In Part 1 of this saga, I shared how someone stole my credit card number and ordered $412 worth of Nike socks shipped to a local Holiday Inn. If you haven’t read that portion of the story, you should read it now.
In Part 2, I share how I sprang into action after learning this package had been delivered to the Holiday Inn, the unbelievable decision made by the hotel employee I visited, and how a $15.9 billion company thanked me for rescuing some $400 worth of their inventory.
Enjoy…
Monday, Aug. 25: About 2 p.m. ET I received an email notification the package of Nike socks worth $412 had been delivered to the Holiday Inn. Within 30 minutes I was on my way to retrieve them, hoping the culprit involved in this scam wouldn’t beat me to it.
But the hotel will ask for ID, so there’s nothing to worry about. RIGHT??
A different woman was working the front. I told her I was there to pick up a package. There was a small package sitting on the front desk, and she asked if that was mine. I looked at it and said it wasn’t not my name on the package. She would have allowed me to take it without a second thought.
I told her my name. She then retreated to the back room and returned with a large box that she promptly gave to me WITHOUT asking for my ID. I was flabbergasted after having just spoken with her co-worker Brunner yesterday, who assured me they always ask for ID. Wow. Good thing I hurried over to intercept this package.
I left and put this box in the backseat of the car. I was like, “Wait, she just GAVE me this huge box worth $400+ and DIDN’T ask for my ID??” I decided to return to the hotel’s front desk and have a little chat with this employee.
I asked why she didn’t ask for my ID. She said she didn’t even think about it.
After voluntarily showing her my ID, I then explained to her the situation about my credit card being stolen and this merchandise being shipped to this hotel. She said she had just started working at this hotel three weeks ago.
Apparently, asking for IDs when people pick up a package is not part of the onboard training. Why is this not a standard practice at every hotel? If not, that’s bad PR for the hotel industry.
It’s as if they’re aiding and abetting scammers.
Wow. Had I not had the presence of mind to run over and pick it up, somebody else could’ve beat me to it! The charge had been disputed, but if I wanted I could have kept the socks because Kohl’s would have lost them anyway, had the other person picked them up. But of course, that’s not being honest. (AND there’s that issue of “no vacancy” in my sock drawer.)
Wednesday, Aug. 27: I called Kohl’s to ask how to return the merchandise. They issued a return label. I was instructed to return the merchandise to the local Kohl’s store.
I asked if Kohl’s was going to compensate me for all the trouble I’ve gone through to rescue their box of $412 worth of Nike socks. I explained the time and gas I’ve personally invested to pick up this box, and then the additional time it’ll take to return these socks to the local Kohl’s store. The customer support specialist said he could give me a coupon for 30% off any purchase of $100 or more, or a $20 store credit.
I never shop at Kohl’s, so finding $100 worth of worthwhile merchandise didn’t make any sense, so I opted for the paltry $20 store credit. But get this: the credit was only good through tomorrow.
A $20 “thank you” from a company pulling in $15.9 billion annually. Wow.
That’s honestly quite insulting when you consider I:
- Saved Kohl’s from a chargeback (which typically costs merchants $20-100+ in fees alone).
- Prevented inventory loss.
- Helped them identify a security vulnerability in their fulfillment process.
- Spent my valuable time dealing with their problem.
For a company that size, $20 is literally pocket change — they probably spend more than that on coffee for a single corporate meeting. The fact that I helped them avoid potential fraud losses (which the research shows can cost merchants $3.75 for every $1 lost) makes their measly $20 “thank you” pretty insignificant.
And BAD PR for Kohl’s.
Thursday, Aug. 28: I hauled the box across town to the Kohl’s department store. Then I stood in line for about 15 minutes holding this bulky, getting-heavier-by-the-minute box (while building muscle mass).
When it was finally my turn, the employer opened the box. To process the return, I had to wait while each of the 17 packages were individually scanned.
Umm… they’re ALL the same. You mean in this day and age of technology you can’t scan one and then enter the quantity?
He then asked if I’d like the amount put back on my credit card. Ah, no. The card had been canceled since it was compromised.
Call in a manager.
The manager said they could offer me a store credit for the amount of the purchase, minus the shipping cost.
Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Ah… NO THANK YOU.
We finally settled on letting the disputed charges with the credit card company get resolved.
I then went on my merry way to browse the store and see what I could get with my paltry $20 gift certificate. None of the ties met my stringent skinny enough standards. The dress socks were downright boring and would have put my feet to sleep.
I finally settled on a $30 leather belt, paid the difference, and left the store — with no plans to visit again unless I have to return another 17 packages of Nike socks.
Saturday, Aug. 30: The Holiday Inn employee who gave me the delivery of socks tracked me down on Facebook and messages me: “Hey, I’m the lady from the front desk that you picked your package up from. I forgot to check your ID. Do you have a police report? Someone has been calling for that package and I remember the situation! I got my boss on the phone and she got some information.”
I told her I did file a police report. She continued, “Yes, the police came and we gave all the information we had! The lady even called when the police was [sic] there.”
I asked if they got a phone number.
“Yes, but it was linked to Miami with multiple other people. They kept calling about that package, but didn’t want to come pick it up. My boss was on the phone with her trying to get a name. She said she was your wife lol.
“I’m sorry about the whole ID thing at first.”
I later learned this scammer’s plan was to have UPS pick up the package and re-deliver it to another address.
So, that’s that. Having your credit card number stolen isn’t any fun. (Either is learning you have another “wife” out there somewhere.)
Monday, Sept. 8: Kohl’s emailed me asking me to review “my” purchase of 102 pairs of Nike socks.
Really? Well, okay, if you really want me to…
Maybe I’ll share my review in a future blog post.
I promise it’ll be quite entertaining. We’ll see if they’ll even post it.
The Staggering Scale of Credit Card Fraud
My experience is far from unique. Credit card fraud has reached epidemic proportions, with the FTC receiving over 449,000 reports in 2024 — an 8% increase from 2023. In the first half of 2025 alone, there were 323,459 cases reported, representing a staggering 51% increase year-over-year.
The statistics are sobering: 63% of U.S. credit card holders have been victimized by fraud, and 51% have experienced it multiple times. In 2024, 62 million Americans had fraudulent charges on their cards. Perhaps most telling is that only 8% of fraudulent charges involved stolen or lost physical cards — meaning 92% involve cards still in the owner’s possession, exactly like what happened to me.
Fraudsters often target the same zip code area for shipping because many retailers require matching billing and shipping addresses, and they know they can exploit the hospitality industry’s helpful culture to intercept packages without proper verification.
The 3 Big Takeaways
- When a customer goes above and beyond to rescue $400 worth of merchandise, don’t have your response be weak and tepid.
- Employee training matters — security protocols are only as strong as the staff who implement them.
- Social media can be a powerful tool for follow-up communication and relationship repair after service failures.
What should Kohl’s have done differently? How would you have handled this situation? Do share!
Stay authentic — and watch your card for strange orders, like 102 pairs of Nike socks!
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR (seen here in a vintage photo circa 1983 serendipitously doing a Clash impersonation in a since-forgotten location) is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s the Chief Authentic Officer of the Johnson City, TN-based public relations firm, AuthenticityPR. He also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University (rise and shout!). He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, write songs, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
