The purchase and attempted return

My sister and I bought a flat iron from a Corioliss kiosk at the Westfield Topanga Mall on March 28, 2010. We were promised a 5 year warranty and, indeed, the box said it came with a 5-year warranty. This Corioliss kiosk did not sell anything by the brand Corioliss, it sold Herstyle and NuMe products. The flat iron was said to be part of the NuMe Professional Collection and said to go to NuMestyle.com to active our 5 year warranty. When we got home, I went to the website to find that the warranty was only for 3 years and there was no "Professional Collection."

The kiosk did not have the return policy obviously published, nor did they inform us that their policy was exhanges only. The receipt had a stamp saying no refunds, but according to law, they MUST accept returns within 7 days if the item is unused. So began our adventure.

We knew it was going to be difficult to get our money back, but we didn't realize what assholes we'd be dealing with. When we got to the kiosk, the salesperson whose name was on my receipt and who initiated the sale was working and told us we had to wait for the owner for anything to be done. He then told us that maybe the owner was at one of their other kiosks in the mall. My sister stayed at the "Corioliss" kiosk while I went to check the other one. While my sister was waiting, she tried to talk to the sales person who subsequently became aggressive and started cursing at her. She called me so we could meet at the mall management office.

As soon as she left, the salesperson called the owner who picked up his jacket, apparently emptied the cash register and split. By the time we came back, his coat was gone. I firmly but politely told the salesperson I wanted my money back, informed him of the law and informed him of the fraudulant warranty. He said he wasn't authorized to put money back on credit or debit cards. I said that we'd wait, at which point he walked away on his phone (calling the owner, I assume). He walked by us again, calling my sister a "fucking bitch" then stormed away saying if we saw the owner to tell him he, the salesperson, "fucking quit."

We kept standing there and workers from another kiosk came over to ask what was going on. We explained and they were very sympathetic, saying how they saw the salesperson harrassing people every day and how they had friends who wouldn't even walk by that part of the mall. They witnessed him cursing at us and being very unprofessional.

During this time, my mom was busy contacting the mall and was put in contact with a mall manager who clearly had quite a bit of power. The salesperson came back with security which was great, we didn't have to get them ourselves! We explained to the security guard, then another security guard came up, followed by a couple heads of security. The mall manager called the security guards and told them that the salesperson was to give us a refund. The salesperson again said that he didn't have the codes to put money back on cards, but then I informed him (again, only this time there was security there) that I had paid in cash. He opened the cash register which conveniently had no money left in it!

We've been told that the owner will be back on Monday and we will be able to get our money back then. However, I am sure the only reason we are succeeding is because of the scene we made and the pressure we put on the owner/salesperson. Our parents are lawyers--we do not mess around. We will take them to small claims court if we must.

The salesperson was unbelievably rude, interrupting constantly, even attempting to interrupt when security wanted to have a private conversation with us. He gave us attitude, cursed at us, lied to us countless times. These kiosks are wide spread and I have yet to hear of a reputable one (referring to Corioliss/Herstyler/NuMe--I know some malls have kiosks for Chi or ISO, I don't think those companies are at all involved).

STAY AWAY! If you've been scammed by this company, be sure to leave a comment, as we might try to get a class action lawsuit together and make sure these people stay out of our malls.