Kate Spade- Grade F

UPDATE: Kate Spade contacted me to apologize about this issue. It was an error on their part and I am welcome to return the lipstick or they offered me the 20% refund. They were extremely apologetic and disappointed that this happened.

As most of you know I was a BIG Kate Spade fan. I have been an avid patron for 12 years and still remember buying my first bag at West Farms Mall my freshman year of high school. I was such a huge fan that I counted down to the launch of their sunglasses and just so happened to be the very first sale of a pair from Saks 5th Avenue flagship! Small claim to fame, :) I enjoyed watching the company grow and expand and add a full line of clothing and of course you know I was very excited for their recent lipstick release. In fact, I was so excited about the release of the lipstick that I popped in the NorthPark store a few extra times to inquire about the launch. I was given different dates several times and kept checking back as I knew I wanted Pop Art Pink... So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when Kate Spade emailed out a coupon for 20% off ANY purchase you made in store the day the lipstick launched. I printed my coupon and stopped in the NorthPark store over lunch only to be told the coupon could not be applied to my purchase. This was a bit odd considering the coupon stated NO limitations nor a minimum purchase, however, I accepted the fact, bought my lipstick and left. Well, you can imagine how shocked I was to speak to a friend here in Dallas that happened to make the EXACT SAME purchase no more than 20 minutes after me and she had NO issues using the coupon. She was not questioned and completed her purchase with the discount.
This was quite perplexing to me so I decided to contact Kate Spade customer service via email thinking they might be able to offer me an explanation. Well, after a week and no reply I decided to tweet to the company. They immediately replied saying they were sorry and hoped to rectify the issue. A light at the end of the tunnel, or so I thought. Along with their reply I received numerous tweets from fellow online friends about similar issues they have experienced with the company. I was shocked, but replied to Kate Spade only to not hear back from them. I decided to resend my email and again no reply after two weeks. The cycle continued with another tweet which Kate Spade replied to and gave me a new contact to resend me email to, which I did. Here we are a week later and NO reply, still. I am unsure if Kate Spade has some of disconnect with their NorthPark store, their email or the person in charge of their Twitter account, but this is hands down the worst customer service I have encountered in the retail world. They get a grade F from me!

While 20% might not seem like much a $10 savings would have meant an extra movie, two trips to Starbucks or a dinner out but above all else this really just comes down to principle in my book. If you send out a coupon with NO fine print or limitations you cannot discriminate against what customers can use it or that it will only be taken on every other sale. If you have a customer service department you need to pride yourselves on helping customers and pleasing them, not neglecting them and providing no feedback. If you want to continue to make your numbers in the retail world you need to step it up. If a restaurant has poor service and bad food, I do not return. If a store has inconsistent policies and terrible customer service I will quit supporting them. Sadly, that time has apparently come with Kate Spade. As a long time customer, I am incredibly disappointed as I really loved their products and design, but this has been the last straw for me. I guess you could say it is the end of an era.

Have you ever experienced terrible customer service at a store you once loved? Did you stop patronizing them because of it?