I tried purchasing a cable-knit sweater from Banana Republic yesterday, November 23rd. I typed in the BRGIVING code to get 40% off the full price sweater and it wouldn't work on the particularly sweater I wanted, but worked on everything else. I went ahead and applied the 25% e-mail code, which did in fact work. I called customer service and explained the problem. I was advised to submit the order and the customer service representative could add the code. He could not. I had the order cancelled and submitted a complaint via e-mail.

Here is what I wrote:

I'm trying to purchase the men's cable-knit crew neck (link posted below) with the BRGIVING promo code. Unfortunately, nothing happens when I enter the code for this specific item.

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=28663&vid=1&pid=688007002

I called Customer Service about the issue and was advised to place the order and the representative would enter BRGIVING himself. I was told that this wasn't possible because I already had a 25% code from signing up for e-mails applied. This is counter to what I've been told by many people on Reddit.

I had to cancel the order and have lost my code. No sweater, no discounts, and a lost e-mail promotion code. This is my first time ever ordering from Banana Republic and it has been a lot of hassle. Please help me!

Thank you, Austin_Destroyer

Here was the response:

Dear Austin_Destroyer,

Thank you for your recent BananaRepublic.com order, ********. We are sorry for the difficulty you have had in applying the BRGIVING promotion to this order, and that you may have received incorrect information from someone outside of our company.

Unfortunately, both of the promotions are not combinable with other offers, so we are unable to also apply the BRGIVING promotion to your order as requested. This is viewable in the details, which are listed in promotional emails as well as if you click on the promotion at the top of Bananarepublic.com.

You are more than welcome to place a new order using the BRGIVING code for the greater discount, provided that your new order meets the promotion qualifications. Please accept our apologies for any frustration this may cause, and feel free to contact our toll free number if you're still unable to apply the discount, as we do see that this item is valid for this discount.

We appreciate your business and look forward to shopping with you again soon at BananaRepublic.com!

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling 1-888-BR-STYLE (1-888-277-8953).

Sincerely,

Zarah Customer Service Consultant

So basically, Banana Republic says you all are liars. I'm out my 25% off e-mail code and the sweater that I want is now sold out in my size. Where do I go from here? Do I just walk away from Banana Republic entirely or is there a way to talk to someone in the company who knows promotions work? I have no experience with this.

I ordered 10 items from Banana Republic; nine arrived. I queried what happened to the missing item, which cost US$64. The system and human customer service told me to dispute with my bank!

Does that even make sense? They should send me the missing item, or refund me the money. What are the authorities I can raise this with? I believe I have a strong case here.