Giltgate 2010: More Overcharged Victims Come Forward, Statement

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Yesterday, we brought you the stories of two loyal Gilt customers who felt they'd been had by the flash sale site after their credit cards were charged for more than they'd bargained for. Turns out, it wasn't just an isolated incident: a tipster sent in this tweet from someone who was overcharged in California and we received plenty of spirited feedback in our comments section.

· "I submitted a payment for $39 and then my receipt had an additional charge of $10—not even just one charge of $49 but two charges. That is some nerve. I emailed customer service and they said they'd give me $10 credit which is, of course. unacceptable. It hasn't come thru on my credit card yet but I am annoyed."
· "Just contacted Gilt about this problem—they made it seem like they had fixed it and "credited me the overcharge" for the inconvenience. But when I followed up it turns out that they had given me STORE CREDIT and are still planning to charge me the overcharge. I think it's super sketchy to overcharge someone and then force them to spend the money at your store by only refunding store credit."

We received this official statement from the Gilt spokesperson:

Unfortunately due to a technical glitch in one of yesterday's women's sales, there were order processing discrepancies whereby some customers were charged a different price from what was stated on the site. We sincerely apologize for this error and we are working to understand the extent of customers impacted and will be refunding accordingly.

Racked will be following up with Gilt today to find out whether they're issuing store credit—which doesn't really seem right, since customers are forced to spend store credit on Gilt—or whether they'll really be issuing refunds back to customers' credit cards. We're also unclear on whether the company will automatically refund all customers who were overcharged or whether customers need to report the overcharge to Gilt in order to be compensated. With over 1.3 million users, there's no telling how many shoppers have been bilked. Stay tuned for updates—and if you've shopped at Gilt recently, check and double-check your receipts for discrepancies. And email us if this has happened to you.
· The great Gilt upcharging scandal: overcharged victim #2 speaks [Racked]
· Got a Gilt shopping list? Be sure to check it twice. [Racked]