We've all seen those products that make big promises and just don't deliver. The jury is still out on if the Tobi Steamer works well. But returning one has been a serious problem for some folks.
Last night, we told the story of Cheryl Rice from Kenmore. She bought one Tobi Steamer and got two. She was then charged $200.
Cheryl sent the steamers back the next day - well within the 60-day "money back" guarantee time frame.
But the company didn't return her money, in fact they kept charging her $29.95 a month, for two more months.
Today we spoke with a Tacoma woman who tells a tale just like Cheryl's. She bought one steamer and was sent two. The company failed to return any letters, e-mails or phone calls.
After getting nowhere she just gave up. She's asked us to stop by and get her steamers if we want.
I'm not sure we'll do that.
Here's why communication MAY be a problem for the company.
When we talked to the call center, a representative said they were in India.
The marketing company is in Los Angeles, California.
Another company acutally sends the orders to customers. They are in Torrence, California.
Now we're pretty good about finding people. Getting anyone's phone number isn't that hard for us.
It literally took two people 4 hours to find the Tobi company's number in California.
So I can understand customers' frustration trying to speak with someone about their product.
Your best bet: check the Internet. That's where we found a number of people upset about the steamer when we were researching this report.
So think, research and question all claims before giving anyone your credit card number.

1 Comments

ledog3 said:

Jesse,Its not just the argument about whether a product performs as advertised. The service after the sale is where so many of the problems exist. I own a pack/ship store and I see dozens of outgoing shipments each week from frusturated and often angry customers sending this cheap crap back to where it came from. AND, they (the customer) get stuck paying the returning freight in most cases. The pay 20-30 dollars for an item and it costs them 10 dollars to send it back for a credit that takes another month or more to get. Legal fraud. If QVC, Home Shopping Network, Victorias Secret and many others just like them were to go out of business tommrrow, my sales numbers would plummet.

April 10, 2008 9:02 AM

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