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Plain Talk
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The Customer Isn’t Always Right. Or Are They?
by Rick Segel I did a bad thing. I returned a pair of pants I bought from a store two MONTHS ago without the tags on it and NO RECIEPT. I guess that makes me the Customer from Hell. NOT REALLY! Here is what happened. I bought a pair of light khaki pants for a family picture. But I was told that the picture was going to be taken on the beach and shorts would be fine. So I never wore the pants since I prefer darker colors. I looked at the pants for two months and finally decided that I would return them to the store and that I would accept whatever they give me for a credit. After all, I knew I was wrong. So I walked into this local chain of sport and casual apparel stores. I told the whole story and was turned over to the manager. At first she wasn’t pleased (Would any of us be pleased?). She didn’t think it came from her store. I assured her it did. I then repeated that I feel uncomfortable doing something wrong like this so I would accept whatever she could do. If she said I can only give you $5.00 on a pair of pants that I bought for $55, I would have accepted it. Instead, she went on the selling floor and found something similar. She told me, “Select something else. And not to worry, it happens. I will try to get you as much as I can for the pants.” That was nice and a sign of a real PRO! I went to the racks and selected two pairs of pants, a sweater, and a pair of sneakers on sale. I went back to the counter and she said, forgivingly,” I could only get you $38.00 because these had been marked down.“ As I said, I would have accepted anything. I was thrilled and spent another $200. The manager avoided the confrontation. She defused it. She was not the combatant. She was my ally, my friend. Instead of saying, “I WOULD NEVER GO BACK THERE!”, I am writing an article praising the store. I was WRONG, but the manager made me feel like the customer is never wrong. Well, the customer can be wrong but they are allowed to make a mistake. A lesson for all to learn.
Rick Segel can be reached at:
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