Kmart Lay-A-Way Complaint

You say that "granted, I was a little late making the last payment"
but Kmart and most other stored don't put anything back on the shelf
unless you are 2 weeks behind in payments. Expecting someone to call
you to remind you to meet your obligations is ridiculous.

If you want to use their service, obey their rules. Don't whine like a
child because you didn't hold up your end of the bargain.

Dear Sir,

I'm very sorry to hear that your layaway was returned to stock. You
signed a contract that you would pay a layaway of $5, plus $10 if your
layaway gets canceled( it doesn't matter if you canceled or the store)
, The contract states that if you don't make a payment on your layaway
after 7 days past due, the store coach has the right or an employee to
pull the layaway off. No body has to contact you to tell you that your
layaway will be canceled. The mangers try to call when they have time
to see what's happening with you but they are not required.. They
canceled your layaway because they are losing money and I am sorry to
tell you you are the one who breached the contract.

all i can say is read the contract you signed! it doesnt say anything
about kmart having to contact you. and it does say that if you are
more then 7 days deliquent you can be returned to stock and subjected
to all applicable fees. Thank you Have a nice day. .

Read your lay a way contract!! YOU have the responsibility to make the
payments on time. Holding your product costs the store time and
money. You admit in your complaint that YOU were "a little late
making the last payment", that is YOUR fault, not the stores. Once
again, read the contract YOU signed. You are required to make the
payments on time, the store is not required to call and remind you to
make the payment. This situation is YOUR fault, and you have no right
to complain or expect any refund or apaology!!

If it were me I would have simply called the day my payment(s) were
due and explained I live 50 miles away and I plan on being X number of
days late would this be ok. If not I would have made that payment over
the phone with a credit card.

I can't get over the way people treat payment agreements today in any
situation. If you owe your doctors office do just not pay and expect
him or her to treat you next time you need care no you pick up the
phone explain the payment will be late and why most providers will
work with you as I am sure KMART would have had you picked up the
phone.

1. 8 week layaway plan
2. Biweekly payment schedule( 25% of original balance due)
3. No partial takeouts permitted
4. A new layaway cannot be accepted if payments on your other layaways
are in arrears.
5.This layaway is subject to a nonrefundable layaway fee.
6.$10.00 cancellation fee will be charged on layaways that are
cancelled,refunded,or delinquent in payments more then 7 days.
7. There will be no price adjustments after 7 days from the date you
start your layaway. Multiple price adjustments on the same item are
not permitted. price adjustments are not allowed on holiday
merchindise or on clearance merchandise.
8. person initiating layaway must be the same person finalizing
layaway. Picture ID is required for all new layaways,pickups, and
refunds.
9. within 1 yr of layaway, you may withdraw prior payments (less
layaway fee and cancellation fees) by presentation of your last
receipt. If not withdrawn, previous payments will be retained as
liquidation damages.
10. By providing a telephone number on the layaway contract, I
expressly agree to be contacted by kmart concerning my layaway
purchase.

UNLESS ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS ARE MADE ACCORDING TO THIS
AGREEMENT,THIS MERCHINDISE WILL BE RETURNED TO STOCK. SEE NUMBER 9
ABOVE


THE LAYAWAY FEE IS $5 DOLLARS AND THE CANCELLATION FEE IS $10

this is what my layaway contract says i have worked in retail before
and i also make layaways at kmart so i understand both sides. there
are a few things i am wondering about. you said that the manager
became very rude with you and it was unacceptable my question is how
did you treat the manager? did you treat the manager with respect?
were you rude with them at all? (treat others how you want to be
treated). no matter where you work you go there to do your job it dont
matter what kind of job that is no one likes being disrespected,yelled
at im not saying that you did all or any of this stuff but it happens
alot. policies are made by places higher then the employees and the
store they just have to follow them.everything you complained about
was stated on your contract so it was not their fault, you signed it
and it also was not their fault that you drove 50 miles. christmas is
coming fast and alot of times customers dont pick up their layaways
and other customers want the merchindise that ends up sitting in
layaway until after the holiday when it could have sold. thats one of
the reasons walmart canceled their layaways because of how much money
they were losing. im honestly glad that kmart still has a layaway plan
because i dont know what i would do without it so i would do the best
you can at keeping up with your contracts and try not to complain at
least they do layaways still.

Granted you answered your own letter. If you are late...you are late
and they will re-shelve your items. Simple as that. Why should this be
their fault because you did not follow thru on your contract.

My son works in lay-a-way part time (seasonal) and has found that many
people let their payments lapse and then come in asking for their
items. Sometimes they have not been re-stocked while other times they
were.

Again...its not their fault...keep up your payments next time.

Wow there are a lot of cranky nasty people replying to this post. I'm
sure which all have never made a mistake in their lives as they all
seem to have there stones in hand ready to throw. Seriously what is
wrong with all you people. Do you really think she would've been this
mad if this was her 12th lay-a-way that had been lost at K-mart.
Obviously this was new to her and yes there is a contract and yes I'm
sure all of you over anal complainers would have examined your K-mart
Lay-a-way receipt before you signed it. Give me a break. Did anybody
think the overall issue was how she was treated by the manager at
K-Mart. As a manager when a CONSUMER who doesn't have to shop at your
store has a problem their job isn't to belittle them. I had this same
thing happen to me today only the manager at our K-mart allowed me to
purchase the merchandise and then credited me the 5.00 dollars
cancellation fee. Problem solved K-mart got there sale and I didn't
lose 5 bucks. So maybe K-Mart's manager at your location could have
handled this situation better. Offered to let you repurchase the stuff
and do a 5.00 credit. They lost a 700.00 purchase over 5.00, that
doesn't seem like good business either. That manager said basically
that they didn't need her business and then your expected to not be
irritated by that.

It really is sad how mean people have been to you on this post. Some
of them have been down right nasty to a person they don't even know.
Its a shame.

hey, i am currently thinking about doing layway for my baby that I am
about to have on February and I think its good to go head on and put
these on laywaty so before the end of January I would have all the
material things he need, nut since you have a had a 700.00 lay-a-way
problem it makes me not even considering wasting my time to go though
all that trouble. For one thing its was already bad enough that they
put all your things but they charge you when you were paying on a
700.00 bill. I totally disagree with everything that happened. I would
go and talk to the district manager and also call the Corporate
office. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

Kmart sold a table we had on lay a way to another customer. They
could not locate another like it anywhere and then told us they were
not going to give us our money back either. They finally did give us
the money but we had to go to the District level for them to do it.
And no we were not late with the payments.

Ok, look, I am totally new to this planet feedback thing and when I
wrote the reply I said I was going to say it to everyone, which I did.
however, I was not aware that it would show the reply so everyone
could see it. If I had of known I certainly would not have don't it to
everyone knowing that it would be repeated over and over on the board.
I am very to all those who found it annoying as I know I probably
would have too.

About the lay-a-way thing I still think I was treated unfairly but
from looking at it from everyone's point of view I can see where I
came across looking bad. I was also very upset when I wrote the letter
and did not include everything I should have and stated things that
did not sound quite right... Let me clarify...

The store had a policy which did clearly state that the items would
need to be picked up and paid in full by a certain date which is still
not even here. this is one reason that I got so upset.

I did not know about the store policy about the phone call until after
I went in and talked to the people at lay-a-way and was informed that
someone should have called me. At the same time another woman behind
me stated she got a call about hers.

I called and talked to an associate in lay-a-way and told them that I
would be in to make a late payment which would have been 6 days late -
their policy on the receipt said after 7 days late items would be
returned. I still had one day left before the seven days deadline.

When you live in a rural area like I do and there are not very many
stores to shop at you can and will find $700 worth of items to put on
a lay-a-way.

As for the distance, when you do not have a car and do not have a way
to get around without replying on others, 50 miles is way too far to
get to certain places.

The manager was rude in her tone and words she used. When you have
someone who is supposed to be polite accuses you of being like
everyone else and raising her voice at you in front of others, what
else is there to do other then get upset. She could have politely said
- "Look, I am sorry the message about you being a few days late was
not logged but there really is nothign I can do other than to say
sorry and hope it does not happen again. I will also speak to my
lay-a-way associates and make sure they know that there needs to be
more attention paid." then I would not have been upset and would have
tried to go back and find the items I wanted to purchase them.

I am not like the others and have always honored my lay-a-way
agreements. It is not people like me who have abused the lay-a-way
service, it is people like me who have loved the idea and has been
really hurt by not having it anymore.

To all who think I was in the wrong, I respect your opinion...
However, I still feel that I was treated poorly and still feel that I
should at least get an apology from the manager for how she handled
the situation as it could have been handled a little bit better.

I still will never go to that Kmart again due to the way I was treated
but will shop others as not all stores have to be punished for one
person's inability to treat others with respect.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!!!!

Why are you cutting and pasting the same response to everyone????

I have a few comments.

1. I can't imagine anyone gathering enough stuff at K-Mart to make a
$700 law-a-way. The K-Mart by us always looks as if it is going out of
business. BUT, if I had a $700 investment and all I had was one
payment left, I would be a little more proactive in paying it off.

2. Late is late; how would you feel if you paid it off and they were
"a little late" giving you the goods?

3. 50 miles is not that far, I drove 50 miles each way to and from
work for two years. If you had to drive 500 miles, you might get a bit
of sympathy

4. Get a list of 100 names and phone numbers and try to call them; no
matter how fresh the list is, typically 20 or 30 of the numbers will
be wrong. They didn't owe you a call, you owed them one, PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY?

5. You should be charged an hourly charge for the employee that had to
wander around putting the stuff YOU put on law-a-way back on the
shelves.

6. If you still wanted the stuff, take your refund, add it to the
money you took to pay off the law-a-way, then wander around the store
and gather it back up.

7. K-Mart doesn't owe you SQUAT, and it is because of people like you
that Target and Walmart no longer do lay-a-way

8. I haven't shopped at K-Mart since they hire Rosie O'Donnell as a
corporate shill and she went on her anti-gun tirade, and I doubt I
will go out of my way to return, but they don't deserve the likes of
you stanking the place up with you ludacris demands.

That is all

Clete

My-be next time you can give clearer details and the response will be
more sympathetic.

For the love of pete, STOP WITH THE CUT AND PASTE RESPONSES to
everyone's comments. It's inane.

Be happy you have the ability to lay away. At the 2 Kmarts around
here, there is no layaway. Since Walmart took away there layaways
there is no other place to do layaway, even Target doesn't have one.

I have been a day late, when there was layaways here, and lost my
purchases. Although I was upset, I didn't throw a hissy fit. You
were late and they put them back, probably not the same person you
spoke to. I'm sure that there layaway policy is clearly posted.

I don't think that the person was rude to you. You were told
something that you didn't like. She probably has dealt with other
people that lost layaways and has to be firm. Being firm, and being
told no, doesn't equal rude.

There are costs of doing business that get passed on to the people who
avail themselves of certain services. Yes, Lay Aways are convenient,
but when abused, those products don't get sorted, taken put back on
inventory, and placed on shelves by themselves. Why should they pass
the cost to others who follow their contact? Don't avail themselves of
this convenience? Save first and buy later? I suppose everyone would
deserve a letter of apology, which also has a cost, that also gets
passed on.

It's your OWN fault that you were charges the cancellation fee.

Why should you get a refund?

I know first hand all about these canceled layaways. I formerly worked
as an optician and we had a deal for everyone if they would pay at
least 25% at time of order then they could pay for the rest at pick-up
or make payments whenever they could.

On the receipt it says if layaway not paid in 60 days of purchase then
it will be canceled and returned. We call customer when order came in.
If not picked up then we call at around 30 days. (a report came up
everyday saying who is late, going to be late..etc. so we always knew
the bin # to find the phone #)Some people thought it would be fun to
move or give us their fax number to call.

So as with anything in life, as soon as we cancel the damn thing the
customer decides to show up and pick up the crap they ordered 2 months
ago. Then the complaining starts. We were always wrong..they were
always right. As retail goes.

So..no refund, cut your losses and learn from this mistake.

This reminds me that I have some stuff on layaway at this place down
the street

and I know that there is a date on your copy and K-mart's copy that
tells you exactly when your items will be put back on the shelf. I
personally have never gotten a "reminder" call regarding my lay-a-way
and frankly I wouldn't expect one. Lay-a-way benefits the the
consumer and not the store.
I'd like to be a little helpful and give you a tip that may prove
useful to you. Doctor's office's don't have to call and remind you
that you have an appointment, it is a "courtesy call" when they do.
And usually (at least from what I've seen) if you miss your
appointment you are charged. So be careful.

It sounds like you failed to show them the courtesy that you were
hoping they would show you. You expected a phone call from them
regarding your late payment, but didn't bother to make one TO them.

It doesn't sound like the manager was "rude" to you, it just sounds
like she was the one who had to tell you what you did not want to
hear. If you somehow manage to get any of your money refunded, you
should be VERY thankful.

Dear BJ D:

We are so sorry to hear about your recent complaint regarding the
failed layaway. We are further sorry that we followed the rules you
agreed to, so we are breaking those rules (but just for you) in order
to please you.

Please find a check enclosed, and accept our apologies for having
rules and employees who adhere to those rules. We are so sorry for
you.

Think about ALL the people at ALL the KMarts across the 50 states that
put crap on lay-away, forget about it and/or just decide they don't
want it and leave it there. Got it? Okay, now how possible/practical
is it for the KMart people to call EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM and remind
them to come get their crap or it's going back on the shelves? Not
hardly...

Sounds like this was all your fault.

The very fact that you were a "little late" in making the last payment
means you broke the contract.

when you pay bills late, they charge a fee, when you pay credit late,
they charge a fee. Lay away is credit, you did not pay on time, you
paid a fee.


you are owed nothing.

Kmart doesn't have to have a Lay-a-way. Kmart does not have to notify
you when your payment is late (unless it's in your contract of course,
which I suspect it is not). This is precisely the reason several
other stores are getting rid of lay away already. There have been so
many letters on here from people that "need" lay-a-way. They would
"never" think of paying late, not picking up the merchandise, etc.
etc. I can't imagine how many times associates at these places have
to deal with angry customers that were just a "little" late with their
payment. OK, so I'm done with the quotes=-)

What do you define as "a little late"? And who told you "someone
should have called me with a delinquent payment reminder"? I'm sorry,
but you did not pay in accordance with the terms of the contract you
signed and there is no way you are entitled to a refund of the
cancellation fee or an apology for anything.

Sorry if I'm being harsh about this, but I'm getting a little tired of
complaints that are the result of the OP's actions.

Did you call them to tell them you would be late? No, of course not.
It's not their responsibility to notify you, this was all laid out in
the agreement you signed. So were the fees. You have no right to be
mad or to expect the fee refunded or, for that matter, an apology.
You should apologize for putting through the extra work of returning
your items to the shelves.

How long is "a little late making the last payment"? Also, did you
call them when you knew you would be late? If your signed agreement
states the merchandise can be released back to the store shelves after
a certain amount of time, you may indeed have broken the contract.
I think more information is needed in the letter. How was the manager
rude other than saying "in a not so polite manner that it was my own
fault"? A reader is left wondering these things. Maybe you could
rewrite and be more informative.

I can't stand the holiday season - - call me a grouch, but it's just
not my thing. I've been putting up with holiday decordations in
stores for the past month and it's already getting on my last nerve.
And I agree with you that PFB will be heating up the next couple of
months with complaints about layaway problems, returns with no
receipts, etc.

I don't know about you, but I try to prepare ahead for this time of
year. In the next couple of weeks I'll make sure I'm stocked up on
whatever I normally buy at Target or Walmart so I don't need to go
near either place until sometime in mid February.

One of the big problems stores have with offering layaway services is
that some people will come in, set up a layaway, leave, and then not
come back for a really long time. Meanwhile stores have merchandise
that they can't sell, that's taking up storage space they can't use
for merchandise they can sell, and that they may not be able to sell
down the road because the window when people want it is gone.

I suspect that the agreement you made said something to the effect of
"The customer agrees to make all payments and retrieve the merchandise
before such-and-such a date" and that when you were "a little late
making the last payment" you did, in effect, cancel the agreement to
purchase the item and change it to an agreement to pay the fee.

I could, of course, be wrong. I've never done a layaway at KMart and
I've never read a KMart layaway agreement -- and I definitely don't
know what the due date for the last payment was. I know that you
can't be able to have an indefinitely long period in which your
layaway item is sitting around taking up space, but the Bangor store
may have acted too quickly (you might still have time to finish the
payments) or may not have followed through on the terms (was the
delinquent payment reminder something that it is nice for them to do
when they notice you're getting behind, or is it something they are
required to do before voiding the layaway?).

If you can point to the part(s) of the contract that the store didn't
comply with, I hope that you will resubmit this letter, because it
will be a stronger letter. But if not, then it really is your fault
the merchandise went back on the shelves and it really is your fault
that you have to pay the fee, and unless there was something the
manager did that was rude *other than* tell you something that was
true and that you didn't want to hear, I don't think you deserve
anything.

As I say, I hope that you are in the right here. I hope that you can
prove that you are in the right, and I hope that you will prove that
you are in the right. But that "Granted, I was a little late" bit
does kind of worry me.