# Is this even legal?



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Remember my issue with Interweave and the Inkle Loom kit I ordered for my daughter in love? It was a special offer which included the loom, book and DVD for $150. It was 3 weeks ago yesterday that I ordered it. I have called 3 times and left as many messages, I have emailed them 4 times with no reply to any of my attempts to contact them. The last email I sent last week did generate an auto reply but that was it. I went to bank to dispute the whole thing at the suggestion of Kasota. Well today I get this email from Interweave. Below that is the last email I sent to Interweave last week. So my question is: is it even legal to offer something and then not honor the offer? Maybe it was just in MN but if there was something on sale and they ran out they had to offer what was called a Rain Check for the item at the sale price. Grrrrrrr! I am so flipping angry that it took them almost a month to tell me this.

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Cassandra Henion (F+W Media Cust. Service)
Apr 26 11:00

Hello Susan,

I apologize for the trouble.

According to our records, you have a item Inkle Loom Kit on back order with us. We apologize for the delay in getting in contact with you over this product. However, we are no longer going to be carrying this product, and will be sending you a refund in the amount of $155.98.

We appreciate your business, and we apologize for being unable to deliver the product you wanted.

Please accept the following code to use the next time you shop with us: 
CUSTSERV20

Remember to type it in all uppercase and do not use any spaces. This code will take off 20% off your next order.

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

Cassandra Henion
Customer Service Representative
1-866-949-1646 x495
March
Apr 23 03:39

Name: Susan K. Chapman
E-mail: [email protected]

Comments: I ordered the Inkle Loom Kit on April 4, 2014, order #3501555685. It was paid for and I have all receipts. I never received a tracking number and the item, a gift, has never been delivered. This is the 4th email I have sent about this, and I have made at least 3 phone calls and left as many messages with no response to any of my attempt. I have contacted PayPal resolution center and yesterday I cantacted my bank.

All I want to a tracking number, an answer to my inquiries, and the Inkle Loom Kit delivered to the person it was intended for. I have decades of great experience with Interweave. This is extremely disappointing.

Susan Chapman

If you have any additional questions regarding this issue, please reply to this message with your comments.

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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

UGH! I am so, so sorry!! I hope you do actually get your money back. Are they sending you a check? I wouldn't relax until my money was back in the bank. 

I don't know if it is illegal or not, especially if they actually do refund your money. It sure is poor business practice! They should have known how many they had in stock and not jerked you around for a month and didn't even answer your emails. They could have let you know right away that they ran out and were not going to re-order any. 

I've gotten so much more grumpy about these things since my last experience. I'd send them a return email and tell them you expect the funds within 7 business days. Give them a deadline. "We'll send you a refund" sounds remarkably like "we'll send you an inkle loom." The fiasco I got suckered into took something like 4 months to resolve. 

(((hugs)))


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

Don't know if it's legal. Around Christmas, I bought 4 old magazine issues. They were downloads!! My account never showed them available for download. I wrote Interweave several times and ran into the same problem...never heard back. Then week 3 or 4 comes along, the downloads have arrived for download and I get a letter saying how to download as if they were available to download the whole time. I know where the downloads are and how to do it. 3 weeks to correct that and they gave me a coupon for the trouble too. Their customer service sucks! :grumble:


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Ive had bad luck with interweave too. Im real leary of ordering anything from them.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

This make me sad and mad. Before they sold Interweave to whoever owns them now there was never this sort of problem. I have done business with them for years, decades even. Now I'm thinking I won't renew my subscription to SpinOff nor will I continue with my subscription to the other magazine I was going to order.

I got a letter from PayPal also saying Interweave was giving me a full refund. I'm hoping they don't have it in PayPal but in my bank.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

I have no idea about the legality of it, but it is certainly not a good business practice!

I've dealt with them for years as well, and never had any trouble, but admittedly, it has been quite awhile since I actually ordered more than my two magazine subscriptions..


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I&#8217;m sure it is legal. They offered a product, you paid for it. They probably can no longer get the product. It may have taken so long because they, too, were on back order. They have offered you a full refund, so they are off the hook.

When I worked in a craft store the catalogs were only up to date on the date they were sent to the printer. 3 weeks is not a long time to find out you can&#8217;t get the item you ordered, especially if they are working with a distributor. They may have even tried to get the kit from another source. On the plus side they did not give you $150 store credit. The 20% coupon is their apology.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Well I ended up getting the same loom and DVD shipped for less money from Earthsong Fibers. I know the people who own that, they were teachers at the Waldorf school my son when to eons ago. The money was put into my PayPal account, not my bank. It took me a while to figure out how to access that money. Hopefully it will be shipped today.


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

This is why I changed my Paypal acct to where its not taken out of the Bank till 2 weeks after delivery. Sure has saved me lots of troubles. Glad to hear that they did honor it and send your money back. Yep this sure does make you mad when this happens. Not hard to send it to your bank off paypal. Just float around on the tabs and its pretty easy to return it to your account.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

It's legal, in fact the law required them to refund your money (although it is just plain rude of them to ignore your emails).

What is the Mail or Telephone Order Rule?

The Rule requires that when you advertise merchandise, you must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that you can ship within a certain time. If you make no shipment statement, you must have a reasonable basis for believing that you can ship within 30 days. That is why direct marketers sometimes call this the "30-day Rule."

If, after taking the customer&#8217;s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer&#8217;s consent to the delayed shipment. If you cannot obtain the customer&#8217;s consent to the delay -- either because it is not a situation in which you are permitted to treat the customer&#8217;s silence as consent and the customer has not expressly consented to the delay, or because the customer has expressly refused to consent -- you must, without being asked, promptly refund all the money the customer paid you for the unshipped merchandise.

http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule


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