Hammacher SchlemmerReviews of hammacher.com

If I could give negative stars, i would. Horrible and unprofessional company. I ordered a product at the end of November. Few days later I had a notification that it was "shipped". They ended up "shipping" the batteries and not the product. They told me the product was back ordered and would be delivered 12/11. I received another email saying it would be 12/14. Then another email stating 12/17...At this point I canceled the order altogether. They told me since the batteries had "shipped" they couldn't refund my money. The batteries haven't even shipped, they just created the label. Which means they lied to me... TERRIBLE company.

I ordered men’s slippers size 12. HS sent women’s tennis shoes size 10. I returned the shoes and they sent the slippers to the wrong address. I had to pay a $25 postage fee to forward the slippers to correct address (where they had sent the shoes). They refused to refund me the $25. Very sloppy customer service and retail practices.

I purchased a large, expensive Christmas tree a couple years ago. Beautiful looking tree. However, there is now a portion of the lights out. Although the booklet says "if one burns out, 10 will be out." I've replaced over a dozen so far. The frustrating part is the difficulty in trying to figure out which one is bad. Getting bulbs out of socket, and correctly back in, is extremely difficult. I have spent over 3-hours of my time on this string and have yet to figure it out. I've got to say, in hindsight, this was one of my worst purchases given the cost of the tree. Would NOT do it again.

Purchased 18 ft Frosty for Christmas decoration in yard a year ago. The cheap plastic base broke and he is no longer functional. Called to get replacement and was told that they cannot replace him since he is no longer available (although the web site still sells them). Have to ship him back and it will take 3-4 weeks to receive a store credit instead of refund. Lots of bad reviews on BBB regarding customer service and same type of responses. Have spent over $1000 with them over last year. Sad how they treat people. No longer going to be a customer.

Wasn't sure about buying an artificial christmas tree online without seeing it first so I called the NY store and the person who I spoke with (no wait to talk with someone) described them but was also nice enough to text me photos of all the trees on the floor so I could see more real life photos than the website. We ended up ordering the Concolor one. It arrived within about a week. It's actually an amazing tree that is nearly indistinguishable from a real tree until you are about a foot away, we are kind of blown away by it. The tree has far exceeded our expectations. I'm writing this review because the negative ones I saw on this site nearly scared me away. It sounds like customer service might be tough from these reviews, but I'm here to say the tree is truly beautiful.

I used to shop Hammacher-Schlemmer with confidence and satisfaction. It's painful to relate they've gone from a company of repute to something similar to what used to advertise inside comic book covers. Their online customer service would be laughable if wasn't so aggravating. I guess they're only paying attention to their high-roller customers and the rest of us can just sit around and wait till they feel good and ready to pay us any attention. I won't be troubling them further and I highly recommend you do the same.

Don't buy online from them; especially around the holidays or if you wanted an item as a gift. I ordered a bathrobe for my mother about 2 months ago, and got an email that it would be shipped mid-December but that they couldn't guarantee when it would ship. After waiting those 2 months with no shipping update, I realized that I wouldn't be able to get the item on time for when our family opens gifts, so I emailed customer service and asked for the item to be cancelled. I received no response back that day: but that night it was marked as shipped. Which I find suspicious since they obviously just didn't want to cancel my order. Then the next day customer service emailed back to say sorry but the order was shipped so we can't cancel. As of now the order still hasn't technically shipped, since the tracking information they gave me only proves that they made a shipping label, nothing has been scanned and nothing has actually been shipped to me. Dishonest company that isn't worth your time; especially around Christmas.

NO NO NO! Cheaper anywhere else. Knowing you should always order this stuff early, I placed my original order in early September. Though finally got the right tree, I'm still waiting for power cord to use it & December 1st is tomorrow! They have 2 similar names for 2 different models adding to the confusion. The WHITE Northern Lights (NO CHRISTMAS) Tree. Tree is white. The (NO WHITE) Northern Lights CHRISTMAS Tree Tree is green. 1. First wrong tree. We returned at PO. Took 6 weeks to receive before sending replacement Though a fedex return label the go back-and-forth about taking it to fedex or the Post Office. 2. Even with very clear instructions for exchange, sent same wrong tree again. We tried to return but would not accept because label they keep emailing not scannable. 3. Right tree came with no power cord. Still waiting! 4. Just to get power cord as none available, now supposed to return 3rd tree (on deck) which is the right one so they can send me out 4th tree (right model) just to get the power cord. Currently, I think a 4th tree has been sent out and was sent only so I can get the power cord since they didn't have them in back stock. They are now expecting me to package up the one I have-finally the right one and send back!! I have sent back 2 already. These are 7.5 Ft trees which are heavy & awkward to carry. Separate order. Wrong wreath & garland sent which are supposed to look same as tree & have to return canceling order. The display on the website shows the Garland going all around the door from from the floor to ceiling but I only received 2' & like wreath wrong. I have talked to so many customer service people who can't help after an average of 45 minute holds then disconnected. They email you labels to print or be scanned that don't work which you only find out after you've waited in long lines at the Post Office/Fedex. The return labels are all Fedex but they insist you go to the Post Office and neither will accept. DON'T DO IT! I want to send it all back & be done! They just won't send/email labels that work! The billing nightmare being charged for multiple trees has just begun.