After two posts telling the story about the 102 pairs of socks I didn’t order, you probably thought I was done.
Well, I thought I was done too.
It’s not a fun experience to have your credit card number stolen and then have someone spend over $400 to place an online order on Kohl’s website for 102 pairs of “Men’s Nike 6-pack Everyday Plus Cushion Crew Training Socks” — and then have them shipped to a local Holiday Inn.
For the record, my house is not a Holiday Inn. Though I do leave the light on for myself sometimes. (Yeah I know, wrong hotel chain.)
Then, to top it off, to go out of my way to intercept these goods, see to it they were returned to Kohl’s, and have this $15 billion company give me a $20 gift certificate as a thank you?
Why would I want to keep this memory alive any longer?
I was truly ready to put it to bed and move onto another topic. But then I received this email:
Hi Jeffery,
There is still time to share your thoughts of the Men’s Nike 6-pack Everyday Plus Cushion Crew Training Socks. Please take a moment to rate and review this product to help share your thoughts with others.
I guess Kohl’s return department and product review department operate in their own silos. You mean to tell me a $15 billion company can’t figure out a way to stop a review request being emailed for a reported fraudulent purchase?
Fine. You want a review for a product I didn’t order? Challenge accepted.
As my loyal readers know, I ALWAYS have something to say. So, here goes:
Dear Kohl’s,
I received your email dated 09/18/2025 requesting my review of the “Men’s Nike 6-pack Everyday Plus Cushion Crew Training Socks.” I’m more than happy to oblige.
However, there’s only one teensy-tiny problem: I never ordered these socks.
You see, someone stole my credit card number, placed this order from your website, and had them shipped to a Holiday Inn in my city.
That’s the OTHER problem: I don’t live in a Holiday Inn. (Though after this experience, I’m starting to think maybe I should — if I want to start receiving large boxes full of hundreds of dollars worth of top-quality merchandise.)
I explained all this to the very nice person in your customer service department. Apparently they didn’t tell you? Well, you should have a chat with them about wasting your time sending me a product review request.
Anyway, back to my saga…
The nefarious person who stole my credit card number didn’t realize all shipping updates would be sent to my email address. That was a pretty bonehead oversight. As soon as I was notified the socks had been delivered to the Holiday Inn, I jumped in my car and hurried over there to pick them up — before they fell into the wrong hands.
(You’re welcome!)
I then called your customer service department again and arranged for a return authorization. I was told to return them to the local Kohl’s department store. As a thank you for all my troubles, I received a $20 gift certificate.
To be honest with you, I’m still smarting a bit from that because when I add up my time and travel costs, you’ve really socked it to me:
- Gas/car wear and tear for 2 roundtrips to the other side of town: $20
- PR business billable hours lost: $800
- Mental anguish from having to resolve this: $1,349.72
- Cost of my time to find something at Kohl’s to buy for $20: $200
TOTAL: $2,369.72
Even if I was a dishonest person and kept the $400 worth of Nike socks, I’d still be in the hole.
Besides, it’s better to still have my integrity…
And this story.
The Review YOU Asked For
Anyway, you asked for a review, so here goes:
★★★★★ (5 Stars)
The 102 pairs of Men’s Nike 6-pack Everyday Plus Cushion Crew Training Socks unexpectedly arrived in a very timely manner to a place where I don’t live. They were neatly packed in the large box and looked like they’d be extremely comfortable to wear.
According to the product description, these socks are designed to “step up your game in comfort” with their “Dri-FIT moisture-wicking technology.” Honestly, with 204 socks worth of Dri-FIT capability, the Holiday Inn could have skipped the pool towels altogether and just handed these out to guests. Revolutionary hospitality.
These socks appeared to be made out of the highest-quality materials, making them long-lasting. I’m fairly certain they’re destined to outlive every person currently living on planet earth.
I’m pretty sure had I actually ordered this many socks, I would have still had at least 81 unused pairs left at my life’s end. What a wonderful inheritance they would make for my children and grandchildren. “Kids, gather ’round. I have something special to pass down to you…”
About Those Terms & Conditions…
Now, I’m fairly certain after reading your exhaustive User Content Terms & Conditions that this review won’t see the light of day on your website.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. According to your terms:
“For any User Content that you submit, you grant Kohl’s a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, transferable license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, sell, distribute, and display that User Content in any form and for any purpose whatsoever either through Kohl’s own services or services provided by third parties…”
Wait. Hold on. Let me get this straight.
You might CHANGE my review?
So theoretically, I could write “These socks gave me athlete’s foot” and you could modify it to say “These socks cured my athlete’s foot”?
Will I get a chance to review your review of my review? Because I have thoughts about that too.
Also, you can “sell” my review? Who’s buying sock reviews? Is there a black market for this I don’t know about?
And you reserve the right to “translate” it? Here’s a translation on me, gratis: “Estos calcetines son magníficos, aunque nunca los pedí.”
The terms go on to say you can use my review “in any form and for any purpose whatsoever.” So my heartfelt testimonial about fraudulent sock orders could end up on a billboard? A Super Bowl commercial? Skywritten over Times Square?
Awesome.
But the reality of the situation is you’ll not publish my review in a thousand years.
But that’s OK, Kohl’s… as you can see here, I still got it published.
The 3 Big Takeaways
- Businesses shouldn’t send review requests to people who didn’t actually order the merchandise. (Seems obvious, but here we are.)
- It’s surprisingly easy to review a product you didn’t order. You just need a sense of humor and a willingness to invest time you’ll never get back.
- Does a company really need that crazy of terms and conditions for product reviews? I mean, I’m just trying to share a review about socks. Not expecting any royalties from them. Their $15 billion in annual sales is safe.
The Bottom Line: Would you do business with a company like Kohl’s after being treated like this?
Do you read product reviews? Do you like writing product reviews? How many bad reviews = bad PR for a merchant? Do share!
Stay authentic — and worthy of 5-star reviews!
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.
