business logo of Hot Topic
hottopic.com
streetwear, grunge & punk men, womenAge 13-18, 19-25, 26-45
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About the Business

Hot Topic is a retail chain based in California, specializing in alternative fashion and pop culture merchandise since 1988. With around 700 stores across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, the company offers a diverse range of unique clothing, accessories, and licensed merchandise, catering to teenagers and young adults.


hottopic.com
+1 800-892-8674
USA
Hot Topic is part of Sycamore Partners
Founded in 1988
Clothing item from Hot TopicFashion apparel by Hot TopicMerchandise from Hot Topic clothing lineHot Topic fashion product

Business Highlights

General

Parent Company: Sycamore Partners
Year Founded: 1988
Target Gender: men, women

Shipping

Shipping Cost: $6.99
Free Shipping: no
Shipped From: USA

Returns

Return Policy: free
Return Instructions: items must be in good condition
Restocking Fees: no

Sustainability

Sustainability Score: We avoid
Recycling Program: no

Product

Style: streetwear, grunge & punk
Body Fit: regular, plus size
Available Sizes: Men's (XS, S, M, L, XL, 1X, 2X, 3X), Women's (XS, S, M, L, XL, 1X, 2X, 3X)

Customer Service

Support Channels: chat, phone, contact form
Support Phone: +1 800-892-8674

Payment Options

Payment Methods: card payments, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, financing
Buy Now Pay Later: Klarna

Membership Programs

Rewards Program: TopCashback, Rakuten, Mr. Rebates

How would you rate Hot Topic?
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Reviews Summary

Hot Topic has a rating of 1.6 stars from 191 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Hot Topic most frequently mention customer service, credit card and free shipping. Hot Topic ranks 359th among General Apparel sites.

service
49
value
45
shipping
41
returns
32
quality
40
Ohio
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Damaged Funko Pop
February 5, 2025

I ordered a Funko Pop and it was shipped in a poly mailer with no padding or anything so it was surprising to me that the item is damaged. I have contacted hot topic several times and only tell me to return the item but they will not replace it or honor the price I paid when using my rewards. Horrible customer service and I will take my business elsewhere. I've been a loyal customer for years but that's means nothing to them.

Date of experience: January 17, 2025
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
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I ordered a clearance jacket for 53.94 a hoodie for 16.20 it said $75 purchase free shipping which does not include international orders which this was not because it was shipped from Toronto. Then when I called not only had I've been charged 1.5 above and beyond the bottom line I was also charged $31 For international shipping because they expect the customer to finance the operation of them shipping the stock from US to Canada depot's. This all comes at the expense of Canadians and in American dollars. The way bill you receive will only reflect the amounts of the item not what you actually paid for two items I paid in the end $148.28 when I expected to pay $75 As I had met them free shipping requirement so I thought this is a scam and it is inappropriate you punch in to go to the Canadian site and they order from a American warehouse because there is no Canadian warehouse I was told. I called in and was given a whole bunch of deflecting dialogue of which also included the option to return it without getting the money for the $30 American shipping to me or the cost of returning it as it might be despite the fact that shipping was supposed to be free on orders over $75 and that can't even apply to Canadians when they don't have the warehouse in Canada obliging it to be international. This is dishonest and a farce. When we are Canadians ordering in Canada from a.ca site that we have punched in and it is being shipped to us from Canada. It is inappropriate to charge us, American dollars as well as international posting it is the responsibility of the company to figure out their warehouse and operations and not incumbent upon the consumer to finance that part of the operation

Date of experience: January 3, 2025
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Screwed me over
February 17, 2025

Bought stuff from hot topic, thinking I was spending a certain amount, only to look at my bank and realize it was WAY more, because unclear to me, it was not in my currency. So I went to cancel it, they said it was already processing, it was not when I requested to cancel. Package said it was delivered but the receiver couldn't pick it up, it wasn't there. Two weeks of it saying delivered it says it actually in Tennessee, not at all where it's supposed to be, eventually it says it processing in the state it's supposed to be delivered, then suddenly it's delivered, to the sender. Where is that? Tennessee. At least two weeks it said it was delivered and it hadn't even left the warehouse, I wonder if it ever did. There was also a debacle over the return label, they said they sent it, I waited, finally contacted them after waiting like a week, "oh due to an error it hadn't been sent we'll send it now" then immediately after replied again saying they can't send the label to a P.O. Box, a package is fine but a label is not? Almost two months later they've finally figured out THEY messed up and refunded me, somehow forgot to refund the taxes so I had to ask them for that, and I'm still out 40 CAD because despite them promising a FULL order refund.
They've also cause my credit score to drop 2 levels, because I couldn't afford the order in the first place.
I also requested to speak to somebody above customer service and they completely ignored that.
The 2 things I've learned are Hot Topic is absolutely not trustworthy, and their customer service is completely incompetent.
This is less structured than I would normally write, because I've repeated all of this so many times trying to get this situation resolved.

Update: they finally responded to my better business bureau complaint, and they lied.

Date of experience: January 1, 2025
Israel
1 review
2 helpful votes
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I ordered 2 products that appeared to be "in stock", after completing the transaction, when I reviewed the details it is been written in the order details that these products are "pre-sale", I sent a mail to check this issue, at first they sent me a general answer of "its going to be delivered soon about 2-3 buissness days".
Only asking them to check this again, their service man told me that unfortunately these are pre sale products and if I want to get a refund, i will have to wait until the products (which they even dont have right now) will arrive to me and send it back since "the warehouse already started to process my order"
Disgusting

Date of experience: February 26, 2023
Ohio
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Hottopic needs to go out of business. We already know it is overpriced. First off just so everyone knows if your billing is different from where you are shipping it to they will cancel your order. So if you have relatives that live far enough away do not buy from this place. Also they didn't even tell me it got cancelled I found out the day it was suppose to arrive guess what didn't come the items o yeah they cancelled.They never email to let you know or anything. So I then recorder said objects. Sent them to my house so I can send them out paid 26.99 for over night shipping. Guess who didn't get it for over 4 days plus. So now I can't even ship it or send it or even bring it with me while I travel. Also I now have to figure out who will get it so no one steals it from my porch while I am gone. The supervisor on the phone guaranteed I would get at least one of my packages by 23rd Called them they said they don't refund shipping.

Date of experience: December 24, 2023
Georgia
1 review
3 helpful votes
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Hot Topic sends every month some form of "Hot Cash", a "Spin for Discount", "Discount Promo Code" and many other come on type bait and switch tactics to get you to go to the HT site.
When you arrive and start to shop for items you will see disclaimers that almost any item in stock will have a disclaimer that none of the BS discounts, codes or rewards that drew you on to the site in the first place can be applied to items in your shopping"bag".
They should tell you you might get 20 percent off if you shop for crap that is already on sale.
Too many hoops to jump through. We just abandoned a $164 shopping "bag" as we felt like we were being played.
HT must think thier customers are fools.
We will shop anywhere else in the future.

Date of experience: March 13, 2023
Texas
1 review
1 helpful vote
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30% of your first offer, but only when you buy socks(this doesn't show, until you try to pay).

Shipping costs are excessive, or when you choose the free option, picking it up in the store it will take forever!

Date of experience: July 14, 2023
Oregon
1 review
2 helpful votes
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I ordered 2 items about an hour ago from HT's website. I get a notification about 30 minutes later saying one item isn't in stock, so I call customer service to tell them to cancel the other item; I just don't want the order. They absolutely REFUSE to cancel the order even though it hasn't shipped. They tell me the only way to get a refund is to wait for them to ship it, then waste my time and money returning it, wait for them to get the return, then finally I'd get a refund. It's absolutely asinine to have a policy like this. They've permanently lost me as a customer and I'm warning everyone else to please don't waste your time and money with this garbage store since they obviously don't care one bit about their customers' time and money.

Date of experience: May 4, 2024
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Great employees!
July 7, 2023

I've only been to Hot Topic twice but each time I was very satisfied with my visit! Both times I spoke to an employee named Chris and he was super friendly (also complimented my Billie Eilish shirt). Chris was so nice and I had a great conversation with him (both times). The kind of customer service they provide there is the kind we need everywhere. I also love the stock they have! They have so many graphic tee's, pins, stickers, corsets, belts, cute pants, fishnets, etc. They have a HUGE supply of graphic tee's (which is hard to find). I love this store so much and I hope someday I can work there with great co-workers like the ones I met.

Date of experience: July 6, 2023
Canada
3 reviews
1 helpful vote
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Would order again
April 6, 2016

Good products, customer service is alright, the shipping has been known to be unpredictable. Sometimes super fast, others a little slow.
If buying Christmas presents from here, make sure to order months earlier.

Date of experience: April 6, 2016
West Virginia
1 review
2 helpful votes
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In December I ordered several items for my boys for Christmas. It was shipped piecemeal over several weeks. I was still waiting for the last pair of jeans when my account online said everything had arrived. They did finally arrive a few days later, but in the meantime, there is literally NO ONE to contact about concerns. I placed another order early this month of two pairs of jeans for my son and a cheap tote bag so I could get 20% off everything. No emails from them about shipping or processing or anything. I log in to see what's going on and my order has just "disappeared" like it never existed. Luckily it doesn't look like I was ever charged either. If you like their stuff find a store to visit. DO NOT order from the website.

Date of experience: March 30, 2018
Florida
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Self explanatory. Everytime I manually place an order, hot topic cancels it. Meanwhile I know resellers who bot my cancelled items. It's ridiculous. Hundreds spent on this site as a loyal customer and then just banned for no reason without explanation. Way to feed the resellers hot topic.

BTW I contacted support and they made up 100 invalid reasons for why my orders are canned and everytime I prove them wrong, they just make up a new one. After 5 excuses, I've officially given up.

Date of experience: August 6, 2021
Illinois
1 review
5 helpful votes
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Thieves
February 18, 2023

We had shopped at Hot Topic for years. This morning their website was hacked and items were purchased through my credit without my authorization. I called immediately and was basically told, too bad, not our problem, our money now, take it up with your credit card company. I did, problem solved, and you will never have our business again.

Date of experience: February 18, 2023
District of Columbia
1 review
13 helpful votes
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I am very satisfied with 1stopbedrooms. Fast delivery and great customer support. Their prices are usable and we would recommend them to everybody! Customer service team is very kind and will help if there are any problems. It was the best experience I have had with a furniture store. Thank you.

Date of experience: March 17, 2017
New York
3 reviews
7 helpful votes
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Online is horrible
December 10, 2015

Sell things online that they don't have in stock. Then they take it out of your account at least four times, and it takes them forever to put it back in. Never again will I order for them. Still haven't got my items!

Date of experience: December 10, 2015
Texas
1 review
1 helpful vote
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Four years ago, I made a purchase that didn't go well & I never received it. I was very discouraged to purchase anything from the online website ever again until recently I saw a dress I really wanted to wear for my birthday. I took my chances and ordered from them back in August, package came in within a week & during that duration, I spoke to customer service, they were so polite & helpful. I was so impressed that I made another purchase and my purchase of two stripe shirts is another success! My only criticism is that I wish they could update their delivery system where you could track your order through Fedex as well update the status of your order when its been shipped instead of "In Process". Other than that, I believe that the website has potential to grow and be better regarding business.

Date of experience: October 5, 2021
Colorado
3 reviews
3 helpful votes
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I am sick of being on hold with Hot Topic for an hour, only to be given their lame excuses or to have to call end and have to start over. I ordered a ton of stuff on November 15 for my teens for Christmas - called on Dec 6 to see where it was and was told that most of the order was now out of stock and the 2 items in stock would be shipped at no cost overnight and the rest would be refunded. It's now the 15 Dec and I have no items and no refund. Next step for me is making sure my children and their friends no longer shop Hot Topic. Ever. Period, and contacting my credit card company to make sure I get the charges reimbursed. We spend a lot of money in store but not any more! Sorry-a** company selling marked-up cheap rubbish- with customer service to match

Date of experience: December 15, 2017
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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1. They remove all negative reviews under the pretense of it "not following website guidelines"

2. Once you purchase items they may modify/change your order without asking you. Once they tell you they modified your order, they say that they can't cancel it. Even though they themselves have modified it... make it make sense. Anyway, a lot of their designs are created by independent artists I highly encourage buying directly from local artists.

Date of experience: September 3, 2022
Illinois
1 review
10 helpful votes
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Don't bother ordering anything from them. They will not help you with your order at all. I ordered warm clothes for the winter in august. It's november, it's cold and I still don't have what I ordered. I constantly emailed them trying to figure out what happened. They did not refund me and I didn't get what I ordered they just stole money from me. Also I recently ordered something over 50 which gives me free shipping and used my rewards points but they counted the rewards points as a discount rather than part of the payment so I was charged shipping for an order that was originally over 50 before they messed it up!

Date of experience: November 26, 2017
New York
40 reviews
182 helpful votes
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The clothes don't fit right. I usually wear a small size shirt but some reason, the shirts here are somehow loose in the chest and tight in the shoulders/top of sleeve and a larger size is just too big. The make-up and body products are the lowest quality and unusable. There are almost no original designs or products- just walls of Disney Princess, Dr. Who, My Little Pony and Nightmare Before Christmas merch with some Star Wars and Youtube flashes in the pan. Did I mention this is all insanely expensive?

Date of experience: December 29, 2015