To all of our loyal customers,We are writing to update you on the status of the promotion. As you may know, we were overwhelmed by an enormous number of reviews submitted in connection with the promotion, and we thank all of you who followed the rules and wrote honest, heartfelt reviews.Unfortunately, many of those who submitted reviews merely sought the promotion's benefits without providing a commensurate genuine, honest review. While we initially filled a large amount of orders, we simply do not have the resources to continue vetting the reviews to distinguish those that followed the rules from those that did not.In order to continue as a business, we must amend the promotion. This is not a step we take lightly, but one which is necessary for the health of our business. Accordingly, we have decided to take down and remove from the site all reviews which were written as part of the promotion. All open orders using store credit and partial store credit will be cancelled, as well as all remaining store credit. In their place, we are providing a one-time use coupon for 40% off of any purchase. The purchase can be as large or small as you wish, but only you can use the coupon code-it is not transferrable, refundable, or redeemable for cash and it can only be used on full price merchandise. The coupon will be good until September 15, 2011. In order to get your coupon code you must email us atcouponcode@franklingoose.com. This email is only equipped to send you a personal coupon code.We understand that this step may frustrate some. If you have constructive feedback, we look forward to hearing from you. Otherwise we look forward to focusing our customer service efforts on customers placing orders.We thank you for your time and effort in writing reviews and value you as a customer.Thank you,Franklin Goose
Now I am sure this would not be such a big deal to most people...I mean the credit was free. All you had to do is write a review on their products. They basically used this promotion as advertisement. However, it went far beyond what they had anticipated. So where lies the problem?
Well alot of people decided to "bank" their credits for 6 months or for a year because Franklin Goose asked them too. They said if you banked them and did not use them that they would give a certain percentage more of the credits. So some people did does this. However, now it is coming to the time where these people would be getting their credits plus interest...and guess what! They are not getting them anymore. I am one of these people.
When I first heard about the promotion I used about 1/8 of my credits. I received a couple items but the rest were put on backorder. After about 8 months of waiting I asked to cancel my order and would bank the remaining. Now my currently banked credits were about to be released with interest. I would have had a really nice chunk to spend. I was going to place an order of almost $300 with them and the credits would have been a nice deduction. However, now all they are offering me is a discount which would have been less...not by much but it would have been less.
So am I whining and crying? Yes a little. I took my time to fill out these reviews for them. I also thought about each review and wrote based on that...I mean I do reviews all the time so why would I slack here. So my time and energy have been wasted. I also wrote 2 reviews for them on this very page. One just a review on them because I thought they were awesome! The second review included a giveaway of a gift certificate. I was very please in them....until now.
This is merely my OPINION of them. Yes I am a little upset...but things will go on. I just feel bad for the hundreds of people out there who lost out on this opportunity because they did what Franklin Goose asked....they "BANKED" their funds until later.
Ok now that I am done ranting...please make your own opinion. But remember this...a company is only as good as their word, guarantee, and customer service....their products speak for themselves.
16 comments:
Its frustrating and completely maddening that they are not honoring their promotion anymore but I do understand to an extent where they are coming from. Its hard to distinguish the honest reviews from the bad -- however they should have made rules when this promotion got off the ground. I am really surprised that they are even doing the 40% off coupon code -- now the question is how long will we have to wait for THOSE orders?
Well considering you will be actually PAYING for your items it shouldn't be long. But then again...
I will be complaining to their suppliers, one supplier has already said that they will discontinue their business relationship based on this and other poor business practices.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-FranklinGoose/201241486562065
I did not participate in this promotion. Frankly, I wouldn't write up a review for $5, but if you already shopped there I can see doing this.
I don't like that you devalued your time with this statement "I mean the credit was free. All you had to do is write a review on their products.". I am very sure you could have found something better to do with your time than write up these reviews for them, so no it wasn't free. They promised to pay you, that means you were working for them in a freelance capacity. They have breached a contract with you.
I will never do business with this fraudulent company. Disgusting.
They might be going bankrupt. Poor planning and poor account on their end.
following you on twitter
@celeb_babies
I too lost around $300 in credits after "doing them a favor" by waiting to spend my credits. I will never shop with them again and I am disgusted by their poor business practices. We went out of our way to help them by waiting to place orders and in return they thanked us with a slap in the face. They are rated an F on BBB and I suggest also filing a complaint. They breached their contract and I certainly didn't waste my time writing reviews form them for them to drop me when they got the publicity they needed.
I did receive my things, but had more money there. Honestly it isn't the money that ticks me off, it's that they are a business that made a commitment and are recanting on it. To me, this isn't how business is ran. If they were on Etsy, Ebay etc. etc. They would be sol, w/o a business. But ... instead they can do this to people who thought they were doing them a 'favor'.
Ya .... i'm boycotting them. I'm over them, and I have no respect for business that operate this way.
I tried using my credits almost immediately to order things for my son's birthday and Christmas. I was told they were "processing" and that they didn't know when they'd ship. I kept the order open, then decided to amend the order because my son had outgrown the items I had ordered.
I am absolutely furious that they benefited from my honest, thought-out reviews, then strung me along for so many months. I would have been less angry had they simply not given me the credit to begin with, or been (gasp) honest that they could not fulfill their end of the bargain.
I'll definitely be telling all my friends NOT to shop this store.
For once being greedy paid off. I used up all my credits immediately. Instant gratification was more important to me than the promise of more credit at a later time. Boy, am I glad I did so. I got everything I ordered.
But I am so, so sorry to everyone who tried to help out the company by banking credits. Does anyone remember that? How FG asked us to do them a FAVOR by banking credit so as not to deplete their inventory? By doing a FAVOR for them, they would give us bonus credit at a later date. And look how they repaid us. "Hey, do us a favor, we'll string you along, then give you the shaft!"
Great business practices Franklin Goose.
There has been talk that they anticipated doing that all along. That they took the hit for the people who were "greedy" but they figured the turnout of customers would be higher.
Either way I think this is the worst thing a company could do.
I have to agree with the PP that you devalued your time when you said the credits were free. Along the same line of reasoning, my pay at work is also free, so I shouldn't be upset if someone stole it or I lost it somewhere. I lost significantly fewer credits than some, but it was still a contractual agreement that they not only stated they would pay me for writing reviews in store credits, but they also reiterated and reinforced it on numerous occasions - in writing.
I will not be surprised if this, sadly, ends up in a class action lawsuit, or perhaps even charges of fraud.
WOW—
wait a second, everyone…
we are complaining about not receiving FREE stuff?
why were we entitled in the first place?
Because we reviewed some products that we own? (for those of us who did honestly review..although I am positive some people fudged the whole thing just out of greed…)
This company wanted to be successful by ‘word of mouth’.
I received over $200 worth of quality children’s items….in a timely manner, too. I also had great experiences with customer support when I wanted to exchange a (free) item.
Complaining and bad mouthing a natural toy business that was more than gracious is pretty disgusting in my humble opinion. Even if you received just ONE free item…well, that’s more than you had to begin with, right?
Be upset with the company. Do not give them your patronage. But don’t threaten, ridicule, and take steps to bring them down! Ladies! Really?
@ Bending Birches - really?
I wasn't one of the ones involved in this, but I have many friends who were. There is a difference between free stuff and free stuffed you have earned by putting in many hours. They SAID they would pay for these reviews, and they didn't honor that.
I think this needs to be brought to everyone's attention - so others don't waste their time. People are busy, ya know?
@ Bending Birches
This is more than just reviews and not getting free stuff...
Some people who paid part of their order with their OWN money did not receive their products or the money they spent returned to them
Some people who paid for an item, returned it, and got store credit FOR THE MONEY THEY SPENT lost all that store credit THEY PAID FOR.
That's my turf with them...
@Bending Birches
This is much more that not getting FREE stuff. None of this was FREE. This was their ADVERTISEMENT. This is what got their name out. There is a legal aspect to this. Maybe you are not upset because this does not affect you. There are many people out there who don't care...why because they got their items or because they just have all the money in the world and this does not affect them.
Either way it is crap and BS and you know it as well as FG!
What REALLY upsets me is that they had an opportunity to stop the promotion early. I remember them posting something on fb like "we will honor our original promotion and continue the $5 reviews until such and such date". So, they could have stopped days earlier and chose not to. I ordered only 2 items and after almost 3 months and 3 emails, I finally called to cancel my order. I was not at all happy. I can understand some people probably wrote crap reviews, but they should have been more selective from the beginning. Ugh! I could go on and on about it.
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