Complaint Review: Body Central - Jacksonville Florida

This order was placed on June 14, 2011.  This has been going on for almost a month and I haven't received one single reply from "customer service".  I have been ordering from Body Central (online) for, at the very least a year now - and, as stated in the original message which was sent to them directly through their server which can be found at: http://www.bodyc.com/service/contact.aspx,
I've never had a problem with their merchandise prior to this incident - and had in fact, been very pleased with my prior purchases.
 
With this particular order however, I think you can see that I had a problem with BOTH of the items I had purchased.  As was stated in regard to the all over lace shrug, I had VERY carefully spent HOURS cutting around the delicate material in order to remove a completely useless, unnecessary eyesore not to mention - I didn't wish to damage the item (as I DO very carefully take care of my clothing).  Needless to say, after hours of working on this - I had become weary and I DID make a slip. Directly following that, things began to unravel very rapidly.  Yet - despite all the care in the world, after all of the hours spent working on this ... Body Central seem to be acting as though it is entirely MY fault that the manufacturer of this item had made an extremely glaring error.  You do NOT weave a VERY OBVIOUS care label into the fabric (nor any item of clothing for that matter).  If they had not felt this was entirely my fault, I believe *someone* from customer service would have responded.

As for the cheap bracelets - which as stated, I wasn't stupid enough to believe they were real silver, actually half of them were covered in glitter (not just a few which I'm sure they are quite aware of, yet - there was NO mention of this in their description), and it was more than just two that were poorly crafted at the welding point (it was however, only two that had broken).  What has me *SERIOUSLY* angry about the bracelets is that I had worn them on the day I had received them.  One had broken and completely DESTROYED a brand new silk/cashmere sweater I had JUST purchased and received (a few days prior to the order from Body Central) from Victoria's Secret (on clearance).  I had to throw that away in addition to the bracelets as there was absolutely NO way of repairing such a delicate item.  I didn't contact Victoria's Secret on this as it was NOT their fault (nor, do I feel the fault was that of my own due to poor workmanship).  Body Central should be replacing that item as well for selling accessories which had been shoddily made.  At first glance, they appeared to be ok - so, I wore them (to my utter disgust).

This is a case of adding insult to injury.  I've had to order an entire new wardrobe in the past couple of years due to health problems (rapid weight loss from hyperthyroidism).  Body Central doesn't know the circumstances (nor should they as I seriously doubt they would even care).  The clothing I had prior to developing Thyroid issues had fit me properly.  However, once I had developed Hyperthyroidism - despite the fact that I do NOT (unfortunately) have a money tree in my backyard - I was forced into slowly replacing what had no longer properly fit.

Anyway, I feel I've properly explained my situation.  And as stated in one of the e-mails below (if not more) - if Victoria's Secret cares enough about their customers to replace a faulty/defective item without additional cost or penalty to the customer - and WITHOUT QUESTION (THEY actually go above and beyond in order to keep their customers happy) ... why can't Body Central do the same?  Why do they flat out *refuse*??  With as much as I have ordered from Body Central in the past, I feel that this issue should not have been ignored (by doing so is nothing short of disgraceful) - not to mention, I DO feel that I have been ripped off.  Two items, with taxes plus shipping and handling had come to a total of $26.97.  Both items ordered were intended for a wedding I had stood in (as all the bridesmaids were wearing the same thing - I had to improvise at the last minute thanks to my complaint being ignored).  Just because the lace shrug was solely intended for a wedding does NOT mean I wouldn't wear it for other occasions. If money were not an issue - so what.  If either were indeed the case, I would NOT be upset about the matter.  By the way, as I was warned by a friend, the superglue did NOT hold.  Directly after washing very carefully by hand, the fabric beneath swelled - began to *SERIOUSLY* unravel - so the shrug is about be tossed in the garbage as well.  In all, due to poor workmanship on the part of Body Central's manufacturers, I had lost a total of approximately $62.00 (this includes the cost of the sweater from Victoria's Secret) which is not exactly a "drop in the bucket" for me.

Below are the complaints I had sent directly to the customer service department via the link on their website which can be found at:
http://www.bodyc.com/service/contact.aspx
And to answer EVERYONE'S question, yes - I DID click the link in order to be removed from their catalog mailing list.  Unless they make good on their promise of "Customer Satisfaction" ... I will no longer be ordering from them - nor, should anyone else - that is unless you actually enjoy getting kicked in the face as a reward for being a good customer.

This may seem a tiny issue compared to other complaints listed on this site.  However, I have yet to meet one single person who actually enjoys getting ripped off.

Thank you so much for this website!!!!
Ms. "Vaseline Please"

E-MAIL SENT TO BODY CENTRAL ON JUNE 19, 2011
Re: Item #4530 - ALL OVER LACE SHRUG
I received this in the mail yesterday (which was supposed to be used for a wedding next weekend).  While the shrug is indeed beautiful, to my UTTER disgust - the VERY WHITE care label was literally WOVEN INTO THE EXTREMELY BLACK AND DELICATE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING.  What IDIOT dreamed that one up?!  I quite literally wasted HOURS of my time, very carefully cutting the label out *AROUND* the stitching to NO avail whatsoever.  I ended up having to use SUPERGLUE because some MORON thought weaving a QUITE OBVIOUS CARE LABEL (HAND WASH ONLY DUH!) was ingenious.  The only other vendor who believed such blatant stupidity was a great idea happens to be Victoria's Secret - at least THAT was easy to repair as the item in question was crafted of THICK 100% cotton and I was actually able to SEW it back together as opposed to having to use super glue (and I'm not even certain THAT is going to hold).  Oh, wait, and you actually have the NERVE to place this item under CLEARANCE when you only had taken THREE DOLLARS AND EIGHTY ONE CENTS OFF OF IT?! No, for your information ... that is NOT a ***CLEARANCE*** price, that is a MINOR SALE PRICE.

Item #1590
While I'm not actually stupid enough to believe that I'd get twelve REAL silver bracelets for $3.99 or - even $6.00 for that matter ... you ARE required by law to state that the item is made from stainless steel (or whatever it is) and whether or not it is hypoallergenic.  And WHERE pray tell in your description of the item does it mention that OR the fact that quite a few of them are overloaded with GLITTER?!  The description CLEARLY states SILVER ETCH bangle bracelet set - NOT silver TONE or Stainless Steel with a few bracelets with tons of glitter thrown in that will fall off in your dinner plate.

Normally, I have been very pleased in the past with all of the purchases I have made from you.  However to be quite frank, I am EXTREMELY P***ED OFF ABOUT THIS CURRENT PURCHASE.  What do you propose to make me a happy customer again and keep me from posting this all over the internet and ripoffreport.com?  For one, I suggest there be a completely FREE OF CHARGE REPLACEMENT of the "all over lace shrug" with NO shipping charges involved.  First, YOU send me a PRISTINE replacement with a pre-paid return shipping label (minus the WEAVED IN CARE LABEL), THEN, I send you the EXTREMELY SH**TY CRAFTED one back and I'll be all too happy to order from you again.  I don't think that's asking too much if you take my order history into consideration.  Not to mention, it would be very bad business for a company to make a customer pay return shipping for a HUGE error in judgement made by the manufacturer.  If Victoria's Secret extends this courtesy to their customers (myself included), I don't see why you cannot or refuse to.  Obviously, Victoria's Secret wants to KEEP their customers - forever.  If not, you will have lost my business forever (along with a large number of my friends who consistently order from you and shop at your outlets per my referral).  As for the bracelets, I'll keep them, I'll just simply scrub all of the glitter off.  Awaiting your reply.

For once - A SERIOUSLY P***ED OFF CUSTOMER,
(name omitted)

E-MAIL SENT TO BODY CENTRAL ON JUNE 26, 2011

I HIGHLY suggest in the present and future that you take your customers a little more seriously when they have a complaint than you had with me (IF you wish to keep them).  I contacted "customer service" on TWO problems with this order (and I only ordered TWO ITEMS).  After hitting the submit button - I was informed that I would be contacted within 48 to 72 hours.  Well, it's been a FULL WEEK AND NOBODY EVEN HAD THE COURTESY to shoot off an e-mail to even make a SUGGESTION ON HOW TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM (PERHAPS SOME VASELINE?!) WITH MY MOST RECENT (AND PROBABLY FINAL) ORDER.

IN ORDER TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY - here is the e-mail I sent (and I am saving copies just in case you don't respond with a REASONABLE suggestion - for BOTH of these WILL go on RIPOFFREPORT.com):

(e-mail from June 19, 2011 was inserted here)

Again ... FIX the problem, or this is going ALL OVER THE INTERNET and being reported to EVERY SINGLE CONSUMER PROTECTION AGENCY I CAN THINK OF.  In the meantime, UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT YOU DO RECTIFY MY ORDER WITH NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES TO ME - PLACE ME ON YOUR DO NOT MAIL/CALL LIST (unless you are informing me that you are re-sending me A BRAND NEW LACE SHRUG IN PRISTINE CONDITION).  Don't worry about the so called bracelets, I threw them away as TWO of them BROKE at the point where they were poorly welded together, I saw no sense in keeping CRAP ITEMS.   By the way - THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH  FOR RUINING MY FRIENDS WEDDING, I HAD TO WEAR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE WHO STOOD IN IT ... I STUCK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB.

In all likelihood,
an EXTREMELY P***ED OFF ***FORMER*** CUSTOMER,
(name omitted)

Third and final e-mail sent to Body Central on July 4, 2011

I highly suggest that you contact me *IMMEDIATELY* and send a COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE REPLACEMENT on the black "all over lace shrugh" or this WILL be going on RIP OFF REPORT FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING.  YOU HAVE 24 HOURS IN WHICH TO RESPOND TO AN EXTREMELY P***ED OFF FORMER CUSTOMER (FORMER - as you have not responed to my past two e-mails on this issue).  You have furthermore lost every single one of my friends as customers entirely due to this ONE SINGLE INCIDENT - and the word is rapidly spreading.

Don't respond this time and see what happens.  THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT.

By the way - I have saved both (now all THREE e-mails) I have shot off to you in regard to this.  These will be posted on RIP OFF REPORT in addition to what I now think of your company.

Happy 4th of July.