Issue with Target Sports Canada - satisfactorily resolved on page 5

[whiteoutjeeper]

The website says nothing about a refund policy for this course. In fact, it even says that 48 hours must be given for cancellations or re-bookings, which could be interpreted as a refund would be given with sufficient notice.

Not to mention the range only giving 50 minutes notice when THEY re-scheduled the course.

Go to your credit card, explain the situation and ask that they do a charge back. You'll get your money back from them and then JR can play with MasterCard.

 

[Benito]

xiaozliu,

Firstly, I apologize for the problems this may have caused, especially on that weekend. We took the initiative to call everyone who was signed up for that weekend in order to re-book them for the weekend afterwards, and for the most part, it was successful with almost everyone.

I would like to remind you that your deposit for the course was non-refundable. Everyone who signs up for the course is reminded of this when the deposit is made. In order to curb the problem of deposits getting cancelled, we rectified the issue the week afterwards.

If you decided to take the course elsewhere, after the deposit was made, then it was known by you that the deposit would have been surrendered. We did contact you after all when it was known that the instructor was ill.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but a non-refundable deposit is a non-refundable. You went elsewhere and therefore your booking deposit was kept with us. Had you wanted to take the course with us at a later date, your deposit would've still been valid.

I hope you understand and do swing by for a visit the next time around. Bring your sales receipt, and mention this discussion and we'll do everything in our power to make a trek here worth it.

Best regards,
Target Sports Canada Staff

Sure, I understand a non-refundable deposit to secure the customer's spot and to prevent the customer from backing out at the last minute, but that is not what happened here. The business backed out (for understandable and reasonable reasons - illnesses happen) on short notice.
That is understandable, but in this case the customer should be given a refund if the rescheduled date does not work for them, such as in the case of people having to book off work, or having other obligations/commitments.

The non-refundable deposit was for the course as scheduled originally. Once you change the date, you have altered the entire service for which payment was made, and the non-refundable deposit stipulation no longer applied.

I would not be pleased if I was in the same situation, to say the least.

 

[Adammeek]

Losing business by the post on this one. Epically with the response given..

 

[sTraTz]

I was expecting 2 sides to this story...guess not.
I hope the OP gets his money back from MC

 

[Target Sports Canada]

Sure, I understand a non-refundable deposit to secure the customer's spot and to prevent the customer from backing out at the last minute, but that is not what happened here. The business backed out (for understandable and reasonable reasons - illnesses happen) on short notice.
That is understandable, but in this case the customer should be given a refund if the rescheduled date does not work for them, such as in the case of people having to book off work, or having other obligations/commitments.

The non-refundable deposit was for the course as scheduled originally. Once you change the date, you have altered the entire service for which payment was made, and the non-refundable deposit stipulation no longer applied.

I would not be pleased if I was in the same situation, to say the least.

As I've mentioned in the earlier post, I implore the OP to come into the store, bring his/her receipt and explain the situation is person. The upper staff are aware of this instance and we're more than willing to work it out in a professional matter. It's easy to cast stones from the sidelines without any actual course of action from the OP to work this situation out with us.

Best regards,
Target Sports Canada Staff

 

[TSE JR]

J.R. chimes in....

As I only got my admin privileges to this forum about 5 minutes ago, I had to watch this train wreck unravel before my eyes.....

Firstly: Of course the OP will be getting a full refund. We changed the contract by cancelling his course. This is pretty straightforward and all of my staff should have understood that.

Secondly: If ever there was a reason to allow public floggings, my staff's responses to this would warrant it. We are a customer service business and we as an institution, completely screwed up.

Thirdly: This incident happened in MAY. If the OP, who in his post made reference to me, actually made an attempt to contact me, then this matter could have and would have been handled to his satisfaction.

Unfortunately, as it seems more the norm around here: For the slightest infraction, the consumer seems it better to start on a public forum instead of engaging the management of a company. These types of actions are in general, a fairly disingenuous attempt to seek a resolution and to me is viewed only as an attempt to embarrass or harass a vendor.

As anyone who has been on this board awhile will know or will have learned; I will always address a complaint head on.

Again, if at any time there is an issue at Target or TSE, please feel free to contact me directly: 1-866-720-4867 or jr@TheEdgeGroup.ca

I did send a PM to the OP last night, since I could not write on this forum that he would indeed be getting his refund.

Sincerely,

JR

 

[oddball_ted]

The customer is "reminded" that no refund will be given.

As they say in my business IF ITS NOT WRITTEN DOWN IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

No paper to prove non-refundability...aya gotta give it back.

JR that was a very snarky comment from your staff back east!

xiaozliu,

Firstly, I apologize for the problems this may have caused, especially on that weekend. We took the initiative to call everyone who was signed up for that weekend in order to re-book them for the weekend afterwards, and for the most part, it was successful with almost everyone.

I would like to remind you that your deposit for the course was non-refundable. Everyone who signs up for the course is reminded of this when the deposit is made. In order to curb the problem of deposits getting cancelled, we rectified the issue the week afterwards.

If you decided to take the course elsewhere, after the deposit was made, then it was known by you that the deposit would have been surrendered. We did contact you after all when it was known that the instructor was ill.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but a non-refundable deposit is a non-refundable. You went elsewhere and therefore your booking deposit was kept with us. Had you wanted to take the course with us at a later date, your deposit would've still been valid.

I hope you understand and do swing by for a visit the next time around. Bring your sales receipt, and mention this discussion and we'll do everything in our power to make a trek here worth it.

Best regards,
Target Sports Canada Staff

 

[TSE JR]

The customer is "reminded" that no refund will be given.

As they say in my business IF ITS NOT WRITTEN DOWN IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

No paper to prove non-refundability...aya gotta give it back.

JR that was a very snarky comment from your staff back east!

I agree... hence the public floggings will commence shortly!

I want to meet the employee named "Mr. Wasn't Me". Wrists have been slapped, reminders given. Hopefully this matter will be a learning experience for everyone and not a repeat performance.

The poor guy who wrote the CGN response actually feels very sincerely bad about the whole matter and I am sure, he will seek guidance on issues of this nature in the future.

JR

 

[xiaozliu]

I want to THANK ALL CGNer's support on this one.

JR I'm sorry you viewed this as an attempt to harass a vendor, this wasn't my intention to start this discussion. I have nothing against TSC. In fact, the reason I decided to get my PAL is because of I tried shooting in TSC. I dropped by during my lunch time, and got my refund. I also picked up membership application form from Julie.

Again, thank you all.

 

[onurb]

Lol its funny how the company still tried to attack they guy for starting a thred a month later. I would do the same thing and I love watching bad companies scramble to save themselves. lol I spend alot of money every month on ammo, parts, rifles, and nick nacks. Just ask my wife lol. I will never spend a single $1 at that shop. Their apology was not even sincere. This thread must be left up for all to see.

 

[Adammeek]

^^More than one see it that way...

 

[Donny Fenn1]

Dear better business bureau

Shawn

Why? The BBB only counts if the business is a member and has no authority otherwise.

 

[GreenBob]

I agree... hence the public floggings will commence shortly!

I want to meet the employee named "Mr. Wasn't Me". Wrists have been slapped, reminders given. Hopefully this matter will be a learning experience for everyone and not a repeat performance.

The poor guy who wrote the CGN response actually feels very sincerely bad about the whole matter and I am sure, he will seek guidance on issues of this nature in the future.

JR

People make mistakes , #### happens, but all is good now! Thanks for handling this JR. I am sure Xiaozliu is satisfied especially if he getting a membership there.

It wouldn't hurt changing a title of this trainwreck now that everyone is happy.

Cheers,

 

[Z-man]

^^More than one see it that way...

Exactly....a slap on the wrists is not enough IMHO.....this person cost you business because we will all remember how hard it was to get a small deposit back...
I'm a business owner too and this stuff needs to get nipped in the bud right away before this internet stuff happens....

 

[Punisher-One]

This is all too typical of my own experiences and threads on here where Target employee making up "policies" to keep money and not treat customers properly. Do you not see a trend here? The staff are simply not customer service oriented if it takes the owner of the entire company coming on here to finally get a reasonable solution to a very minor issue that should have been dealt with immediately by the staff in the store.

As a paying customer/member someone shouldn't need to contact the OWNER of a business to get treated properly. When I need a refund from Sport Chek I don't have to call head office and talk to the owner. The staff are customer service oriented and handle customer concerns immediately and with a positive resolution. Further every time an issue like this is brought up TSC says it's atypical and that the staff will be told and they shouldn't be doing that and yet.....these issues still prevail with the staff there.

Like I said...the old guard at Target were great. The newer people have no sense of customer service.

It's really too bad. One of the old dudes who used to work the counter there took me out on the range one day and got me started in the sport. I continued to be a member there and loved it. Was always treated right. Slowly those guys were pushed out and all of a sudden it was nothing but problems after problems with inexperienced staff that simply don't know and care even less.

It's sad.

 

[Shawnsglock]

Business 101, Do right by someone and they will tell a hand full of people they know.

Do wrong by someone and they will go out of their way to make sure the world knows.

I'm not in the least bit surprised. I have been treated badly there myself by staff. and considering how much money I spend on this nonsense...

Target Sports has been one place I tell people to steer clear of for a while now. Hopefully one day that will change. the owner coming to remedy a problem, ridiculous.

 

[Z-man]

It is the owner that creates the culture and it seems like the OP is not the only with this opinion. As much as I hate to knock a gun store...this is a sorry situation the company has gotten itself into.

 

[modiano]

I agree!

This is all too typical of my own experiences and threads on here where Target employee making up "policies" to keep money and not treat customers properly. Do you not see a trend here? The staff are simply not customer service oriented if it takes the owner of the entire company coming on here to finally get a reasonable solution to a very minor issue that should have been dealt with immediately by the staff in the store.

As a paying customer/member someone shouldn't need to contact the OWNER of a business to get treated properly. When I need a refund from Sport Chek I don't have to call head office and talk to the owner. The staff are customer service oriented and handle customer concerns immediately and with a positive resolution. Further every time an issue like this is brought up TSC says it's atypical and that the staff will be told and they shouldn't be doing that and yet.....these issues still prevail with the staff there.

Like I said...the old guard at Target were great. The newer people have no sense of customer service.

It's really too bad. One of the old dudes who used to work the counter there took me out on the range one day and got me started in the sport. I continued to be a member there and loved it. Was always treated right. Slowly those guys were pushed out and all of a sudden it was nothing but problems after problems with inexperienced staff that simply don't know and care even less.

It's sad.

 

[Doors of Perception]

I'm glad the OP got his money back.

This tread really points out the importance of top notch customer service in the web 2.0 age. Over 6000 views of bad publicity from something that should have been resolved automatically without incident - changed the terms of contract so refund the deposit simple. Lucky this was a firearms business with a small(ish) Canadian market - facebook, youtube and twitter have the power to ruin a business that takes a lifetime to build. Customers now create the message and marketers no longer control the conversation.

 

[auracle]

As I only got my admin privileges to this forum about 5 minutes ago, I had to watch this train wreck unravel before my eyes.....

Firstly: Of course the OP will be getting a full refund. We changed the contract by cancelling his course. This is pretty straightforward and all of my staff should have understood that.

Secondly: If ever there was a reason to allow public floggings, my staff's responses to this would warrant it. We are a customer service business and we as an institution, completely screwed up.

Thirdly: This incident happened in MAY. If the OP, who in his post made reference to me, actually made an attempt to contact me, then this matter could have and would have been handled to his satisfaction.

Unfortunately, as it seems more the norm around here: For the slightest infraction, the consumer seems it better to start on a public forum instead of engaging the management of a company. These types of actions are in general, a fairly disingenuous attempt to seek a resolution and to me is viewed only as an attempt to embarrass or harass a vendor.

As anyone who has been on this board awhile will know or will have learned; I will always address a complaint head on.

Again, if at any time there is an issue at Target or TSE, please feel free to contact me directly: 1-866-720-4867 or jr@TheEdgeGroup.ca

I did send a PM to the OP last night, since I could not write on this forum that he would indeed be getting his refund.

Sincerely,

JR

you guys are unbelievable. you dont deliver a service the op paid for and refuse to give him a refund. the only recourse he has is to come here and let others know how he has been treated. the first response on here clearly says no refunds, then you then say that the OP is disingeuous for not contacting the head of the company who usually resides in another province instead of coming on here.
Can you not trust your employees with such a minor matter? good grief. you realize this is a hobby, very few people NEED your goods and services. the op clearly just wanted this small matter resolved, since he states he picked up an application for membership. this industry is rife with this kind of behaviour, makes me sometimes wonder why I even bother.

if i get an infraction for this post, i will consider it well worth it.