Extremely Disappointing Customer Service and Unacceptable Treatment…read more
I am extremely disappointed with my experience at Halloween Adventure in New York. What should have been a simple refund for a duplicate charge turned into three consecutive days of frustration, inconvenience, and disrespect.
On October 7th, I purchased colored contact lenses, but the payment machine froze during the transaction. Following the instructions of the cashier who was assisting me, I swiped my card again and thought nothing more of it. A few days later, I checked my bank account and discovered that I had been charged twice for the purchase.
On October 13th, I returned to the store to request a refund. Unfortunately, the cashier lead seemed unwilling to believe me, despite my bank statement showing the duplicate charges. She explained that she could not find two receipts showing the exact same items, claiming that the other receipt listed different colored contacts. However, the cashier who originally assisted me recognized me and confirmed that the machine had frozen and that a mistake had been made. Despite this confirmation, the cashier lead claimed she did not know how to resolve the issue and instructed me to return the following day.
After finishing a long shift at my own job, I returned on October 14th. A manager assisted me but was unfamiliar with the situation. I explained everything again, only to be told that the original cashier was not working and that they could not verify what had happened. Once again, I was asked to return another day.
I returned on October 16th, hoping that the matter would finally be resolved. The same manager assisted me but did not even attempt to speak with the cashier who had acknowledged the original mistake. Instead, I was told there was nothing they could do, that I was essentially out of luck, and that I had to leave without a refund.
What made this experience even more upsetting was that, throughout my conversation with the cashier lead, I was repeatedly misgendered and referred to as "he" instead of "she." This was disrespectful and made an already frustrating situation even more uncomfortable.
I understand that mistakes happen, and I initially had no issue with the payment machine malfunctioning. What I cannot understand is how a business can acknowledge that a mistake occurred, make a customer return multiple times, and ultimately refuse to take responsibility for resolving the issue.
I have now spent time and effort making three separate trips to the store over a duplicate charge that was not my fault, only to be left feeling dismissed, disrespected, and as though my money has been taken without any accountability.
I expected better from Halloween Adventure. Management needs to improve its refund procedures, staff communication, and customer service, and ensure that every customer is treated with basic respect. I hope the store takes this complaint seriously, because this was an unacceptable experience that has seriously damaged my trust in the business. Although I must say that the cashier who originally made the mistake did apologies and I am no way angered or annoyed by their mistake as we are humans and we all make mistakes, but I'm disgusted on how management treated me and disrespected me and didn't even offer store credit or any way of recognizing the customer they are disrespecting in a place that apparently is ran by gender neutral/lgbtq+ allies.