Gilt
Reviews and Complaints

They are the biggest liars I have ever dealt with. They sent the incorrect item and have broken every promise to resolve the issue. It's been 6 weeks and I still haven't received the right item and they won't credit my account. How hard is it to send me the correct lamp? Week 1: Gilt asked me to send a pic to verify. Week 2: I didn't hear from them for a wk, so I followed up at which pt they said they were waiting for the pic. I sent it to them again. Week 3: I didn't hear from them for another week, so I followed up again. They said they were working on a resolution (again, what takes so long to send me the right item?). So I asked for credit back and details on how to return the item. They responded with "we are working on a resolution." Week 4: I emailed them another week later, at which point they blamed Sandy for the delay. What kind of co blames a natural disaster after they'd already had 4 weeks to resolve what I think is a simple issue (my family lives in Zone A, so in no way am I being heartless about this. I think Gilt is a horrible co for using Sandy as a scapegoat). Week 5: They promised to have the replacement lamp to me by 11/7/12. Week 6: It's 11/15/12 and no lamp, no credit to my account, and no response from Gilt. They are a HORRIBLE company.

They shipped very fast in my opinion. I did standard shipping and ordered what I thought would be a Kendra Scott necklace Sunday night, received it on Friday. However, it is clearly not a real Kendra Scott necklace. The stones and the chain are plastic. The chain was said to be 24k gold. It appears to be used or maybe just banged up from the material being so cheap. I thought I was getting a deal for $99 but I could have splurged an extra $20 on Kendra Scott's website and got the real thing. I can't even return my order for store credit or a refund. Will not purchase from this site again.

This is the most irritating and irrational website experience I have ever had. I clicked on an ad and the GILT site opened up. Immediately a popup appeared asking for my email address. Not wanting to be spammed, as I had no idea who GILT was, I tried to hit 'Esc', no luck, no 'X' to shut the popup down, no luck. In fact no way whatsoever to figure out who this etailer is without giving up my personal info. The modern web doesn't work like this. As you can tell, I was so shocked and annoyed by this that I am sharing my opinion.

I bought an Akribos watch for my girlfriend over Gilt. It was a final sale and allegedly discounted from $500 to $80. It took 5 weeks to come and stopped working within a one. We brought the watch to a watchmaker and they told us that the quality was that of a cheap fake. I was shocked and feel scammed. I would never buy from Gilt again. I would even go as far as to say that Gilt purposely sold this piece of junk as "final sale" because they knew that the quality was so poor. Gilt pretends to sell high-end goods at discount prices. In reality they sell faulty products to unknowing customers. I hope no one makes the same mistake I did!

Had bad experience. ordered a product, but when it arrived, it was not as advertised. at first they said no return, then said since it was my first purchase they would accept return, if i printed out return label. sent them an email, i have no printer, and they told me to go to a store or such to have return slip printed, they could not send me one. i live in very small community, and when i finally located place to have it printed out...the TIME had run out, and was no longer available to return. I WILL DEFINITELY NOT SHOP THIS SITE AGAIN, $380.00 down the drain!

They have nice merchandises however, they prices are much higher than in regular stores or from other online sellers. Their return policy is very bad. Groupon has much better one and they work with you if you have a problem. I cold them about my difficulties I have experienced with making appointment to a doctor I have voucher for. They said I should work with the doctor's office to get appointment. :) They did not want to give me refund. Finally they call the doctor office and fixed the problem. I will never buy a voucher from them again. I do not want have problems and deal with their unfriendly policy.

I have ordered two flatware sets from GILT. Received them after two (!) weeks of waiting. Both of them were not what I have ordered. Called customer support. They told that there is no exchange. So if I still want it I need to order it since they are in stock. So I sent these wrong sets back and reordered again. Guess what - two weeks later got these two wrong sets I sent back! I'm out of money and fighting to get my refund back. On the website policy it stated "refund under 72 hours", actually it is one week and half.

I purchased a gift for a friend on 1st of March to give on 15th. Because of a zip code error that I corrected right after my purchase (meaning minutes after my purchase), the item didnt arrive on 6th which was the date it should. After that I emailed and called the customer service at least 10 times to check where my item is since I wasnt able to track it.

Since I couldnt get sufficient information(every time I called, I've been told that my puchase will arrive the next day), I contacted UPS many times and Gilt support also informed me that they did. Though they could only figured out on that the item is lost 14th.

I informed the company every time I call that I need the item latest on 15th, if it wont be possible I should find another way. Eventually today is 14th, they refund my money which prob be in my account in 5-7days and I am still without a present.

That was the first and last time I ever buy anything from Gilt, since there are many other private shopping sites to see if they can provide better basic customer support!

I purchased a few gift certificates when it was still BuyWithMe and have since had a medical issue come up where I can no longer use them. Gilt's response to receiving a credit for the certificates was basically tough luck bc they were bought through BWM and I guess are not taking any responsibility after aquiring BWM (I'm not familiar with any other aquisition where they claim they don't have any responibility to the custiomer). I've never had a problem ever receiving a credit from any other group buy site or especially received any response such as this from their customer service where they can not even spell my name right or get the facts straight that I was looking for a Gilt credit and not a purchase refund:
"Hello Terri,
Thank you for contacting Gilt City.
You have said before that you will be filing a claim with your credit card
company we are assuming to get the charges reversed; as we are not responsible,
nor do we house the funds form this charge, we fully support you doing so if you
would like to receive a refund back to your card. As when we acquired BuyWithMe
the financial information of their former customers did not transfer to us, we
are unable to refund members in the way that you would like. We completely
understand that you need to change your dietary restrictions, and know that
having your bank retract the charges will be the best thing for you to do under
the current circumstances.
If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to reply to this
e-mail.
Sincerely,
Lee
Gilt Member Support"

READ THE FINE PRINT ON SHIPPING AND ON BUYING ---BUYER BEWARE!
Firstly, on buying --- you can definitely get upscale items at a better discount from the designer or even a store when on sale. I recently bought INHABIT cashmere sweaters from INHABITNY onsale. They were $75 higher on Gilt. While they may offer credit on a returned item back to your crefit card, they charge a flat fee of $14.95 for usps shipping which includes a $5 restocking fee.
NOW WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE CHARGED SO MUCH FOR A RETURN? AND A RESTOCKING FEE?
I think it's bad business to have high shipping costs to you and then such an exhorbitant return. UPS is cheaper and includes insurance up to $100.
AND they are hustlers. Tell your friends emails, wait list innundating months later, you bought something 6 hours ago, buy something else in the next two hours and get free shipping.
PLUS the shipping paackaging is flimsy and most of the time comes in a plastic bag. A $150 cashmere sweater isn't even protected in a box.
AND just try talking to them on the phone. They are dismissive and rude.
I live in NY so I have accessibility to the best stores, sample sales, etc. If I feel driven to shop online, it's not going to be with GILT.

Gilt Group bought out Buy With Me .com, which is a coupon voucher site like Groupon. They do not service the city I live in, so I no longer was able to use my credits for BWM. I had a cash credit on my account, from before Gilt bought them. I requested a refund, and I was instructed to buy something. I do not want their stuff. It is overpriced, does not appeal to me, and is not the type of thing I buy online. They have REFUSED to give me my money. Keep in mind, this is not a refund. I never purchased anything to return. It is CASH VALUE that belongs to me and they feel that they have the right to keep it, or force me to purchase. No matter what I purchase, I would have to send them more money, and I am unwilling to do that. Yes, the group is a Scam with a capital S. Stay away, be warned, they are not legitimate.

Fake Michael kors suit, I own 3 authentic ones. They may have gotten it passed someone who never owned Michael kors but to someone who knows so obvious. The label looked like it was a photocopy, and stitching of "michael kors" label unlike any of the authentic. Pants were practically see through the suit was so cheap. Stay away from gilt.com

Don't do it! I'll just list a few reasons that I have experienced personally.

1. Some merchandise is not authentic! I ordered "designer" towels once that tore up in the first wash. Took me two days to get all the pieces out of the washer and dryer. When I looked at the tag, it said "GILT". They had a cheap towel made and had their own label put on it.

2. Many pieces I received had water damage and were damp. Like the stores returned them for being damaged and they sold them to us.

3. Retail prices listed are sometimes fictional. I once orders a bathroom accessory kit, only to find the prices listed on the manufacturers website cheaper! Everywhere had them cheaper and Gilt's retail price was never associated with the item. Gilt said retail 100 our price 25, the manufacturer had it listed for 18.

Hope this saves a few people. I'm done being a dope to this fraud.

I ordered a Vera Wang dress from Gilt last week for my wife's birthday. It was ordered as a surprise since I was scheduled to be in New York City all of this week. The dress arrived with a huge black plastic security bock attached (which weighed more than the dress)! Assuming that any Vera Wang boutique would have the equipment to remove the security block she went to the nearest Saks 5th Avenue to have this done. When she walked in the door a security guard confronted her since the dress had the security block on it. She was escorted by the security guard to the Vera Wang department and accused of of having attempted to steal the dress. Luckily she had the Gilt receipt with her. I attempted to e-mail Gilt about this and was confronted with their "online" complaint site that did not allow you to write more than 250 words and did not allow one to attached a photo of the problem. I was informed that their phone line was not open until 10:00 a.m. By the time I finally got through to their phone representative, he didn't seem to think this was a big deal. Currently I have merchandise that was purchased for over $300 that I can not use. To be perfectly honest, having been sent out with the security block still on the merchandise, I honestly do not know if this is not stolen stock. I've asked to have it authenticated by Gilt. Do not purchase anything from this company!

I've been a customer of Gilt Groupe for a couple of years. I've been on their website at the moment the new sales start and I notice a number of items are already sold out. I find this hard to believe -- I wonder if "friends and family" are somehow given the first opportunities to buy before the general public. It happens all the time...

Flash sales are beginning to lose luster with me. Not only are the hot items gone right from the start but now at Gilt it seems that the leftovers are the main fare, recycled in many creative ways, still unappealing.

But I digress, my recent purchase of some A. Maurizzi shoes was shipped to me with ONLY ONE shoe. I immediately called Customer Service and they offered me a refund but SOL no replacement or offer to look for the lost shoe. Curt tone and unwillingly and at MY suggestion they offered me to look at other models in my size.

Bummer but keep in mind as it can happen and Gilt won't care to make it right.

Have been shopping on Gilt for years and though the deals are great and shipping efficient the customer service SUCKS! This Valentine's Day they sent out a coupon for 10% off which would apply at the time of shipping and they would bill your check/credit card the discounted amount. The coupon was valid from Feb 8th Feb 16th until midnight which means at the time I am writing this the coupon is still valid. Anyhoo, I placed an order for a handbag spending $200+ w/shipping on the 14th. Checked my Credit card statement they DID NOT apply the discount and shipped the item on the 15th. Contacted them very politely, got the rudest response and a coupon valid for 3 days for $10. Which means to use that i have to spend more money...NO THANKS...BUYER BEWARE!