Where to make a complaint?

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I went to Kohl's one day and I was checking out and the cashier said, "Oh, we are playing a game today. You can scratch off and get an extra 10-40% off your purchase."

I said, "Okay. . ." and she asked for my drivers license.

I didn't think anything of it and handed it to her and then when I saw the check-out receipt it said something about opening a new Kohl's charge card.

I said, "Wait, I don't want to do that. My wife already has one and I don't want people inquiring into my credit as I may be refinancing a house."

The cashier apologized and I took it a step further and I got the manager and said I thought the entire process was deceptive and that it was a management problem, not a worker problem (he immediately asked who it was) and he apologized, said it would be taken care of, and I accepted his apology.

I asked like 5x that no charge card would be opened.

Well. . .you can see where this is going.

I got a Kohl's charge card today in the mail. Obviously, it was not taken care of.

You can bet I'll close the account and go raise some holy hell at Kohl's when I go back and I'll be inconvenienced and just write a letter closing the account.

But I find that a better action is to report them to a regulatory agency. I find that complaints there work better than internal complaints.

(I had an issue with the local gas co. and I reported them to the Board of Utilities)

Do you know any agency that a credit card co. is regulated under that would cause them. . .oh, I don't know. . .about 3-5X the headache I have to go through?

[cooliemae]

I don't know exactly which agency credit cards would fall under, but here are several that come to mind

Federal Trade Commission
Better Business Bureau

You might try looking on www.cosumeraction.gov for info on who to contact.

[tripods68]

I would directly contact the CEO (i.e. email) of Kohls for practicing marketing consumer fraud masking without Full Disclosures. That's outright FRAUD! Call your local TV station to complaint about it.

[noppenbd]

I have heard that the best way to get results is to call the corporate headquarters on their local number (not the toll-free customer service number) and ask for the VP of Customer Service by name.

[simpleyme]

I have no advice but my eyes were shooting fire as i read your post

Words cannot describe how ticked off I would be if that happened to me

[disneysteve]

That is outrageous. They opened a credit card in your name without any consent from you. It is appalling that they can even do that.

You asked about regulation. The whole problem with credit card companies is they aren't regulated nearly enough. I agree with contacting the corporate office of the company to complain and also demand some kind of compensation for your troubles. Make them give you a gift card to the store. Let us know how this turns out.

[sweeps]

consumerist.com

[Scanner]

Thanks everyone. . .it would appear this falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission - store credit cards and the card is underwritten by Chase Bank NA.

I can't really find fault with Chase Bank though. . .since it was their "agent", Kohl's Dept. Store that acted egregiously.

I will do that. . .go over the store manager's head and get the VP of Customer Service and raise holy hell with him on the phone and I will demand compensation for my time in having to deal with this.

If none is forthcoming. . .I will file a complaint with the FTC. It may go no where but at least it's put into a database and some politician somewhere down the line may do something about this to score some brownie points with voters.

[vsjhoc]

Make sure that you demand that they remove the inquiries that they surely placed on your 3 credit reports when you "applied" for the card. Too many inquiries can lower your score.

They need "permissible purpose" to get your credit report, and they didn't have it if you didn't apply for credit.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think I would write a letter with all details to my state attorney general in addition to some of the things advised above.

Did you use another credit card to pay for the purchase? Sometimes I am asked for drivers license/ID when I use a credit card. The one and only purchase I ever made at Kohl's they asked for it when I used my MasterCard. I would never have thought they would be using the info to apply for a store card. They better not have done that!

[ScrimpAndSave]

I'm would be SO flippin' mad!!!!

[Scanner]

Did you use another credit card to pay for the purchase? Sometimes I am asked for drivers license/ID when I use a credit card.

Exactly. . .I think that's why I didnt' think anything of it. . .I thought the cashier was being diligent with credit card theft.

I used my Disney Rewards Visa Card to pay for my purchase (I luckily now have an exact date to reference).

Yeah, I am not flipping mad. . .but I am pretty peeved because I specifically asked the manager to take care of it.

I was either poo-pooed or ignored.

Now. . .they just did that to the wrong person. I want a file/investigation opened up on Kohl's or something.

I want it to cause 10X more hassle than it was worth.

I want them to answer to some higher authority for their egregious practice unless they handle everything - closing the account, writing the credit agency, apologizing, and a gift card.

Frankly, I don't think the VP will have the nuts to do it. Usually, 9 times out of 10, companies get defensive of their employees when something was done wrong.

[disneysteve]

Check out:

complaints.com

complaintsboard.com

complaints.bbb.org

The last one is the Better Business Bureau site. The first two are consumer-run sites. I'm not sure if they help get the word out to the company, but they at least get the word out to the public to warn them of this type of action.

[SnoopyCool]

Definitely complain to the state's attorney general where Kohl's is headquartered.

BBB.

[aida2003]

That is SOOOOO deceitful!! No wonder you're pissed off. Share the outcome when you know.

Good luck!!

[MomofFour]

I can't believe that they did that!

Didn't you have to sign the application for the card?