Brad W.

I've been buying from TOM for many years and most of my experiences have been very good. They have taken back items that were "final sale" and that includes today, as I received a pair of slippers that were too small. I'd say that a human (Julie) contacted me within about 10 minutes of my initial e-mail, which I consider very good.

I don't question many of the reviews, but I think that in order to avoid confusion and disappointment, it's important to understand several things about Touch of Modern.

In terms of shipping items purchased, there are 4 different types of delivery/shipping speed that you might see. They are:

1. Quick ship - In stock, probably goes out in roughly 1 business day.

2. Bulk order - Most common, everything goes out at once, but it can be slow, dependent on partner.

3. Back stock - In warehouse, usually ship in 1 to 5 business days.

4. Direct from partner - The partner will ship it, usually after the sale has ended. This may take longer, as it's dependent on the partner, and particularly items requiring special handling can be slow.

Full definitions are listed below.

Also, in terms of clothing, many clothing items are slim fit or modern fit. If you're a normal guy built guy like me, or one who wants comfort, you may want to size up or avoid this cut of clothing. If not sure, ask, as some clothing items are normal fit. As an example, I just ordered a leather jacket in XL. Usually I wear large, but knowing that some of their items are snug I went up a size and it fits perfectly.

Also, pretty much all customer service is done by e-mail.

I do recommend Touch of Modern and my personal experience with them has been mostly good. But I think that understanding how they operate, and particularly how and when and why they ship as they do, will reduce or eliminate disappointment. If you want something fast, unless it's in "quick ship" status, you might not receive it fast.

Here is a cut and paste from their website which provides more information on the different stock/shipping definitions...

Bulk Order - our most common

We place a bulk order for all the sold products at the end of our sale. We then perform quality checks, repackage, and ship them out to you. The longest wait here happens usually when our partner takes longer than expected to ship the products to our warehouse

We send order information to our partner at the end of the sale
Our partner will then acquire or produce the products for shipment to our warehouse
Our warehouse will check the products and repackage for shipment to you
We will ship the product directly to you
We will then send you tracking information for your delivery

Quick Ship

These are products available to ship the next business day (or the same day depending on when you placed the order). We will usually include a "Quick Ship" badge on these sales

Our warehouse team will pick and pack the products for shipment to you
We will ship the product directly to you
We will then send you tracking information for your delivery

Back Stock

These products are in storage in our warehouse and we can ship these in 1-5 business days.

Our warehouse team will pick and pack the products for shipment to you
We will ship the product directly to you
We will then send you tracking information for your delivery
Direct from Partner

These products need to be shipped directly from our partners. The longest wait here happens usually when the products are made to order, or require special care when shipping.

We send order information to our partner at the end of the sale
Our partner will then acquire or produce the products for shipment
We will ship the product directly to you
We will then send you tracking information for your delivery

I have used CouponCabin for quite some time and never had a problem, until now.

On Sunday, September 2,2018, I received an e-mail from CouponCabin informing me that the first 8 who clicked through would be offered $100 off a $100+ purchase at homedepot.com.

I monitored the time closely and at the appropriate time, I clicked through and was successful at obtaining the offer.

I had been looking for a lamp, so after a period of time, but prior to the offer's expiration, I found one that I wished to purchase. I clicked through the link several times to ensure that it was active.

I also read the fine print carefully. Disable ad blockers: check. Make sure cart is empty first: check. Home delivery only, no in-store pick-up: check.

Purchased the lamp and everything seemed fine.

On Tuesday afternoon, September 4,2018, I attempted to login to CouponCabin to ensure that the offer had been processed properly. However, I was unable to login.

When password resets didn't work, I contacted the company. I was very quickly offered the following message, which made zero sense to me.

Hello, Brad.

Our security system has identified your account (*******@xxx.com) and multiple computer networks that your account has accessed (including but not limited to Internet Protocol address: as severely violating the terms and conditions of CouponCabin's cash back program. As a result, your account has been permanently closed and the cash back has been forfeited.

I asked for a further explanation but have not received one to date.

Meanwhile the lamp has been ordered and shipped. Not only is CouponCabin reneging on their $100 off of $100 offer, but they've closed my account, confiscated any cash that was in there, and refused (so far) to tell me why this action was taken.

I've recommended CouponCabin to many people, including to my girlfriend at the time that I "qualified" for this offer. Makes me feel kind of dumb for going out of my way to recommend them. Frustrating, annoying embarrassing and unwarranted.

I'll continue to update my experience and hopefully I'll get some resolution. But for now, I've got an expensive lamp on the way that I'm not even sure will be here before I leave for China, and now I have to hassle/fight/argue with CouponCabin and I don't think I did a thing that was wrong.

Let me also add, this is a very poor way to treat established customers. Deactivating their accounts without explanation and reneging on promises. If there's an issue, it should be politely discussed/explained. If there's a legitimate problem, make sure the customer understands the issue. If they have a reasonable explanation, be reasonable and understanding. Treating good established customers in this way is a poor business practice, and I suspect that even the principals at CouponCabin would agree with this.

Coupon cabin has accused me of offering insults. I ask, "What insults"? That's completely false. Do I consider their actions to be rude, unwarranted and potentially fradulent? Yes, absolutely.

Let me also add that I am a former police officer. Imagine that you are a good citizen and I arrest you. You ask why you are being arrested and I ignore you for the most part, but then I say, "You have been identified as severely violating the law!". You say, I haven't violated any law! What are you talking about? What law?!" I again reply, "I have identified you as severely violating the law!" When you press further, I say, "Please read the Penal Code. You have severely violated the law!". You say, "But what law? What are you accusing me of? Where do I look?" And I then tape your mouth shut.

That's what you did, in essence by refusing to give me a straight answer to my questions and by blocking my IP address and blocking me from Facebook. Did you consider something really wild like... responding to the questions/concerns in a reasonable way?

Look back at my e-mail messages and you'll see a common theme. I asked, "What did I do? I have no idea what you're talking about". And you'll also see that there was no specific reply by your company. Just ambiguity.

Good customers are hard to find. Good customers who go out of their way to refer you business are even harder to come by. When you have a customer for years, treating them in such a poor way and simply closing their account, without notification or discussion, when they a long-history of using your service without issues, is not an acceptable practice.

A better way to handle it would have been to not close an account and say, "According to our records, your CouponCabin account may have violated our Terms and Conditions for the following reasons. We understand that you might not have been aware of this, but it is important that you not use more than one device (or whatever). Future violations of our Terms and Conditions may result in the suspension or closure of your Coupon Cabin account, and neither one of would want that. We appreciate your patronage and loyalty. Feel free to contact us with further questions or you may simply refer to the link which fully details our Terms and Conditions".

Do you see how that accomplishes the same thing, keeps your customers (mostly) loyal and happy, and doesn't annoy people to the point where they're writing unflattering reviews? Do you see how it completely changes the tone? Not only that, but you actually make more money instead of having to fight with irritated former customers like me.

P.S. I'm getting these replies from "Good old Sam" over at CouponCabin who falsely stated that I've been sending them "offensive insults". Well, you deserve them, but I don't recall making any. Perhaps you can share them, Sammy? He also states that they "will not provide financial incentives in exchange for removing negative reviews. Not asking for "financial incentives". Just asking them to honor their commitments, communicate effectively and reasonably with their customers, and to treat them with respect. CouponCabin failed on all counts and continues to fail with their ridiculous self-serving replies. Hey Sammy, here's a better idea. Look in the mirror and change your rude, anti-consumer and counterproductive policies.