Carole sent a message to Kevin Mansell Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Kohls Corporation Email Address that said:
Mr. Mansell --
I have a dilemma, and i'm hoping you can help me. I am 71 years old and recently broke my back. I can't push a vacuum, and neither can my husband, who has Parkinson's Disease. so, when I saw that Kohl's had the 761 iRobot on sale, I asked my daughter to drive me to your store . so I could purchase one.
There was only one left when I got there on the evening of December 5, 2015, but thats all I needed. I slid it up to the register, paid for it, and was so happy to have saved $100 plus some other discounts.
Because I was having back surgery on the 21st and wanted to wait until after the Christmas tree was put away, I put it in my guest room -- unopened.
I had no visitors over the holdays, as I was recuperating from back surgery, so imagine my surprise, when my daughter opened the box to set up my new vacuum and it was not there! All of the accessories and docking station were, but not the main unit.
So, I took it back to the store the following evening, and the manager, I'm sure, thought it was a scam. I understand his position, but I brought my sales receipt and medical records, hoping he would be sympathetic to my plight.
His head of security went back and looked at the tape showing when I purchased it, and he said I put it up on the counter. To me, that's proof the unit was missing when I bought it. With a broken back, I was in so much pain that i couldn't lift anything!
Long story short, the manager said he'd look into the matter further and get back to me. He hasn't. So now I am paying hundreds of dollars for a vacuum I don't have. I offered to buy another one for the same discounted price, but he was not amenable to that.
Unless you can help, I have no recourse but to pay my bill, cut up my Khol's cards, and never shop in my favorite store again. I will watch for a sale in another store, and purchase the Roomba again. Only this time I will open the box and make sure it is intact before walking out the door.
As a former manager of three Jo-Ann's stores, I know all about "shrink." Your manager said Kohl's loses more than $40,000 a year, which frankly sounds very low to me. But, whatever the number, my $300+ loss seems pretty small in the scheme of things. I would at least pursue the matter to see if there wasn't something I could do to retain a loyal customer. And, I would certainly call the customer back and explain how I tried to help.
Because all of the accessories were in the box, along with the paper and plastic wrappings for the unit, I truly believe that this last box contained your floor model. If so, it should not have been on the sales floor where someone, like me, could purchase it.
Thank you for your time and attention. I know you have far more pressing issues.
Sincerely,
Carole
