Hot Topic Reviews 

Me and my friend were helped by averi and did an amazing job to make sure we were happy with our purchase !!! Thank you so much !!!

The cashier was very helpful. She helped me find all the things I needed!

I've been a Platinum-level customer across Hot Topic, BoxLunch, and Her Universe for years. I want to be specific about what that means: I reach Platinum annually, which requires significant spending. I've genuinely loved these brands and their products.
Sometime in 2024, without any notification, a permanent restriction was placed on my account that effectively eliminates customer service access across all three brands. I only discovered it when I called because coupons weren't functioning online — purchases that require a phone order to complete. I was denied any solution, refused a supervisor, and given no explanation.

When I finally received a partial explanation, it cited "a history of claims regarding damaged merchandise." Here is my actual claims history, to my knowledge: one backpack that broke within weeks of purchase; a print-on-demand shirt where the print company — not me — repeatedly sent the wrong color; one package where I received an entirely different customer's order; and a print-on-demand item their own system kept cancelling due to an incorrect out-of-stock flag, which their team kept attempting to reorder on my behalf. In every case, I contacted them, explained the situation, and asked what options were available. They typically offered full replacements without requiring return of the incorrect items. That was their choice — and it's now being framed as a pattern of fraudulent claims on my part.

A recent in-store BoxLunch purchase made this concrete. My wife specifically asked to use two Lunch Money certificates and not rewards. The associate applied only one and used $25 in rewards instead. I contacted customer service to request the $20 in rewards be corrected. They referred me to the store. The store said they can't adjust rewards and referred me back to customer service. Customer service then refused to act at all — citing my permanent restriction. Their suggested resolution: shop in-store. The error was in-store. The restriction follows me there too.
I filed a BBB complaint. Hot Topic's formal response acknowledged my Platinum status and long loyalty, then restated that restrictions are applied "at an operational level" and suggested I shop in-store to avoid issues — ignoring that many of these items are online-exclusive or cannot be shipped to store, that their own system errors generated several of these "claims," and that the in-store recommendation doesn't address a restriction that prevents resolution of in-store errors anyway. They did not respond to my rejection of that answer, and the BBB closed the case as unresolved.

What I'm describing isn't a story about a difficult customer. It's a company that applied a permanent, unappealable restriction without notice, based on a characterization of my contact history that doesn't hold up to scrutiny, and then used that restriction to refuse accountability even for their own errors. The BBB case (ID 24855688) is on record.

I would still welcome a genuine resolution. But potential customers should know: if you reach Platinum status and encounter enough problems — even problems the company caused — you may find yourself permanently locked out of any recourse, with no notification, no criteria disclosed, and no path to appeal.

Quality of items varies. Clothing falling apart brand new out of bag. Bad reaction to jewelry when I've never had metal allergy. Sizing inconsistent resulting in multiple purchases/returns. Won't refund rewards. Charge tax on shipping and won't refund. Online orders randomly blocked and won't unlock account so I missed sale.

You cant actually use Hot Topic Gift Cards to buy all things from the Hot Topic website. CX doesnt help when you reach out. Will never shop here again.

Real inventory is NOT in sync with their online store. Often not available.

Absolutely disgusting company. I've bought from hot topic for decades with no issue. I placed an order online and after the sale, there was an ad for $20 cash back from fans club. I clicked on it assuming hot topic endorsed the company they allowed to be on their website. The company then proceeded to message me, pretending they were my bank asking if I allowed 5 separate $24 charges. It was supposed to be a 5 day free trial, regardless. I cancelled my card and messaged hot topic. They proceeded to tell me the fans club company is legitimate but, they don't control popups. I mentioned that they posed as my bank so, how can they be legitimate? They then told me that they "cannot talk for their business." Which is funny because, they just said it was a trustworthy company. I followed up with asking if I was fair to assume hot topic partners with and endorses that company. They proceeded to end the chat without replying. Absolutely disgusting and I never want to buy from them again.

Worst online buying experience I've ever had. First, hot topic sales are always different every day, so if you want something at its current price, you need to buy now. The online shopping website/ app/ whatever it is, reports as suspicious back to most banks, so your transactions don't go through. They tell you to call on the phone, where a friendly, non-local will tell you the exact same thing and not be able to help you. I was finally able to place my order on a computer using PayPal, because PayPal also doesn't work on phones through hot topic. Order comes, and the item was too small for the recipient. Associate in store said it was a "final sale" which is literally stated nowhere, and our only option was to swap for something else in store. I am heavily summarizing this nightmarish experience. Ffs. Fix this.

Terrible customer service with email agents

There was this cool lady her name was holly and she made My second hot topic experience really fun and cool, I liked her style and she was noice to me and my Older brother! She gave me a fistbump and for my brother 2 ( yea i mostly dont order online i mostly go in person ) but she was pretty awesome >_<

Never received part of my order and contacted customer service at least 6 times within the span of 5 months trying to get a refund. Never received my refund and customer service does not make any notes or communicate well. Complete waste of time and money, don’t order from them.

I dont have much to say about this establishment, but I did take a shit in the avenged sevenfold shirts.

If I could give less stars I would. My daughter attempted to order clothing from Hot Topic in which they took her money twice for one transaction and then canceled her order. When she called them about it, she was informed that her order was canceled because her bank account address did not match the shipping address. It took 7 days for her to receive her money back. She tried again to order the item using a Visa gift card and they did and said the same thing. Do not shop Hot Topic because they are thievesand scammers.

Friendly customer service, cute outfits of sonic the hedgehog and Bob's burger, the store gets me, great friendly cashier named Max at Willowbrook mall.

Great customer service from Anouk from the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse they were very nice and welcoming.

Very bad customer service. placed an order. tried to cancel it within 3 min.
The rep. basically told me to pound the sand.
Never had such a bad customer service. Would never ordered from this site.

They put this hot cash on there and then you go to check out and it won't let you use it and declines your card and then they take it away when you try again saying you already used it

went from amazing alternative shop to sh**ty pop culture gen z brain rot, depressing

We had a great experience. A hoodie that was out of stock at Christmas was available, we used our Hot topic cash and Marie was super helpful.

Jenks HT and Asher are the best. Lots of merch, trendy and super clean store!