How the Grinches Stole Christmas ... Again

Flying bakeware, failed returns, bungled deliveries once more mar the holiday

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 1, 2009
Exploding cookware, stingy gift cards, picky return policies, missed deliveries — these are the grinches of Christmas past, present and, we expect, future. The cast changes little from one year to the next, so perhaps this year's mishaps, disappointments and outrages will annoy but not surprise.

Based on a review of the thousands of consumer complaints we've received over the last week, here are our readers' picks for the Grinches of 2009:

Pyrex "I was baking a breakfast casserole in my 9x13 Pyrex baking dish on Christmas morning for my family," said Laurie of Cedar Falls, Iowa. Laurie heard what she said "sounded like an explosion in the oven." And sure enough: "I opened the oven door to find that the Pyrex dish had exploded and there was glass all over the oven, as well as the casserole. What a mess! Christmas brunch was ruined and I had a huge mess to pick up!"

Laurie's is just one of many complaints about holiday meals ruined by flying bakeware. Even measuring cups can be hazardous, as Patricia of San Antonio learned. She was using a two-cup Pyrex measuring spoon when the trouble began.

"It had been washed and was in the dish drainer on the counter when I reached over to pick it up. It shattered in my hand, leaving a small gash on my hand," Patricia said.

American Express Gift Cards These often turn out to be frustrating gifts. Debra of Kingsport, Tenn., bought two $100 gift cards for her daughter. "When she went to use them the next day, they were invalid with 0 balance, even though they had been activated at Walmart," she told us.

"I have called American Express 5-6 times and other than to tell me to fax receipt, copy of cards, etc they do not seem too interested in refunding my money," said Debra, who found the whole affair "disgusting."

At least Debra got the cards, even though they didn't work. Carlos of Katy, Texas, used his Visa card to buy $375 worth of gift cards on the Amex site but never received them. When he complained, he learned that UPS had lost the shipment and had reimbursed — who else? — American Express. Carlos is still trying to get Amex and Visa to organize themselves and refund his money.

Target There aren't many stores that will let you simply walk in and exchange a gift for something else, but Target's restrictive policy puts it way out front in the how-to-anger-your-customer competition.

"I received a few clothing items for for my 9 month old as a Christmas gift from my in-laws," said Jillian of Delray Beach, Fla. "They did not fit so I needed to get the next size up. I was told by the cashier that since I had returned something without a receipt this year I would not be able to return the items."

Jillian said she was willing to settle for a store credit or the lowest sale price on a similar item but Target wouldn't budge.

Nor did things work out well for Alyson of Loganville, Ga.

"In November, I purchased a Crosley Record Player from Target. It was a Christmas gift so it was not opened until Christmas Day. When we tried to set up the unit, the record player does not work properly," she said. Alyson had misplaced the receipt and, since she had paid cash for the item, Target refused to take it back.

Toys 'R' Us is a close second in this category.

"My 10-year-old son received a microscope for Christmas," said Sandra of Prospect, Maine. "My husband and I tried over an hour to get it to work. You could not focus it to see any of the slides. We took it back to the store the day after Christmas to exchange it for one that worked. We were told that they would not exchange, credit, return without the receipt."

Though frustrating, most of these incidents can be avoided if shoppers make sure to get a receipt and hang onto it. Or they can do what one consumer tells us Toys 'R' Us was recommending the other day: "Take (the) return to Wal-mart, they will take everything back."

1800Flowers Want to show your family and associates you're thinking of them, even though you can't be there? Sending flowers isn't necessarily the foolproof answer, David of Macedonia, Ohio learned. "I had ordered flowers on December 19th to be delivered to a business in Richmond, Va., on Monday 12/22. They never showed up and it was embarrassing as the people had sent us gifts," he said.

Raeann of Cranberry Twp., Pa. ordered flowers too and hers were delivered on time. Only problem was, they were dead, she reported. "After three 45-minute calls to customer service, I discovered today that we will receive a full refund and no flowers are being replaced."

Xbox The Xbox is a big seller but it's not exactly the gift that lasts a lifetime. Or even a week, in many cases.

"Bought an Xbox for my kids for Xmas and we got the red rings of death 3 days later," said Kinita of Canton, Mich. "The customer service rep sounded like a trained robot reading from a script. I am now waiting on a shipping label to send the Xbox to Texas and they'll be another 2-3 week wait (so I'm told) for it to be returned."

Tee of Riverdale, Md., had a similar experience. "When my son opened the console and set everything up on the TV, he played for 30 minutes and got 3 red rings on the console," she complained.

Federal Express Still not as reliable as Santa, FedEx showed up late, or not at all, at many chimneys this year. Phyllis of Farmington Hills, Mich., ordered a package from Saks Fifth Avenue on Dec. 18. "They shipped via FedEx 2-day delivery on Dec 20 for Xmas. Package never arrived," she told us. At last word, FedEx was promising the package would show up by Dec. 29.

Such delays can cause big problems. Amy of Battle Ground, Wash., ordered FedEx-delivered gifts for three of her seven grandchildren. Christmas Eve arrived. The gifts didn't, leaving three of seven children with no present from their grandmother. Amy called FedEx and was told she could get the package at the FedEx warehouse. Her husband drove 45 minutes through the snow, only to find the warehouse closed. After numerous promises, the package finally showed up on Dec. 28.

"I was beginning to think that the FedEx man was one of those fables like the Easter bunny or the tooth fairy," Amy huffed. To be fair, it should be noted that UPS experienced similar problems.

US Postal Service Ever wonder why FedEx and UPS can survive charging so much more than the Postal Service? Dig through our complaint in-box to learn the answer. The Postal Service actually has a clear advantage over the other grinches: it has the ability to annoy, perplex and infuriate consumers nearly every day of the year, a strategic advantage few other service providers can match.

There are almost an infinite number of ways the rain, sleet and snow team can get under consumers' skins and Ray of Cornelius, N.C. listed them in a post-Christmas epistle: "No mail. Wrong mail. Picked up part of mail. Routinely screws up all our mail, all the time."

Many consumers take exception to postal workers' driving habits, like the Silver Spring, Md., consumer who wrote to us the other day: "I was in traffic when I noticed a USPS driver's dangerous behavior. The woman was both eating and speaking on a cell phone while in traffic. This is very dangerous behavior and puts everyone at risk."

Then there's Darryl of Atlanta: "I witnessed a postal carrier try and stuff a 12x18 parcel into an 8-inch diameter post box, shredding my parcel and the contents. Afterwards the driver attempted to do a three point u-turn almost running over me and my dog while never seeing us or attempting to look out of his rear view mirrors."

Perhaps the most pitiable complaint comes from Nina of Canyondam, Calif., who — as far as the Postal Service is concerned — does not exist.

"Our town's name is Canyondam; it has been one word since 1914. ... Whoever entered it into the computer system for the Post Office made the mistake of listing the zip code of 95923 as Canyon Dam, this is wrong — it is Canyondam, 1 word," she told us.

A minor point, you say? Not according to Nina.

"Everything we try to have shipped tells us that we do not exist and changes our address, we have trouble paying for things, the system keeps changing our address, anything going through a computer changes the address and causes grief."

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