer me over….  This is one thing that only made me more angry when calling in…. Not a good way to make the customer feel appreciated when there is an issue only to save some money by outsourcing a call center.  In my opinion this is a bad way to do business. I am currently waiting on a callback.  I have now received the callback from Anne (badge number 303239) the Area manger for Wal-Mart customer Service. She advised that the check would be overnighted to my address and will be delivered by12/12/2008.  Anne advised that she would work on getting a tracking number but Fedex does not release this information.  I asked her if I could send this email to her or her supervisor to work on their processes and they gave me Walmart Customer Service P.O. Box 1187 Monrovia, GA 91017.   So this is why your receiving this.

In short the check did not arrive on 12/12/08 or 12/13 (Fedex delivers on Saturday I request it all the time at my job).  I did receive it 12/15 on Monday.  I was then finally released from the bondage of the Walmart Debit Gift Card which I will never use or refer anyone to use again….

So long story short

1. Your product doesn’t work as advertised

2. Customer Service Representatives are Liars

3. Getting in touch with Customer Services is horrible and takes forever

4. The processes that are in place with the call center or horrible as well.

So for Christmas Rebecca and I got a day bed for the office.  We were looking around for the best deals on mattresses and what not and found that Sam’s Club has the best prices, as long as you have something to transport it home.  I ended up making two trips, one for the mattress and one for the boxsprings in the good ole 97′ Mercury Gran Marquis.  It was quite the scene a bed hanging out of the trunk driving down 31 but we made it home in one piece.  On the way home I ran into some police officers doing a licence and insurance check, they didn’t question the bed hanging out of my car (which is a good thing) but I made it home.  So after about 8 hours of putting the bed together, re-arranging our house to fit the bed in the office, I am now blogging from it. Now comes the time where we (Rebecca) gets to pick out the bedding and I figured I would help out. So here is my selection below. Lucas all I can say is I tried.

Link - Star Wars Saga Comforters

Merry Christmas.  I scored a bag of crap for the first time in a while. For those of you who do not know what a Bag of Crap is, it is random items this could be anything really.  For some examples of what are received check here - Bagofcrap.com.  I will post back what recieved! Just now finished wrapping all of Rebecca’s gifts. I am really really bad at wrapping presents.

So I have started my blog now what? First off I have been looking for some cool items to put on my cyber page, when I came across a way to a chat box on my site which connects directly google account (when I am signed in).  I figured hey this seems to be a pretty cool idea so here we are. Check it out on the right hand side and send me a message if you see me online!!!!  Look foward to it.

Via - MakeUseOf

Hey guys figured I would start this blog to share the cool and awesome things I find on the internet to friends and strangers.  If you found this page I hope it found you well.  I will also be posting about things that are going on in my life as well.