Did You Just Say You Won't Take My Money??!??!???!!!??

I seriously doubt that your $500 will make or break the Gap stores.

Usually most national chains have the same inventory in the stores
around the country, perhaps just a little more of this and a little
less of that depending on the geographical location. With that said,
I doubt that you could purchase summer clothes in jeez, winter in So.
California versus Colorado. Were you moving there permanently? Can't
your children wear what they wore last summer or have they grown out
of those? Your letter is really way off base and shows quite a bit of
ignorance on your part. Although the Gap is experiencing lagging
sales, I seriously doubt your $500.00 in purchases will be the thing
that takes them to their knees.

What a terrible letter.

Next time try shopping online and have the items mailed to the hotel
where you are staying (marked with hold for xxx guest arriving
xx/xx)...then they'll be there waiting for you when you arrive :)

It's a store not a warehouse that's why they won't hold it.

As a former retail manager holding merchandise paid or unpaid for is a
pain. You might misplace the items! You have a huge staff that might
not be able to alert to this arrangement making pickup difficult! You
don't have any set procedures for holding paid for itmes. It is just
a problem. Then you hold items that could have sold that were not paid
for and the person never comes to pick them up!

On the other hand some stores do allow you to shop on line and pick up
at the store. That method is secure and not as subject to credit card
fruad or charge backs.

Taking credit cards on the phone is risky!

I worked for a large retail store and we eventually stopped holding
period because of so many problems.

If I travel and have packed the wrong clothes I just go shopping.
Most stores are happy to have you shop in person..but don't really
have time to be your personal shopper over the telephone1

Did you offer to pay them a storage fee for holding on to your
clothing for you?

I am confused as to why you could not just buy these items once you
arrived. Or shop online beforehand.

Yep. That's what they said....

i don't understand what the big deal is. they do not take credit cards
over the phone. ever heard of credit card fraud. there for you cannot
pay for the items and there for they cannot be placed on hold for more
than 24 hours. the hold policy has exsisted ever since i have been a
gap customer. other than that why are you complaining so much. there
is gap.com. you can order the items and have them sent to wherever you
will be staying.

This is a seemingly pointless letter. Seasonal merchadise aside, I
have never heard of paying for an item over the phone and the store
holding it around for the buyer to pick it up. Who would want to take
on this risk? The buyer waltzes in a week or Lord knows how long
after calling and says "Where's my item, I paid for it!" The poor
merchant rumages around on the shelves, hoping to find the package
that someone hopefully labelled "VIP". Or, more likely, the store
employee blankly looks at the self-professed buyer and says "WHAT?"

Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for
GapKids or anyone else. Jump in the Lexus, Suburban or ML500 and
spend $3.25 a gallon to drive to Beverly Hills. I am sure they can
meet your needs there, and the weather will surely be divine.

Many companies will not take a CC over the phone for payment. With ID
theft and CC Fraud, it is not worth the risk to the company if the
sale gets charged back. As far as holding items, even if they are
paid for, there has to be a limit. If you never came to pick up the
items, the store would still be obligated to hold them and try to
contact you. Say this goes on for a few months. Now they have been
storing your property, taking up space in their store and not knowing
if you are coming in. Or suppose you change your mind after a few
weeks and want a refund. Now they are stuck with a return, possibly
items that could have reduced in price which they would have to sell
cheaper.

It's just not worth it.

If you want to pay with a CC, shop on line and have it shipped.

"but will instead have to spend the day before I depart scouring
competitors and department stores to find items suitable for me to
wear during my travels."

You shop for yourself at GapKids? You must be one tiny little person!

That being said, let me just assure you (as a native Floridian who
lived in SoCal for a couple of years) it is NOT as warm as you might
think it is in SoCal this time of year. Actually, its not as warm as
you would think ANY time of the year. If you want REALLY warm weather
try Florida. We have had the air conditioner running all week but
thanks to a little rain yesterday its dropped back down into the low
70's today. If you plan on wearing shorts and t-shirts in SoCal this
time of year you might want to grab a pair of long johns to go under
it. The last SUMMER I spent in SoCal I had the heater on every single
night!!!

They are not your personal shopper, get over yourself.

you cant expect them to cater to you all frickin year, just like its
always 1 o'clock, its always warm somewhere...........

They want your money, believe me, they REALLY do.

I've never had a problem with Gap or any of their return policies.
Even their return policy is fair...you get the lowest price the item
sold for in the last 90 days, unless, of course, you have the receipt.
I'd never THINK of asking them to hold something I paid for.

One thing that most stores do, and it makes sense if you think about
it, is change their merchandise to reflect the climate in each stores
particular location So "not thinking it would be a problem" and
waiting till the last minute with your five bills is NOT Gap's fault.
Are they supposed to stock their store based on one person's travel
itinerary? I doubt it. What makes more sense, stocking winter items in
the summer and waiting for ONE 500 dollar sale, or stocking the store
for the summer and competing with other stores on an equal footing?

Are you crazy? I have never heard of a retail store that will let you
pay for an in store purchase over the phone. Also, I've never heard
of a retail store that will hold items for more than 24 hrs. Your
demands are outrageous. Gap is my favorite clothing store and I have
shopped there for years and always had excellent customer service.
Their prices are a little high, but the quality of their clothing is
excellent and well worth it. Don't understand why you have a problem
with this company.

One more thing (this gave me a giggle!)

First you say "I need to purchase new clothes for my two sons which
will be suited to the warmer temperatures of California."

Later on you say "Consequently, I want you to know I will not be
making the significant purchase I had planned to make (totaling in
more than $500.00), but will instead have to spend the day before I
depart scouring competitors and department stores to find items
suitable for ME to wear during my travels."

Next time you decide to spam 3 different retailers with the same
complaint, remember: Continuity is your friend.

I'm typing this without reading the other posts so I apologize if I
say something already mentioned.

The reason they won't let you pay for something over the phone is
because they need the actual card in the store to charge something to
it. Use your head! If someone found a credit card statement in the
garbage, using your logic, they could call stores and have stuff
charged to it with no protection for the actual cardholder.

A second reason is because that store would be liable for your
merchandise until you pick it up.

You sound like a brat. If GapKids clothes are so important to you, why
not get them when you visit there?

Seriously, you wanted to call the store and have them run around the
store picking what you wanted and hold it for you? $500 worth of
stuff? How would you know if they picked out the right thing?

Business like yours deserves to be lost. Grow up.

At the store i work at (not any of the stores you mentioned).. we do
NOT hold items for more than 24 hours because the jerks never come
pick it up 95% of the time! and its funny you mention the paying with
your credit card over the phone to a certain STORE. A customer called
me and asked if she could do that... you know what.. for all my
coworkers and i know.. she COULD do that.. then come in and completely
deny the charges and cause a big deal. WHY would you call a certain
store and pay for something and have it on hold when you could just
order it on the website? i mean.. come ON....

1. Stores most CERTAINLY are carrying summer/warm-weather clothing
items right now. I'm in Minnesota, and bikinis have been out for over
a month now. Winter stuff has been on clearance for two months.
*I'm* in Minnesota and we hit -40 degrees here this winter, so if we
have summer clothing, Colorado certainly does.

2. While it CAN be warm in southern California right now, it also can
be chilly, especially at night. You likely won't need shorts and tank
tops as much as you expect.

3. Why not call in your order 24 hours before you get there, thereby
fitting the story policy? What's so wrong about making a phone call a
couple of days later than today?

4. You were going to spend $500 for one weekend's worth of clothes for
kids? Um, okay.

5. Were you attempting to order children's clothes or adult clothes?
Oh, looks like you didn't fully change the letter when you copied the
one you sent to the other stores. That explains your reference to
having to go shopping for yourself as a result of their store policy.

6. Because of one store policy with which you don't agree, over
something that likely doesn't come up often (buying clothes in advance
of travel and having them be held for you at your destination), you're
willing to quit shopping at a place you've described as giving you
great service and clothes you like? The saying "cutting off one's
nose to spite one's face" comes to mind.

7. Just get to the damn mall already.

I find your demand--oops, I mean "request"--utterly ridiculous.

Where, exactly, is Gap, GapKids, and Banana Republic (after all, you
did send the exact same letter to all 3 stores, I'll look for a
similar letter from you addressed to Old Navy) supposed to store all
this stuff that you ordered over the phone and promised to pick up in
a few days? And what are they supposed to do if you don't show up when
you say you will? Return the items to the shelves? Can't do
that--that'll just get them another angry letter because they caused
you, their "loyal customer", nothing but trouble.

If you need clothes so quickly, use the retailer's website and pony up
the extra money for expedited shipping. Many retailers offer you an
overnight shipping option.

www.gap.com

They take your credit card, and they would have shipped the clothes to
you so you'd have them with you when you arrived in your warmer
destination.

This is the most rediculous complaint.

What you're asking them to do would require them to put in place a
whole new set of policies, set up a separate area where sold clothes
can wait for their purchasers, risk accepting a fraudulent credit card
without any signature, and so on. That's more than $500 worth of
trouble -- and it's definitely more trouble than the markup is worth.


Gap is selling kids' summer clothes online right now, and they do not
require you to travel to them in order to sign a charge slip. You
could have ordered from there last weekend and then -- since one of
your goals here appears to be not to have to haul as much stuff to
California as you are going to need once you get there (and I'm
definitely with you on that) -- asked that they be delivered to your
hotel with an instruction to hold it for your arrival.

I don't understand - why not shop online at www.gap.com and pay for
expedited shipping, if this is an issue? That way, you could get the
clothes you want without the hassles and it would ship to your door
prior to leaving for the trip.

Am I missing something?

I live in Southern CO and I have had no trouble finding warm weather
clothing - in fact, all the stores in my area have winter stuff on
clearance right now.

why write the same word-for-word letter to Gap, Gapkids and Banana
Republic???

While I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule, retail stores in
general have virtually no "extra" space most of the time. Some stores
have a stockroom, basically a large closet stuffed with boxes of extra
merchandise, and sometimes a small staff area. Storage space "in the
back" is virtually nil... that's why stores have clearance sales to
get rid of seasonal stuff, because there's really no place else to put
it. Similarly, there's no place to put merchandise held for
customers, either.

Christian,

While I can appreciate your situation and frustration, apparently your
needs supercede your ability to comprehend that your take on how
things ought to be is not necessarily the way things end up.

Others have mentioned that holding items presents a problem for the
store. First there is the space issue - where exactly should they put
all this unpaid for merchandise so it's not in the way of items that
are actually for sale?

Second, If for whatever reason you change your mind (maybe you found
nicer clothes for less at Gymboree or Childrens Place) and never
claimed the clothing, then how many people did they lose out on
selling those items to over the course of 3 days?

Finally, the credit card over the phone thing might seem all well and
good for you, but credit card fraud is RAMPANT these days. With no
way to verify that you are indeed who you say you are and the holder
of the card, they are opening themselves up to a loss.

You may not know it, but if you turned out to be a fraudster and
purchased these items and the real cardholder disputed the charge, the
store would be quite literally be left holding the bag for the
merchandise because they failed to verify the identity of the person
making the purchase.

While you might be above reproach, the rest of the world isn't
necessarily as good.

I for one, now feel BETTER about shopping with Gap because at least I
know their associates are trained enough to not just accept any credit
card without being able to authenticate my identity.

But to come here and throw a hissy fit and claim that Gap doesn't want
your money (which nowhere did you show this happening) and toss around
how BIG your purchase would have been is not only short-sighted, it's
downright juvenile!

I've seid it before and I'll say it again - every OP should take a
DEEEP breath and get themselves under control before firing off a
nastygram to a company - it doesn't help you in the least with the
company and, as in this case, is apt to make you look foolish when
your rationale is disputed.

Can I suggest next time that you order the exact same merchandise
online at www.gapkids.com and have it shipped to your destination?
You'll save yourself a lot of time and aggravation.

If they held clothes for everyone who asked them to, their stockrooms
would be overflowing with stuff waiting for a "pick up". Sure, you may
say "how many people actually ask them to hold things?" but the fact
is, you don't know, there could be 10 people who can't get to the
store that day. A store is there to sell clothes, not provide storage
space.

I have a hard time believing that 3 days from now, there will not be a
single store in southern California selling warm weather clothing. If
you don't need it now, why even purchase it now? Just buy it when you
get there. Why would you even be so trusting? I certainly wouldn't
hand over $500 on a promise that the clothes will be there. Imagine if
you showed up and they said "you picked it up 2 hours ago." There are
many unscrupulous people out there.

I really don't understand why you need to spend the next 3 days
scouring stores in Colorado if you don't need the clothes until you
get to CA. You had time to pick them up from the cashier. How long can
it take to pick up the same items from their respective locations in
the store and THEN be checked out by a cashier? Then you and the store
both agree that you got your purchase when you spent your money.

I'm quite confused over your inability to shop for warmer-wear
clothing in Colorado. I returned last night from Colorado (traveling
from a warmer area) and had quite the opposite problem; there were
plenty of spring/summer options, but all the warmer clothing was
clearanced out and quite "picked over."

Also, did you consider that the stores may not have had adequate safe
storage for your items and were afraid of them being returned to
display and therefore not available when you came to pick them up?

How interesting that Christian wrote the same letter to Banana
Republic, Gap, and Gap Kids. While they may have the same policies
(same parent company, right?), I cannot understand why, after being
told "no" in one store, he went to two other stores.

Writing the same letter three times? C'mon.

Those policies certainly don't seem pointless to me. This is just
another case of (insert foot stamp and pout here) "I didn't get my
way! I didn't get my way! You are wrong! You should cater to me
because I am a loyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll customer!"

Give me a break.