Canceled orders, credit card holds: Customers share their Kohl's Black Friday nightmares

HOUSTON – Before the big holiday shopping weekend, Kohl's Black Friday deals were lauded as some of the best; but many shoppers who woke up early and logged online to get some of those bargains were left empty-handed and frustrated. Consumer expert Amy Davis looked into the biggest complaints to find out what happened.  

Double and triple charges and credit card holds on orders that were never fulfilled were just some of the complaints posted by hundreds of customers on Kohls Facebook page. Kendra Smart of Katy emailed Davis when Kohl's canceled five of her orders, one right after the other. 

After the first cancellation, Smart said, I thought 'OK there must have been an error with the credit card. No worries. I'll place another one.' I placed another one, and then got a cancellation," she said.  

Smart ordered Fitbits, blankets and pillows, running shoes and 2 Google Home devices. Orders she made on Black Friday and Cyber Monday were still pending Tuesday. Five other orders were canceled with no explanation. The email from Kohls simply read "couldn't complete order."  

"I was done with Kohl's," Smart said. "That was why I went on to Facebook saying 'I'm done with Kohl's.' And that was when I saw everyone else's experiences, which was similar to mine."

One customer posted, "I was charged twice for items... which put my account into overdraft." She wrote that Kohl's customer service told her the money in her account would be available in 6 to 10 days. "I need my money now," she posted. 

Another customer wrote, "Black Friday product. Confirmed purchase. Now you can not fulfill. I missed other opportunities Friday at other vendors."

By email, a Kohl's spokesperson told Davis "Our website is functioning well. We are aware of some earlier intermittent technology issues that may have interfered with some customers' ability to check out quickly and easily. Our teams worked quickly to address and resolve." 

"It was stressful. I was trying to spend money. I was trying to give Kohl's my money, but they made it so difficult," said Smart. 

Then we sent Smart's five canceled orders to Kohl's corporate office, it investigated and told Smart her orders were canceled because her large purchases were unusual for her regular shopping activity. They were flagged as fraud and canceled. 

They said that there were some cancellations simply due to the large number of people ordering online. If you were one of them and you still have your cancellation email from Kohl's with no explanation of what happened, call customer service because Kohl's said it is trying to work one on one with each customer. 


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Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.