The Sharper Image was founded in 1977 by Richard Thalheimer, as a means of selling jogging watches. The company is an American brand, which features consumer electronics and high tech gadgets, such as hoverboards, via catalogs and an eCommerce site.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2008 after a stock drop that caused them to be removed from the NASDAQ. The name Sharper Image was purchased via a joint venture from several companies, including Hilco Consumer Capital, Infinity Lifestyle Brands, Gordon Brothers and Bluestar Alliance. In June of 2014, Camelot Venture Group acquired the rights to the Sharper Image brand.
New products for the company are created through business partnerships. The Camelot Venture Group is a private equity investment firm which invests mainly in direct to consumer companies.
The Sharper ImageThe Sharper Image was founded in 1977 by Richard Thalheimer, as a means of selling jogging watches. The company is an American brand, which features consumer electronics and high tech gadgets, such as hoverboards, via catalogs and an eCommerce site.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2008 after a stock drop that caused them to be removed from the NASDAQ. The name Sharper Image was purchased via a joint venture from several companies, including Hilco Consumer Capital, Infinity Lifestyle Brands, Gordon Brothers and Bluestar Alliance. In June of 2014, Camelot Venture Group acquired the rights to the Sharper Image brand.
New products for the company are created through business partnerships. The Camelot Venture Group is a private equity investment firm which invests mainly in direct to consumer companies.
I purchased a Sound Soother with radio. It seemed like the perfect replacement for us. The product description mentioned an FM radio so one could safely assume an AM frequency is provided as well. I received the unit and there is no AM frequency so I needed to rturn the item.
Your return policy is a total rip-off!! With shipping ($13.95) the total was $84+. To return it you charge me $15.95 (more than what you charged to ship it to me) and my total return amount is $54+!! I’ll get back $30 less than what the product cost initially.
I will NEVER EVER buy another item from Sharper Image and I will tell my friends and family NEVER to buy from Sharper Image.
Unsatisfied and angry customer,
Doug Kinney
My son received a gift from his grandmother for Xmas. We already had it so returned. Received an email 12/27/21 that we would get an e-gift certificate within 2 business days. Son was looking forward to sale that was 20% off plus free shipping thru 12/31/21. After numerous calls finally received the e-gift certificate 1/6/22 (sales over). After calling again was given a $25 discount card and was promised that when we were ready to order just call for free shipping. So there is a sale that ended 1/30/22 for 20% off so my son picked out a couple things. Called to order and get free shipping but NO you can’t have free shipping and if you use extra $25 cert can’t get 20% discount either. So asked to break into 2 orders as we had another $25 cert to use. Bottom line with the 2x$25 certs and return we had $118.48 in credits. two items, tax and two shipping charges totaled $144.95. When we got the order confirmation emails we were charged $107.95. So called back to customer service (South Africa per the rep) and no explanation. Told to cancel order and i will call corporate office. Guess what, goes to voicemail and mail box is full. I would never recommend buying anything from this place. Unethical, don’t respond to issues, don’t keep promises and then try to cheat you and charge extra. I would be happy to post a follow-up if i ever get any response.
Purchased a product advertised in the catalog called PHOTO VAULT. What I received was PICTURE KEEPER product whereupon this company had placed a sticker on the bottom of the box titled PHOTO VAULT. Obvious the intent was not to be able to do a price comparison for if one did they would have discovered the product PICTURE KEEPER that I received was double the price at Sharper Image. We returned the product based on what I would say fraudulent name representation of the product. Showing one product name PHOTO VAULT in the catalog, and receiving a product called PICTURE KEEPER. The product was returned in excellent condition, ready for resale. I received a gift card for that return in lieu of a dollar refund to my credit card. I missed that fine print. Their return policy is archaic. Never will I buy a product from them going forward and will advise others to do the same. A product purchased in good faith, received a product with a different product name and this is ethical? Perhaps at Sharper Image, not elsewhere. Stay clear!
Bar none, this is the single worse transaction every for me. The Xmas gifts meant for others was being sent to my address. Unfortunately after my purchase, I did not receive a confirming email with tracking information. It was during the telephone call to request this information on the day after the purchase that I was told of the error. And an error concerning ng billing address. After not again receiving the confirming email with the tracking information I called for the second time (2 days 2hours on the phone average wait time 30 minutes). After my third call I received the confirming email with tracking information. Only problem the package was still be sent to me. This was after being assured it was corrected during my first call.. During call 3 yesterday I was informed that my purchase was being sent out from 2 different warehouses and the second gift was still being sent to my address to arrive the day after Xmas. I was told to call FedEx who stated we deliver to the post office using the address form the Sharper Image and the Post Office will delivery to your address, and at this point we cannot change the shipping address. Really? Found out this morning I was given a bogus tracking number for the first package after calling and selecting the new purchase prompt (5 minute wait to speak to a representative.) So despite the package being delivered to me erroneously and Mr. Shell’s promise to upgrade so packages will arrive by Xmas, package 2 will be delivered to me on December 26, after Xmas. I must then mail the package to the recipient. Oh, almost t forget I was told the selected items were unavailable by the customer service representative. This was my purchase of the items online and receiving notice the items were in stock at the time of purchase. Can you say we know how much inventory we have. Based on the aforementioned transaction from Hell, please know I will never, ever, ever, make another purchase from of any Sharper Image product and intent to share this “event” with all I know and advise they do the same.
Warning… Do Not purchase the Sharper image Infrared heating pad. It malfunctioned in the middle of the night and burned a huge whole straight through to the box spring. I my husband and I could have died us if our smoke detector hadnt woken us up.
Customer Service told us the they could do was send a return label! They would not give us any information on who to contact at the corporate office because they claim they didn’t have any!
Ordered a towel warmer from Sharper Image on line on Dec. 7th 2017 and received an email saying that it would be delivered early week of Dec. 11th. When I called to find out where it was, I was told it had been delivered at 9:49am on Dec. 11th. I assured them I was home that morning and neither Fed Ex or any other delivery service was here that day. Was told they would have to pass this up to upper management to see what could be done. In follow up call, was told that they would reship but would have to send to a Fed Ex holding site. Follow up call to find out where the reshipment was and learned no one knew if it had been reshipped. Asked what would be done and was told it would have to be passed to upper management again. Received an email saying that it would be delivered to the Fed Ex holding site between Dec. 20th and 22nd. Several calls to the site resulted in my being told that no package had been delivered there. In my next call to Sharper Image, I was told that they would pass it to upper management to resolve the issue. I said that wasn’t good enough and asked to speak with a supervisor. After long hold, I was told the supervisor would call me within the hour, which never happened. More than three hours later, the same rep called on a private number and said they are shipping it out and it would be at the Fed Ex holding site Tue. Dec. 26th. I went ballistic. They wasted no time charging my card, yet don’t seem to get my being upset about waiting 19 days to get something that should have been here in 4 days. I told them to cancel the order and credit my account to which they responded that they would send me a gift card but could not credit my account. I demanded a refund because I did not want to have to deal with Sharper Image again and a gift card was not good enough. Told them their system was screwed up, people didn’t seem to know what was going on and virtually everything had to go to upper management and take 24-48 hours for someone to make a decision. Sharper Image is by no means consumer friendly and ordering from them seems to be a crap shoot. If you get your order, great. If there are any issues at all, I guarantee you will want to reach through the phone and strangle someone.
I was also promised 10% discount for my troubles and a credit for the 2-day expeditated shipping. Have seen neither yet. I also asked how to reach Mr. Neese or Mr. Shell. Seems the other telephone number is customer service. Why you folks hiding from your consumers?
Sharper Image is misleading customers with the $25 gift card. I tried to use the card to purchase a portable bose speaker. The back of the card clearly states “This is a $25 complementary, promotional gift care that can be used on any product at sharperimage.com.” Despite this claim, the Sharper Image representative on the chat line said that Bose products were not eligible for this promotion. She said it says this on the website. She could not direct me to where on the website. I took screen shots of every page that describes the product, or is required to purchase the product, and no where can I find a notice that says Bose products are exempt. The representative also refused to provide me the with corporate office address or General Counsel’s name. This is very misleading advertising.
I have a couple of concerns with your Promotions.
1. The $25 gift cards aren’t much of a gift since you can’t combine them – I have like a 6 and can only use one at a time! On top of that you can’t combine them with free shipping (which half the time is more than $25) or even the CASH back coupon. If you earn it you should be able to use it how you want it.
2. RE: ORD338470838 I returned this and used $111.99 cash back from another order, but now I can’t use that cash back again – why if I returned the items?
3. I ordered HOVER boards on 11/23, then on 12/3 I saw they were on Sale with free shipping. I paid more and shipping. I tried to call customer service to see if I could get a credit, but found your Customer service closes at 4:00 PM on Sundays – aside from that being early anytime, especially around the Holidays is crazy. I wasn’t sure if they would be on sale the next day so I ordered 2 more and figured I’d return the first ones. I called the next morning and they hadn’t shipped so I asked for a credit and cancel the 2nd order. She said she couldn’t do it. I called on Monday afternoon (12/4) as they still hadn’t shipped and they still wouldn’t cancel. They didn’t ship until today. Why couldn’t the order be cancelled? Now after having spent money to have two Hover boards sent to me, I have to spend $40 to return them. I spent a lot of money there this Christmas and I don’t appreciate this service at all. There should be much better hours – there was not even a way to find a “Chat” box to ask about price adjustments prior to my placing the 2nd order. You really need to look into accommodating your customers more. These policies are not customer friendly.
Can you at least provide a me a credit to my account for the shipping costs to return the Hover Board – they really should have been able to cancel the order first thing Monday as they hadn’t shipped yet, instead of me having to have the hassle of returning them.
Thank you.
Kelly Samra
I purchased 4 Heated Shaving Creme Dispensers as Christmas gifts. The Sharper Image catalog does not specify what brand they are. Turns out they are a Conair brand and arrived in the bright red Conair box. There is nothing to indicate they were purchased through Sharper Image, but rather look like I purchased them off the shelf at Walmart. They are double the cost of purchasing them through Amazon. I emailed Sharper Image but did not get a response. I called Customer Service today to request Sharper Image gift receipts that can be included with each gift so the recipient will know I put more thought into my gift purchase. They will not provide gift receipts, but will just include a copy of my invoice showing all 4 purchases and the prices. Also, if the recipients want to return the items, they will not let them return the item for the purchase price, but will only exchange them for something else. With all the online store opportunities and excellent return policies available, I would never purchase an item through Sharper Image again. Terrible customer service policy. Unacceptable return policy. Poor choice of gift purchasing. I will never purchase from Sharper Image again. Done.
I have never experienced such appalling customer service as what I have received at Sharper Image. The products ordered from the catalog are different than what is shipped and sent to the consumer. The entire organization is a bait and switch company. I ordered several things before Christmas and had to return everything upon finding out that the products they are substituting can be purchased at Wal-Mart forc $30 to $40.00 cheaper for that substituted product. After this was done a third time to me, I returned products and purchased at Wal-Mart. They sent me ance-mail that said they credited my account $99.00 on December 28, 2016 for oder #291604579, that never happened. I called customer service and was told, “I see where a credit was promised but was not submitted.” The customer service supervisor was to submit the request to financial once again, but still I have not seen the credit for the returned “substituted” item. This company is a nightmare to deal with. I will never use them again and am contacting my local Consumer Protection Agency.
I would like to get a hold of someone with your company that isn’t yeah yeahing me and acting as if the extremely poor service I received is no big deal. 8 ordered a Christmas present for my father a couple weeks before Christmas, got half of it bc they forgot to put the chip in with money clip. I called a couple days before Christmas and was assured I’d receive it by Christmas bc it wouldn be overnighted to me. Today is Jan 2 and I still don’t have it! I called a few days ago and they had no excuse, were rude and said it should be here soon.
I also spent almost $200 on a neck massaged that feels terrible and doesn’t work correctly and doesn’t heat like it’s supposed to. I was basically told I was out of luck bc it’s a personal item. I’m amazed at how terrible the customer service has been and still would like to speak to someone who can do something! Please contact me at 580-920-XXXXX. Thank you