Others Share Their Beck's Furniture Fiascos

On a Folsom-oriented site, it looks like a lot of people aren't happy with Beck's and this grocery rebate scam:

MyFolsom.com: Beck's Furniture $600 Scam, Did you fall for it?

I threw my 2 cents in as well.

Remember, avoid Beck's Furniture at all cost. I know they are no longer running the grocery rebate promotion but if my experience (and the experience of those on MyFolsom.com) are any indication, any customer service experience will be a nightmare.

I should also mention, that even though it's unrelated to the rebate scam, I returned one item for a refund of roughly $200 minus a 15% restocking fee. I checked my credit card account a month later and realized there wasn't any credit from Beck's. I called and demanded my credit, which finally came through. I know some people religiously check their credit card statements but my finances are sufficiently complex enough that I can't remember or account for every single transaction. If I hadn't caught that miss, I'd probably still be missing $200 from that company.

Boo on Beck's.

Beck's Craps On Customers

Why does this blog exist? Because Beck's not only disserviced its customers (I know I'm not the only one) but were completely rude and disgusting while doing so. I've had better customer service in an Asian market and anyone who's ever shopped at an Asian market knows this is really saying something!

Here's the summary:

1. Beck's promoted a $600 grocery rebate program with qualifying purchase of furniture.
2. The company now running this rebate program has declared bankruptcy and is being investigated by various states. See the Sacramento Bee story here.
3. Beck's response to this unfortunate event, was to put its customers into another rebate program which looks more suspicious than the last scam. The current program requires a full copy, front & back, of your driver's license and a $10 payment to be refunded later. The previous program had a lot of hoops to jump through but did not require you to divulge sensitive personal and financial information. This new program will now allow some company you know nothing about to access your DL# and your banking account/routing numbers (since most people will send check, not money order).
4. When Beck's Furniture employees, including its customer service manager, Laura F., are asked to address the possible risk of fraud and exposure of the customer to identity theft, said employees literally get hostile and take no responsibility for the program (despite the fact that Beck's ran the promotion!). I literally have been hung up on twice.

It is possible that the current rebate program is not a scam. But just look at the risk customers are taking! If it's not a scam, you get $25 per month for the next 2 years or so. But if it is a scam and your identity is stolen, how many thousands of dollars could you lose? The risk simply isn't worth it and shame on Beck's Furniture for putting its customers in such a position without any other options.

Sacramentans should take note that Beck's no longer runs a grocery rebate program, even as they shift previous customers (who have little recourse at this point) to another suspicious rebate program. Is it a case that Beck's also has less-than-full confidence in this new program or simply a promotion that has run its course? I guess it depends on who you ask.

I will detail my experiences with Beck's in future posts but this blog is my attempt to warn other consumers about this company and not just in relation to rebate program. The rebate scam is very irritating but that, in itself, would not cause me to dedicate precious time to starting a blog against Beck's. It was the callous response from the company itself and the poor level of post-sales customer service (even before the news of the scam broke) which drove me to such anger that I felt I had to hit them where it hurts: their wallet.