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
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
Oregon
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Great But Needs Some Work
June 20, 2022

As what the title says is true! They are amazing and they keep everything amazing! But they need to work on quickly helping customers and making sure everything is working properly. Like one time I went there the register I checked out worked fine when I bought my thing but my friends card wouldn't go through so I tried it didn't work and the other registers were busy or also busted.

Date of experience: June 20, 2022
Pennsylvania
4 reviews
2 helpful votes
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Good but not great
July 30, 2015

I love this store because of the products they carry, and that is the only reason. Bad customer service. If you call it takes 20 minutes to reach someone, and they drop calls randomly. My call was dropped and when I told them about it, they said it does that and they can't fix it. My call got dropped 9 times before I gave up at the end of the day. Also they are super expensive. 25$ for a t shirt. 70$ for a dress. Give me a break considering most of their shoppers are students. Shipping takes a while. But shipping is cheap. Sizes are kinda small for girls. The only thing that keeps me shopping is their merch,

Date of experience: July 30, 2015
Canada
19 reviews
52 helpful votes
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Focused on Style...
January 5, 2015

Based on My Online Order Experience:

Order Process Length: 9 days* (From placing order to receiving).

Quality/Size: Exactly as advertised. More information below.**

Customer Service: I have not personally dealt with the staff yet, but I would liked to have been informed my order was actually sent with 2 different tracking numbers. I had to go to the drop-off location twice because they arrived on separate days.

Overall: The order went smoothly, save for the information I mentioned above. I am just upset that the quality was not as great for the price I paid (and that was even with a 20% off sale). I will just have to lower my standards in terms of fabric-related articles from this site. Although it seems super soft, I feel they are focused on style more then durability.

Date of experience: January 5, 2015
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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QUALITY OF T SHIRTS
January 18, 2024

I order my anime shirt from hot topic because they're nice quality. My last purchases however my t shirts looked like the graphic designs were xeroxed on there. They look cheap. Not only that ONE OF THE DESIGNS IS OFF CENTER. For that I could have ordered from a no name person off Amazon and got it for a lot cheaper

Date of experience: January 18, 2024
Canada
1 review
4 helpful votes
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Despite what the website may tell you, items that you add to your cart may not be in stock. They send the confirmation e-mail and everything. They only notify you that the items are not in stock days later. The site even states that there are (*amount*) available. Doesn't make it a very good site to purchase gifts, but if what you ordered basically just came out and isn't on sale, chances are you're fine. However, if you wanna order something on sale, there's a high chance that what you want will no longer be available. Had 2 items cancelled, and finally a third one went through. Customer service is also hit or miss. The first agent I got was fantastic, but the second one was barely understandable.

Date of experience: December 20, 2018
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
Idaho
1 review
9 helpful votes
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Purchased something online. Showed up crushed. Called customer service and requested "hold place in line" call back. Didn't call after 2 hours. Called back and got through in about 3 minutes or less, but rep hung up on me. I called back and this rep refused to do an exchange. Even implied I was lying about it! I am done with these people. Worst service I have ever gotten.

Date of experience: March 20, 2020
Michigan
2 reviews
13 helpful votes
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Will never place an online order from this company again! Placed an order on 10/2 for a couple items we wanted to wear on our vacation starting 10/13. Credit card was charged immediately on 10/2. Items didn't arrive as of 10/13, so called to check on status and cancel order. Was told we can't cancel an order if it was placed more than an hour ago (but the person would try to send the warehouse a message anyways), and that our order would be shipping "soon". Have called back 3 times since then and told a different date for delivery every time. Today the person told me it shipped back on 10/19, but it's still NOT arrived in the store yet over two weeks later. We don't even want the stuff anymore, yet we're going to have to go to the store just to pick up and return the items. We shop here both online and in the store pretty often, but that's going to be changing as a result of this complete disaster or an order and customer "service". What a joke...

Date of experience: November 3, 2017
Germany
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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Delivery problems
October 18, 2018

I had some delivery problems, my purchase was delivered to wrong address. The response from the customer support people was delayed. At the end, the problem was solved, but it cost a lot of inconveniences. Other than that, the product is very satisfactory.

Date of experience: October 17, 2018
Washington
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Order cancelled with funny reason
December 12, 2021

I purchase using gift certificate on this site, but they said my address is mismatch?
I send an email asking Customer Service, they answer to place new order.
After i place new order, using same payment method with same result.
Both of my order has been cancelled, and i have to wait est. 7 day to restore the balance that NEVER able to use.
And also for my 2nd order, i won't asking Customer Services.
Because i guess will be same reply too.
I send proof of my order (kept private).
Thank you.

Date of experience: December 12, 2021
Netherlands
3 reviews
4 helpful votes
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Services improved
October 18, 2018

My last order was delivered right on time and everything fit perfectly well. The communication was prompt and efficient. I had some issues with Hot Topic in the past, but I am willing to shop there from time to time. They have a great selection of clothes and accessories.

Date of experience: October 17, 2018
Michigan
1 review
9 helpful votes
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Ordered several items for Christmas. Shipping in multiple boxes. They said large box was delivered on 12-11. It showed up on 12-24. Customer service kept telling me tracking said it was delivered. I returned most of the items because they were too late showing up. Still waiting on refund. They ripped me off for hundreds of dollars & won't respond to my emails. Worst customer service ever!

Date of experience: January 14, 2020
California
1 review
2 helpful votes
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I ordered a Archie comics Sabrina printed shirt and it was delivered today, only it was a blank black Gildan t-shirt. Really confused of it was coming from a print on demand company that Hot Topic works with, and maybe they forgot to print the graphic? After reading these reviews about them "losing it in the mail", going to try and return it to a store tomorrow.

Date of experience: August 29, 2020
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Bullcrap
July 16, 2021

Be careful! I ordered stuff and updated my address but it only updated my billing not my shipping. Okay well I realized it immediately and called support and they said they can't change the address because it's already shipped, but also said when it ships I can contact the carrier to try and change the address…. Hm but I thought it already shipped? The guy I spoke to was rude and sounded like he hated his job. Plus hot topics items are honesty a poor quality half the time. I only ordered stuff for a gift. But whatever hot topic can refund me for what i bought when I don't receive my order.

Date of experience: July 16, 2021