"Poor company response to questions about return, Would never bur from this company ever again..."
"I placed an order on 10/26/21 with this company. I noticed on my 06/19/23 credit card statement a charge from this company for $14.95 for an awards program. For 2 years they have deducting $14.95 from my account. I contacted customer service and was told I signed up on 10/26/21. I requested proof of this transaction but they said they sent me a welcome email. I asked for proof of that. I was told they didn't have it. Supposedly with this rewards program you get free shipping. I bought several orders since 10/26/21 and was charged shipping every time. After 17 emails & jumping through hoops sending all the documentation they requested, they said they could only refund 6 months worth of charges. This is a complete scam. Why would I donate $14.95 every month to this company , receiving nothing in return. They say their goal is 100% customer satisfaction. I did not get that. I am totally disgusted on the handling of this ongoing issue. I have read review after review stating the exact same fraudulent practices. You are automatically signed up for the rewards program with your first purchase. BUYER BEWARE"
"I find it amazing that this scam of a company has been in business so long, basically with their catalogue and now outline presence, touting that they “test” their products and that they are all of exceptional quality, plus regaling us with their “lifetime warranty”. First of all, I have purchased several items from them through the years. All of them have turned out to be of extremely low quality, and their lifetime warranty turns out to be deceiving and basically bogus.
A case in point was an expensive outdoor clock. I purchased it from their company, since our family was creating a memorial garden from my mother, who was also a grandmother and great-grandmother. The clock came with a customized under-hanging plaque. After less than a year the clock stopped working, but being that these were supposed to be high-quality clocks, I figured there was something wrong with the batteries. I tried every type out there, and the clock continued to stop over several months.
Believing that Hammacher Schlemmer did have a lifetime warranty I called them up. First off, the customer service rep I spoke to was rude, uncaring, and accusatory. It was as if they were trained to do whatever was necessary to dissuade anyone from any kind of refund or return. Of course it also appeared that this rep was not at all connect to the company but was a third party rep from one of those cheap overseas third-party operations that they had hired. What I was finally told was that first off they no longer offered that item, so my option was to ship it back to them AT MY COST (which being a large and heavy item would have been expensive), and that if and when they received it, they would not reimburse me, but rather give me a store credit that I could only use for another one of their items. And to add insult to injury, if I did go along with this insane offer, and did purchase some other low-level item from them, I would also have to pay for the return SHIPPING!
At that point I hung up on this individual, and looked for a local clock repair shop. I did find an excellent one and brought it over, He immediately laughed and said he’s seen these a lot, and asked if I purchased it from Hammacher Schlemmer. He said that this was true of most of their merchandise, since they inventory the cheapest materials. In the case of this clock, the clock mechanism they use is made for a small desk clock, not a large outdoor clock with large heavy hands, which is why it keeps stopping. He told me that the clock and hands of this size need a special heavy-duty mechanism to run the hands and not burn out. Although the price to replace this clock with the proper mechanism, along with the labor was about the same as the original clock, being customized as a memorial from my mother, I told him to fix it. He did, and even gave me a discount, and a bit of advice which was: “stay away from Hammacher Schlemmer!
The clock is back in our garden. And now I’m passing on his advice to you. Stay away from the scam outfit Hammacher Schlemmer. And if you do have any times from them, be aware that their “Lifetime Warranty” is not for a lifetime… it’s not even a warranty! They do not support or back up anything they sell. And for good reason. It’s crap.
"
"Don't shop here. One order will sign you up for "rewards program" and charge you $14.95 monthly. I placed an order Oct. 2021, then cancelled the order. However, they signed me up for their "rewards" program. They sent me ONE email which went to my SPAM so I never knew. I went to pay my CC and noticed $14.95 charge. I looked back and they have been charging me for 9 months.
I contacted them but they ignored my request for refund. This site is a scam!!!
I File with BBB and FTC.gov if this happens to you. They will not refund your money. It's a scam that they have set up with a different website, different email and different PO box in another state from they main website!"
"Worst customer service ever. They asked for documentation and then they say they don’t have it to send it again so I sent it again.Finally it’s approved. Not so fast—-They need the documentation again, so of course I sent it again. Didn’t receive it please send again. So I did and they’re reviewing it. In the meantime they Are charging me 14.95 a month for their rewards program. If They lived up to their agreement I’d be more than happy to live up to my agreement. I have asked for a credit of 14.95 In order to offset the charge that They levied on my credit account—-No one’s address this"
"Would NEVER order from this company again. I ordered a gift for my husband on their website. Two week AFTER I placed the order, I received an email notifying me that the order would take 3-4 weeks and apologizing that it was not stated on their website and I was not made aware of the timeframe at the time of purchase. I made the stupid decision to move forward with my purchase and wait the additional two weeks. After 3 weeks, I both emailed and called to get a status update. I sent 2 emails that went unanswered, and had to call 4 times -- each phone call I was told something different because their customer service representatives seem to have no idea what's going on. After another 6 weeks with still no shipping number, and no communication from HS on further delays, I demanded to speak to a manager. I was told by that manager that my item would be guaranteed within 7 days and that my shipping costs (I paid for expedited shipping, which is hilarious in hindsight) would be refunded. It has now been a month since that "guaranteed in a week" phone call, and my order still hasn't even been fulfilled and customer service has no information for me. I have received ZERO communication from this company explaining or apologizing for further delays and I'm told that because "it could ship at any moment" and they'd be unable to ensure the item wasn't sent before my cancellation is processed, I am unable to cancel my order. Customer service has no idea what to do, and the managers will say anything to get you off the phone without further complaints. To make matters worse, my credit card company has had to call me various times to question and verify pending charges because every single Monday, HS submits a pending charge for the amount of my item to "ensure I have the money", so they are taking up available funds on my credit card without providing me what I ordered. Laughable, they offered a 20% off coupon on my next order to make up for my frustration....as if I would ever purchase from these people again. Buyer beware. "
"I love the quality of the items I have ordered through Hammacher Schlemmer over the past 10 years. I never have to worry if I'm going to be happy with my purchases; this company does not disappoint! "
"I ordered 2 personalized puzzles based on my friend’s addresses which weren’t cheap. They both arrived with no designation on which puzzle went with which address! Nor a picture of the puzzle itself. It was cheap crap. When I called their customer service to ask how I can figure out who got which puzzle, they said be happy I even got them! Never will I use Hammacher Schlemmer again! "
"On July 1st we ordered an indoor cycling conversion stand, heavily promoted by them on all of their platforms. After ordering they started to fool with the potential shipping date. Kept moving it backward. I contacted customer service and they provided another date for shipping a week later. Shame on me for believing them. The date has come and past with again no change or shipment or even another shipment date. What makes this insulting they even charged me $29.95 for shipping that has never happened.
Looks like a scam to build their cash reserves! Charge you upfront, keep your money interest free. SCAM SCAM SCAM another formerly outstanding company that has gone to the dark side"
"If I could give this company 0 stars I would. I ordered an A/C from them and it didn't fit my window opening. We measured everything carefully but it was a unique patented model as it hung from both sides. We couldn't get one of the sides through. Never used or turned on we packed it neatly up and sent it back. The company charged me $75 in shipping and restocking fees. Unbelievable. Go to amazon where they care about their customers. "
"May 13, 2020. I purchased an Infrared Thermometer for my practice from this company almost a month ago. They immediately tried to put my credit card through but as they had not delivered it the transaction showed up as pending by my bank. It finally disappeared a few weeks ago after I sent them a email order cancellation. Again no one answers their phones, any of them. Yesterday the charge showed up as pending again with my bank. I sent them another email and called the Fraud Division of US Bank to stop it. This company is listed on the Internet as closing it's doors a few ads down from their Google listing."
"Purchased for around $130 plus tax, Received almost 2 weeks later and started with the assembly instructions. Step 1 couldn't be completed since a hole and screw didn't line up properly. Though this item is made by Four Stari, I thought to send it back to Hammacher Schlemmer for a return. The wanted to charge me another $15 to send it back. So I redrilled that hole, and before finishing I had 5 more holes that had to be recrilled since lthey didn't line up either. "
"In December 2018 I ordered a pair of slippers for my husband, after opening on christmas morning it was found that they were too small, no complaint there this is common when you order on line. The merchandise was shipped bach and a replacement was requested, after waiting for a month and receiving absolutely no acknowledgment of receipt I called and was told “ho well you know we are overwhelmed by teturns, so you will just have to wait until we get to your return”. I asked how long it would take for some action to this matter and was told “we don’t know, might be few weeks, we don’t know. The company claims to have been in business for 171 years, are they so incompetent that after this many years they cannot prepare for a christmas season and the expected number of returns?. Needless to say they have lost my business confidence and future sales."
"I had an issue with something that I ordered but customer service took excellent care of me! They went above and beyond to make me happy. I definitely will do business with them again"
"I ordered a lightweight roller bag for my wife for Christmas. It arrived but was defective so we returned it. After several weeks and two phone calls the company refunded the cost of the luggage but not the $35 shipping cost I had paid. I corresponded with them by email and they said they do not refund postage for defective returned products. I recommend BUYERS BEWARE if you Del with them—I will not be doing business with them for sure."