Dave H.

I used to love Target. No more. I purchased smart TV on Target.com to pickup at my local store on Thursday night with the intention of picking it up on Friday. It showed as being in stock, and was on sale. Shortly after making the purchase, I received a message saying the TV was no longer available for store pickup, and that I should select one of the other available options. Those were:
*Pickup at another store - Which sent me back to my local store, indicating the TV was in stock.
*Shipping - Which said it would not ship to my address.
*Another Item - The EXACT SAME TV, but at FULL PRICE, not the sales price! (Note: This option becomes even more baffling as the situation plays out!)

I called the store manager to complain about my experience and ask for the smart TV at the sales price. She checked their inventory and explained the online inventory was in error and different from their store inventory. Unless I wanted to purchase the floor display model - I did not - she did not have the TV to sell me. She offered to see if it would come on the expected Friday or Saturday deliveries or to work with me on the price of a different TV. I said that we could see if it would arrive. As an aside, I was upset to learn that a store manager can't adjust the order to get an item in order when a customer has been mistreated. Ridiculous! Of course, the TV did not arrive with the deliveries on either day.

On Saturday, I called Target.com customer service. They were unable to locate the smart TV anywhere within the Target system in order to send it to me. So Target sold me a smart TV, but wouldn't actually allow me to purchase and take ownership of said TV. Thanks, Target! As I explained to both the store manager and the customer service representatives, I can't stand Walmart. However, within 2 minutes on their website - and no hassle whatsoever - I purchased the smart TV that I wanted, and they confirmed they are preparing to ship it to me. I hate that Target's comedy of errors in this situation has made Walmart look good. Sure, Target is sending me a small gift card for my inconvenience... but I can't use it toward the TV they sold to me, but won't actually allow me to have.

Late in Fall 2020, I accepted a job in SE Iowa. The job required that I move from Denver. I contacted BOA mortgage and pre-qualified for a loan. Within two weeks, I had a contract on a house. My senior loan officer and his team realized that I was to begin my new job on Monday, January 18,2021, so they, my realtor, my attorney, the closing company, and I all worked diligently to get everything in place.

On Wednesday, January 13,2021, as I was driving my fully-loaded rental truck out of Denver, I received a call from the senior loan officer. He sheepishly informed me that someone on his team had failed to file paperwork on time. Apparently, because of all the games that bankers played with mortgages prior to the housing bubble bust, laws were in place stating that all paperwork needed to be filed three business days prior to closing. He said the paperwork filing error meant I could not close on Friday, January 15,2021 as scheduled. He went on to say that my closing would have to be pushed to Tuesday, January 18,2021 because I wouldn't be able to close on Saturday and Monday was a holiday. I was stunned. I pleaded with him to find a way to fix THEIR error. I explained that I had just moved out of my apartment in Denver, had started the 847-mile drive to my new home, and that I was to begin work on the day prior to the adjusting closing date. He asked me to put my concerns in writing so that he could see if there was a way to work things out. I put my concerns in writing. It was then that BOA began to ghost me and not respond to my communication attempts. (Note: They do know how to reach me each month with a mortgage payment reminder.)

You can probably imagine how mortifying it was to call my new employer to request that I either be able to start on a later date or take unearned vacation time on my second day of employment in order to move into my home because BOA had screwed up my closing date. Then I got to be the person who showed up at their first day of employment in blue jeans because all of my professional attire was locked in the back of my moving van. Thank you for allowing me to make a fantastic first impression with my new employer, BOA.

The story doesn't end there. I received a satisfaction survey from BOA – which I absolutely completed. After receiving my survey, someone at the VP level in BOA left a voicemail message for me. He explained that he was concerned about my experience with BOA, wanted to discuss it with me, and wanted to make things right. I made numerous attempts to return his calls over the next few weeks. He never attempted to respond to any of my voicemail messages. While one of my stated concerns with his team was that they ghosted me rather than having a difficult conversation with me, the VP chose to engage in the exact same behavior. Weeks later, I received some modified paperwork from BOA, but without any letter or call of explanation. By comparing the original and new documents line-by-line, I was able to see that BOA had knocked off a few hundred dollars from my financial commitment, presumably as their attempt to "correct" their error.

Don't apply for a mortgage from BOA. I have preferred-customer status with them, which is why I sought my mortgage loan from them, and they still chose to treat me incredibly poorly. In case anyone from BOA ever reads this post, I do want to share that the only person on their mortgage team who I do not hold accountable is the low-level staffer who made the error. People make mistakes. How we respond to our mistakes says a great deal about us. The management team in BOA mortgage showed their complete lack of character in how they chose not to respond to their mistake.

MLB.com offers horrible customer service. I received an email message telling me that my order was delivered. However, I did not receive the item. Their response? Wait a few more days rather than believing the message we sent saying that your order had been delivered. They could not have been less concerned about the lost item or less helpful.