Back in early December 2010 I purchased some items from Fashion Bug in Webster NY. The associate was very nice and explained all the ways I could save on my purchase by applying for the Fashion Bug credit card. I replied "no" several times but the offer was too tempting and I applied for the card. I told everyone about my savings and how satisfied I was with the sales associate. This week I received what i thought was my first credit card statement from Fashion Bug. But when I opened it, lo and behold, there was a $20.00 LATE FEE on it!! I was astonished as this was the first time I received anything from Fashion Bug and I already had a late fee??!! I called Customer Service; they told me a bill had been mailed out the day after I made my purchases. I explained that I never received that statement and was surprised that what I thought was my first statement had a late fee on it. The customer service rep ("Sophie") told me that I had to pay the fee and that I should have contacted Fashion Bug if I did not receive a statement. I explained that I never had an account with Fashion Bug before so how was I supposed to know when the statements were mailed? I asked her to please close my account. She then said she could waive 1/2 of the late fee if I agreed to keep the account open. I declined. At that point she told me I would then have to pay the entire late fee on my statement. I asked her how she was just able to reduce the late fee by 1/2 if I kept the account open, but if I closed it, she couldn't?! She said that she couldn't reduce the fee if I didn't keep the account open. I asked for the name and address of her manager so I could write a letter and express my disappointment in how this whole situation was handled and the rep told me to write to Customer Service. I told her I didn't want to write to Customer Service. She then asked for all my contact numbers and I refused to give them to her. I told her I would be contacting Fashion Bug and telling them that I was not happy with how this all went down, told her to close the account and hung up the phone!! Because of this I'll probably never shop at Fashion Bug again...TOO BAD!

We signed up for the Fashion Bug credit card so I could get a good savings on a large purchase. I actually paid for the full purchase at the time...or so we thought. We told the sales girl that we wanted the card, but that we'd pay for the all of the purchase right there in cash. (She said that you could put purchases on the card, but pay right away so as not to get any fees or charges.) Turns out she had us pay for MOST of the purchase, NOT the 100% we wanted to do. She "forgot" to add the sales tax, so Fashion Bug started sending us statements, with late fees and minimum charges...all over the sales tax that would have been paid at the time of purchase if the sales girl had done her job right! As soon as we saw what was going on, we wrote to get this taken care of; we received a letter where we would only be charged the original omitted 7.36. But we still keep getting statements with late fees and minimum charges accruing. All told, we've racked up nearly $100 in late fees and minimum charges over the time we've tried to dispute this. BTW, we have paid the original 7.36. Just got another robocall today about the money we owe them. It feels like it will never end! BEWARE!!

Fashion Bug.

Added a $20.00 late fee to my bill, when the payment was not late.

I called and explained that I had mailed the payment at least 7 days in advance to the due date. And that I had no control over the USPS delivery schedule. 7 days seems like enough time for a payment from Michigan to reach Ohio. After all it is 2011, not 1843!

I called the toll free number listed on the Fashion Bug statement.

Talked to a customer service rep. who basically said that the $20.00 would be added to the balance of my account no matter what.

To me this is just another way for Fashion Bug to make extra money off of the consumer. A fee for this, a fee for that...it stinks!

On April 4, 2010 I placed an order with Fashion Bug online to be picked up in store at a Lane Bryant located at Fashion Center in Pentagon City. Shortly after placing the order I was in an accident that resulted in a grade 2 left ankle sprain and a fractured dislocated right ankle that required surgery. The accident left me in a great deal of pain and wheelchair bound for eight weeks. After leaving the hospital on April 11, 2010 I contacted Fashion Bug to informed them I would not be able to pick up the package due to this accident and my newly acquired mobility issues. I inquired about my options.

Here is a history of my phone conversations with Fashion Bug's customer service.

Customer Service Agent: Gloria
Spoke on April 12, 2010
Resolution: I was told she would contact store about shipping order to home address or having the order cancelled, returned and a new order shipped from warehouse to my home. She would phone me when she had a resolution. She suggested sending a friend to pick up order.

I emailed customer service after I did not hear back from Gloria. Again I explained the situation and relayed the previous conversation with Gloria. The response I received from Patricia Barron from Fashion Bug customer service was that the order had been delivered to Lane Bryant on April 10, 2010 and is waiting for me to pick up. Obviously she did not read my email or did not understand the situation.

Customer Service Agent: Illia
Spoke on April 19, 2010
Resolution: I explained my situation, my previous call to customer service and that I had not heard back from Gloria about a resolution. The agent states there is more than one Gloria working there and she cannot verify my previous conversation took place. This agent says only I would be able to pickup the package and it is the company's policy that they do not ship from store to home address. My options: wait until items are sent back and warehouse processes refund, which should happen around mid May.

Customer Service Agent: Shirley
Spoke on June 17, 2010
Resolution: Agent called store to check on package status. Order is still with store waiting for pickup. Agent asks me if I can pick up package now. I explain that I am a student, the academic year has ended and I have moved back to California. I would not be making a trip to Virginia to pick up an order I was told would be returned. She speaks with Danaille (store manager?) who says they will send package back on 6/18/10. I am told to call back in 3 weeks if credit card account is not credited.

Customer Service Agent: Raquel
Spoke on July 20, 2010
Resolution: She says I must wait a minimum of two weeks before a refund is issued and that it has only been a few days since my last conversation. I explain it has been over a month since previous conversation and that this situation has been ongoing since mid-April. Agent says she will call back after contacting store and hangs up. She never calls back.

Tanisha
Spoke on July 27, 2010
Resolution: Will contact store to verify location of package. Establishes three way phone conversation with store. Package was sent but has yet to be received by warehouse. Since issue has been ongoing and shipment was confirmed, agent agreed to an immediate refund to be credited to credit card account.

I finally received an email on August 4, 2010 that the items have been refunded but a gift card has been issued instead of my Fashion Bug credit card being credited since the order was not returned within 90 days. I was surprised that this was the result since I have been told repeatedly that my credit card would be credited. As the process dragged on into months I brought up the issue of a gift card with agents and I was told, since I had been trying to process this return since April and the package was never in my possession, my credit card would be refunded. So I always assumed that would be the case.

In fact when I spoke with Shirley I was assured that the amount would be refunded to my account within two weeks. I was guaranteed that it would happen before another credit card payment was due and it wasn't. I did not realize this until the day before my payment was due when I checked my account to verify the credit. I admit I should not have waited so long to check my account. I scheduled a payment immediately that day but it was too late to have it credited by the due date. Now in addition to having paid interest on this purchase repeatedly I will have to pay a late charge since the payment was credited one day late. The only purchase made on this card was this order. Like I said I admit that the late charge for last month is my fault. It was ridiculous on my part to assume that this situation would be resolved as stated. At the very least I should have checked the account sooner to verify the account credit so I could make a timely payment if necessary.

What bothered me most was that each time I called customer service, agents would make it clear that this situation is my fault because of the mobility issues associated with my injury. I'm not sure how this would be considered the proper response to what I was going through. The injury was the result of an accident. Something I could not control. Believe me if I could have avoided the pain and discomfort of the last four months I would have. I have a plate and eight screws in my ankle as a result of that day. I don't imagine anyone would wish for that. I have done my best to resolved this situation as timely and efficiently as possible without causing too much fuss. Looking back maybe I should have been more difficult. Perhaps the situation would have been resolved much sooner. Having to deal with this while recovering from major surgery and undergoing therapy has been frustrating and stressful.

I will say, in the past, I have had good shopping experiences with Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug both in store and online. This was an unusual situation that I hoped would be handled a lot better than it was. I don't understand why this would take nearly four months to resolve considering they were made aware of my situation within a few days of the package delivery to the store, the package was always in company hands, never mine, and I had spoken with customer service on multiple occasions throughout trying to get this taken care of. There are other options for plus size shopping so I am not sure that I will shop with this company in the future. If I do, I doubt I will ever attempt to use ship to store again.

I need a phone number to speak with someone at SOANB. I realize they are not handling Fashion Bug Accts anymore but I need a history of past transactions and payments back to October 2009. I do not believe I was credited correctly and would like to see where all the charges are coming from and if the correct payments were applied. The phone number give by someone else on this board does not work. Why can't we talk to someone there. Why did you bail on Fashion Bug? I am reading an awful lot of complains about SOANB so that I am quite concerned about what exactly went on with my acct. Please respond. Thank you.