Have you made all of your post-holiday returns yet?
If not, time is running out!
If you bought any items at a kiosk in the mall, it may already be too late.
This is the time of year many of us return unwanted gifts to the mall.
But if it came from a kiosk in the center of that mall, that may not be so easy, as one woman discovered.
Ashley Newberry was shopping before Christmas.
When she got a pitch from a salesman at this kiosk.
"This guy asked me if he could straighten my hair,” Newberry said. “So I sat down, he straightened my hair, and I said wow this is wonderful."
So she pulled out her credit card.
“He said buy one, get one free for $200,” she said. “So I bought one and gave the other to my friend."
But she says this straightening iron she took home worked nothing like the demo model.
"It just rips your hair, it rips it out,” she said. “And it’s hot to the touch down where you are supposed to hold it. It's too hot to hold."
She found dozens of similar complaints online around the country, from other women wondering if the model they bought was the same as the one demonstrated in the mall.
Now if you buy a hair iron at CVS or Walmart, or even Target, you typically have 30 days to return it and get your money back.
But that is often not the case with mall kiosks.
Newberry says when she went back, the employee told her no refunds.
"Then he removed his jacket to show me this little sign that says no refund,” she said.
So we went to the mall, saw no sign, but the salesman told us the same thing.
"Could she get a refund? No we do not have a refund on
things that are final, final sales,” the clerk said.
We contacted the manufacturer which told us that Newberry can ship back the iron, saying
"Evalectric hair tool products include a complimentary 3-year warranty. If your hair tool ever has any defects, we will replace it."
But she would have to pay shipping and get another one, just like the one she has.
Evalectric says the straightening irons women buy are the same ones that are demonstrated in the mall.
But, this is a warning to always ask questions about returns, so you don't waste your money.
