Customer service sucks.

I sent the following email to Lids customer service three times. They responded by blocking my IP address. Here is the customer service you can expect from Lids:

I think someone with Lids customer service needs to be made aware of my recent experience making an online purchase.

On Wednesday, December 3rd, I purchased a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hat and a Purdue Boilermakers t-shirt. The hat was a Christmas gift, the shirt was to wear to an event, the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. The order number for this purchase was *******.

December 16th I received a package. The hat was present. The shirt was not.

Less than 30 minutes after receiving the package, I placed a call to Lids Customer Service. I waited on hold for 36 minutes before following the instructions to receive a call back.

On December 17th, I sent an email via Lids.com to customer service inquiring about the missing shirt. I received a message that I would be contacted within the next 72 hours.

On December 18th I flew from California to Indiana. At this point I had not received a call back regarding the missing shirt. As the shirt was for an event in Indianapolis, this is obviously an item I no longer desired.

On December 20th, four days after reaching out to Lids to reach a resolution, I was informed that perhaps a better way to get ahold of someone with your company was to use the social media site Twitter. Running short of options, and with poor customer service quickly turning into theft, I utilized this option before filing a claim with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

On December 22nd, nearly a week after calling Lids customer service I received a call back. This gentleman also tweeted me that he would like to resolve the issue.

On December 23rd, I returned the gentleman's phone call. I was instructed that he was out to lunch, and that he would call me back as soon as he returned. The call never came. That was the last time I spoke to anyone at Lids on the phone.

On December 24th, I received an email from "Brittany" stating she read that I spoke to someone on the phone and she assumed the issue was resolved.

Later that day I received an email from "Amanda" stating that my card had been refunded the total of the purchase. This is untrue.

On December 29th, I received an email stating that the original order, in full, 26 days after initial purchase, was being shipped to me.

At this point, exhausted and supremely disappointed with the customer service offered online and over the phone, I aimed simply to receive the package and then return it to the nearest Lids as promptly as possible. Concerned that another transaction involving my credit card could result in further erroneous charges, I had resolved to get the balance put on a gift card and to walk away.

I received this package on Tuesday, December 30th. I opened the box and found what appeared to be a hat and shirt wrapped in a red bag. I deliberately neglected to open the bag.

On Saturday, January 3rd, I entered Lids store #5848 in the Westminster Mall in Westminster, CA. I spoke with Mike, who I later learned was a store manager. I told him I needed to return an online purchase and was only seeking to have the balance put on a gift card. He indicated that was fine and that he could help me. He asked what the items were. I told him the package included one hat and one t-shirt. Mike told me he would be unable to process the return of the shirt because his store does not carry apparel, but that I could return the shirt at the Lids Locker Room inside the Macy's located within the mall. I sought only a gift card.

We then proceed to the Lids Locker Room on the first floor of the Macy's in the Westminster Mall. We explained our situation to the employee on duty, Jesus, and that we were only seeking to have the balance on a gift card. While he was very polite, it was just his second day at work, and he was unable to assist us. He was prompt in calling his supervisor, Erin.

Erin explained to us that she would be unable to process the return because her store was on a different "POS" system. She told us that we would be able to process the return at the Lids within the mall. We explained that we had just come from there and they told us to come to the Lids Locker Room. Erin told us that if we went back to the Lids, they could call her to discuss the return. Frustrated, but clearly devoid of options, we returned to the Lids within the mall.

Upon returning to the Lids in the mall, we explained our situation to an employee named Jo. We told Jo that we were only seeking a gift card. Jo informed us that they should be able to process the return within the Macy's and that we should return there. We explained to Jo that we had first come to the Lids, then were sent to Macy's and then were told to return to the Lids. We informed Jo that we were not interested in walking back down to the Macy's. We sought only a gift card.

At this point Jo called Erin at the Macy's and learned that they were in fact on a different POS system and were unable to process the return. Jo then told us that if we wanted to process the return we would have to go to a Lids Locker Room, either the one located at The Block in Orange, or the one located at Spectrum in Irvine.

Running short of options, I told Jo I would go to the Lids Locker Room in Orange to process the return within the next week. Jo then handed me the box. I told Jo that before I left I would feel more comfortable if we verified that the Lids in Orange would be able to process the return. He told me he was 100% certain that they would process the return. Still, I told Jo I'd feel more comfortable if we called to double check. I sought only a gift card.

What occurred next will turn the stomach of anyone, like myself, who has worked in customer service. Jo placed a call ON SPEAKERPHONE to an employee named "Bruno" at The Block in Orange. With my girlfriend and myself standing an arm's length from Jo, and completely within earshot of the conversation, Jo explained the situation to Bruno.

During the conversation Bruno explained to Jo several times that "he had to process the return in full." Each time Jo responded that he did not want to process the return because of an audit that was due to take place on Tuesday. Bruno reiterated, several times, that audit or not they had to process the return. Again, when I entered, I sought only a gift card.

Jo then ended the phone call. Shockingly enough, Jo then informed us that if we went to speak to Bruno at the Lids at The Block, he would process the return for us. Flummoxed, I stated that we clearly had just heard the entirety of the conversation, and I was now aware that he had to process the return. I asked, knowing that, why we would go to The Block.

Disturbingly enough, Jo told myself, and my girlfriend, CUSTOMERS, that he did not want the shirt in his store due to the upcoming audit. In no uncertain terms, I told Jo that I had absolutely, positively no interest in their upcoming audit and I expected the situation to be resolved immediately.

At this point any semblance of customer service truly disappeared. Mike, the manager of store #5848 snatched the receipt out of Jo's hand looked at myself and my girlfriend and stated:

"I'm not going to argue over a $#*!ing t-shirt."

Perhaps in a poor effort to backtrack due to his disgusting customer service, or blinded by his own anger, he processed the return for $64.79. Nearly $20 more than I paid, and put it on my credit card. We entered only seeking to have the balance placed on a gift card. A refund to my credit card was a resolution that I was not seeking when I initially entered the store.

Somehow, Lids has managed to give me more money back than I originally paid yet leave me completely dissatisfied. Infinitely more important to me than $20 is the delivery of prompt, competent customer service that does not involve the use of profanity and to not have my time wasted.

Thankfully this nightmare of a transaction has reached a conclusion. I submit this document simply to ask two things. First, is this the level of customer service that is to be expected from Lids, and second, with so many different places to buy my apparel, is there any reason I should continue to shop at Lids?

I hope your audit at store 5848 went well.

Love that site! As good as the real store!