Hello, this is to whoever it may concern.
I hope this gets to the CEO of Steve Madden, or any of the higher ups because this lady should not be working for you guys, and frankly, it's illegal what she did to me.
So this was yesterday, Friday, May 14, 2016.
I was shopping around at the Las Americas Premium Outlets in San Diego. Here is the address: 4345 Camino De La Plaza, San Diego, CA 92173
This was around 1:30pm.
So I walked in, and this lady by the name of Lilie Velezuel (Not sure how to spell her last name) asked if she can help me out. I said I interested in these shoes for my girlfriend, and I asked if she had a size 5. Lilie then said size 5 was the smallest size they offered, but they didn't have any in stock. So I asked if I can order online, and she said she'll check other stores. She told me Orange County was the closest store that had the size 5, but the shipping would be $8.00. I was blown away because a lot of other retailers offer free shipping. Anyways, I asked if they offer military discount because Nike and other retailers at that same outlet do, which was 10% off your total purchase. She said they do not. We also got a coupon book that said 20% off your total purchase at Steve Madden, and she said they cannot honor that because it is a sale item. Okay I got that. But I was surprised that she couldn't give me 10% off for being in the military. Anyways, I told her online, there's a promotion called family and friends that says you can get 25% off and free shipping over $50, and of course, the website didn't have the shoes I wanted, so I was stuck by having to order from that Orange County, California store. She said she would need my credit card. And I gave it to her, thinking she would swipe it. She then was writing it down on a piece of paper. I told her I felt really uncomfortable with this because of all the fraud that's been going on. She said this is the only way, and she will fax it to the Orange County store and they will run the card there. I said, why would you write it down for? You can give my information to your friends or something and then the associates in Orange County will also have my information if they wanted to steal it. She said this is the only way, unless I wanted to call that store myself. I said, since she already wrote it down, and it's probably on camera surveillance anyway, to go ahead and run it. After she took all my information down, she said "Okay that's it!" and I said, that's it? Where's my receipt? And she said the receipt will be in the shoe box when my girlfriend receives it. And I freaked out and said "well, where is the confirmation that I purchased this? And she said we don't do that here. And I was like "what?!" What do you mean? You guys can never send the shoes to my girlfriend's house for all we know, and I will have no proof that I purchased the shoes. Lilie then insisted that they will run it at the orange county store, so there is no way she can give me a receipt or anything. And I was respectful, I mean I've worked in retail and customer service for over 10 years. I know what good customer service is and I know how the business works. She said I'm sorry, we don't do that here. And I kept explaining to her, that it's not that I don't trust her, or Steve Madden as a company, but I'm just trying to cover my ass. She says she understands because she gets a lot of customers that feel the same way, but there is no way to get a receipt or any proof of purchase if you do not purchase something physically in her store. And so I asked, "isn't that orange county store the same company as you?" and She said yes. And so I asked her, "why can't you just run my card? Isn't it going to the same company?" and She said that is not how it works. I asked if I can speak to a manager, because at this point, I was furious and couldn't stand talking to her, and she told me she was the manager! Haha! How can you guys have a Manager that runs a store like this? And talks back to a customer like this? And for a $50 shoe, she still charged me for $8.00 shipping after all this. How crazy is this? My mother and sister were next to me, also in disbelief. I told Lilie that even though for years, Steve Madden was my girlfriends' favorite store ever, and I always bought her shoes there, that because of this incident, I never want to shop here or Steve Madden ever again, and she said "We get that a lot here, but that's just how the policy is". I am not making this up! I have My sister, my mom, and 3 other customers as witnesses! This lady should be fired! She's hispanic, and has curly hair. I told her I just needed to get these shoes, because my girlfriend has been looking for this color for a long time (it was a cobalt blue suede flats), and so I was forced to buy the shoes, but I told her "is there anyway you can just like, maybe write on a piece of paper that I purchased these?!" and she said "oh i guess I can do that..." and I looked at my mom and sister "am i crazy?!" read more