I visited the Dollar Tree over the weekend and was overcharged
in item count.
“I visited the Dollar Tree over the weekend and was overcharged in item count. When I brought it to their attention, they said their policy is that they don’t give refunds but I was welcome to select any item in the store instead. Is the merchant within their rights to refuse reimbursement when they overcharged the consumer? It’s happened before but I just happened to check my receipt at the store. It’s not about the item I was overcharged for. It’s about principle.”
Red Phone: Dear Principle Matters, Many times a store’s policy is to give store credit instead of rebates, but that is when an item is actually purchased.
The Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley has received no complaints from the local Dollar Tree and has only received one customer service complaint from any of the chain stores in the United States.
“No complaints were filed against them and we have had no inquires,” said Cariste Blase, consumer services manager for BBB Silicon Valley. “Personally, we have not heard of any complaints like that for other Dollar Tree stores, but there’s always a first time.”
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which has a Consumer Protection Unit that helps consumers who have complaints with businesses, has not had any problems with businesses overcharging then only giving store credit back.
“I haven’t heard of anything like that before,” said Ken Rosenblatt, supervising deputy district attorney. “If a company overcharges, then they they should refund the money.” He suggested filing a Customer Protection Complaint Form that can be downloaded at www.sccgov.org with the D.A.’s office if the problem continues.
Readers, you’ll be happy to know that after sending a letter detailing her problem to the corporate office, the caller received a letter back supporting her position. She took it into the store and received her dollar back that she was overcharged. Hey, a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
