- Report: #1337634
Complaint Review: Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. - Internet
Reported By:
Michael -
Cumberland, Rhode Island, USA
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.
Internet, USA
Phone:
800-903-9838
Web:
www.firestone.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Bogus rebate program on tire purchase Internet
I purchased (4) new Firestone tires during a 2015 Firestone Summer Promotion whereby Firestone would send me a Firestone Prepaid Visa reward card after I mailed in the receipt proving the tire purchase and installation from a local tire dealer. I mailed the required paperwork to Firestone on June 19, 2015. The promotion terms stated that the card would arrive in 10-to-12 weeks, and it would be valid for up to 6 months (the date six months after June 19, 2015 was Dec 19, 2015). The card did arrive in the mail, and it showed an expiration date of January 2016. I do not recall the date that the card arrived.
I activated the card as instructed, upon receipt. When I attempted to use the card (which should have carried a value of $70) while holiday shopping in December 2015, I discovered that the card had zero monetary value.
I made several phone calls to the "Firestone Rewards Administration" contact number listed on the promotional pamphlet. I was eventually informed that the third-party company who administered the 2015 Summer Promotion was no longer handling that duty, and was given another phone number (800-903-9838) to contact a different third-party company who was "handling the reward-card promotional issues from 2015". I repeated my story about the "zero-dollar reward card" to multiple customer service reps, all of whom promised to follow up. None did.
I started keeping track of my calls to (800-903-9838) after many fruitless attempts to get a new card issued to me.
- Aug 12, 2016: I spoke with a customer service rep named "Sona Richardson", who told me to "wait a couple of weeks"
- Sep 01, 2016: I spoke with a customer service rep named "Brittany Keizler", who told me to call back in a couple of weeks.
- Sep 15, 2016: I was told that I would be called back by a "representative" within 48 hours, and that I would also receive an email. Neither of those two things happened.
- Nov 11, 2016: I called today and was told that a replacement card had been mailed to my home address shortly after the September 15th phone call. (I did not receive that card). The service representative told me to call the "lost card" number (877-227-0956). That phone number was answered by "Mark", employee ID # 00725. He told me that, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the promotion, I was not going to get a replacement card, and offered his condolences.
I believe the 2015 Firestone Summer Promotion was poorly administered, if not an outright marketing scam. They did mail me a Firestone Visa reward card, but most recipients of a reward card expect it to have some monetary value. Mine is now in the glove compartment of my truck, used as a make-shift frost scraper for the windshield. I'm very disgusted with Firestone, and will never do business with that company again. I will also recommend that my friends and acquaintances avoid doing business with Firestone as well.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Update #2; Firestone promotional gift card
#2Author of original report
Mon, December 12, 2016
The replacement card worked. I used it over the weekend to make a purchase, and the card did, indeed, work correctly. Thank you, Firestone, for fixing this issue. They responded to my complaint, they replaced the card with a good one, and they followed up to make sure I was satisfied with the result. This is no longer a "ripoff". This is the final update, and this issue is closed as far as I'm concerned.
Update #1; Firestone promotional gift card
#3Author of original report
Sat, December 03, 2016
(I clicked the "Update this Report" button, and got a "Write your Rebuttal" page. This is not a Rebuttal; it's an update to my original complaint).
On the same day that I posted my original complaint on the "Ripoff Report" website, I also sent an e-mail to the Customer Service department at Firestone Tire's corporate headquarters. On Nov 22nd, I received a phone call at home from a gentleman who identified himself as Levi, responding to my e-mail. (Levi said he was a Firestone representative for gift card programs. The caller ID on my phone showed "ITA Group", whomever that is). Anyway, Levi told me that I would receive a new gift card in the mail in 5 to 7 weeks, and that he would personally followup to insure that my new card was issued.
Today, Dec 2nd, 2016, a new Firestone gift card arrived in the mail. I'm pleasantly surprised, and grateful that Firestone responded to my complaint. Of course, I need to go out and try to use the card on an actual purchase, to make sure this situation is truly resolved. So I will go out tomorrow and buy something with this gift card, and will post another update after that attempt.
- Michael, Cumberland RI
