In a recent article, a long-time fan and supporter of the St Louis Blues hockey team has spoken out, revealing the shockingly unprofessional behavior displayed by the team’s customer service team after he reached out to make a simple refund request for unused funds.
On March 21, 2021, the fan – who has chosen to remain anonymous – reached out via email to the support representative that had been designated to him in order to request a refund for his unused $22,000. The funds were unused as they had been deposited for the 2020-2021 season, which didn’t happen. Because of the sum of the funds, the fan felt it was best to receive a refund while he waited for the new season to be confirmed, at which point he would resume payments for his reserved seats.
His emails remained unanswered for several weeks, during which time he also reached out to two of the customer support emails for the St Louis Blues. He received no response from any channel, so finally, he decided to reach out over the phone:
“I spoke with someone and explained the situation of no one responding to me and me wanting a refund. I was placed on hold, and then when he came back, I was informed that my rep or a sales manager would get back to me by the end of the day. The day passed, no call. Friday, no call. Halfway through Monday, no call, so at this point, I realize obviously no one is calling me back, and I need to call in again.”
With his calls remaining unreturned, the fan tried again and was finally put in touch with Kyle Waymon, a sales manager for the Blues. Unfortunately, this is where the situation got ugly.
According to the fan, Waymon began to speak in a condescending and aggressive tone, accusing the fan of having “financial troubles”. After the fan calmly explained that this was not the case – and that he simply wanted a refund of his unused funds since it was such a large sum and the new season had yet to be confirmed – Waymon changed tactics and claimed that the fan would be giving up his reserved seats if he wishes to go through with his refund request. It’s worth noting that this threat was later refuted by the team’s client retention manager.
Having been a Blues fan for 7 years, this was shocking to him, but not the first time he had experienced less than-ideal customer support from the team.
“This is just one story, I’ve had nothing but horrible experiences anytime I have had any customer support needs in the past. To me, this was not that complex, I was asking for a refund for a season that did not happen and intended to pick back up next season when they have things figured out and payments begin.”
After ending the call with the promise of a refund, the fan waited – but his refund was still not issued.
Finally, he decided to reach out directly to the team’s upper management and sent a detailed email outlining the unreturned emails, phone calls, and Waymon’s unprofessional behavior toward him.
Almost immediately, a client retention manager reached out to resolve the situation, issuing the fan a refund and apologizing for the treatment he had received. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and the fan stated his intention to cancel his seat and rescind his support for the team he had once loved.
With so much time, energy, and money having been invested, the fan was not expecting to be ignored, berated, and insulted by the management of a team that he had spent seven years supporting financially.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that the St Louis Blues customer service experience has fallen short of the mark. A browse through Yelp reveals similar stories, with long-time superfans being ignored or insulted by the team they’d grown to love. Most shocking is the recent lawsuit filed by Aaron Stock, who claims that the team sold him over $30,000 of alleged mislabeled and fraudulent merchandise and memorabilia. Stock stated that he had contacted the team’s customer service over the course of two years, seeking a solution but had been ignored at every turn.
If this is the treatment that high-supporting fans are receiving from the Blues management, we can only wonder what the average fan is dealing with.