Recently, after two full days of training, I met a few friends in the female shopping wonderland called Chicago. Boy, that Magnificent Mile sure is named appropriately!
After sharing my “wealth” with lots of different retail stores, I found a neat little boutique.
I tried on several pairs of pants (because god knows I need more) and found a fabulous pair that fit me like a glove. After I bought them, my friends and I quickly realized that we had overextended our stay and needed to hightail it to the airport – or we would be staying yet another day in “the wonderland.” Neither my pocketbook – nor, for that matter, my marriage – could sustain another day of that. We made it, and the rest, as they say, is history. I woke up the next day and put on my new fabulous pants, only to discover that the security tag was left on the leg of them. To say I was angry was an understatement!
I immediately called the salesperson who sold me the pants and expressed my unhappiness. Her reply was: “I’m sorry. Send them back and we’ll take care of it.” I am in Florida and she is in Chicago. There’s no better way to make me happy? She couldn’t think of one, so I told her I would send them back for a refund. But still I thought about the pants and how nicely they fit. When you are over 40, things like this are important.
My next call was to the Nordstrom department store here in South Florida. I asked the saleswoman if they had the pants in stock and explained the situation. She checked and said yes, they did, but she made another suggestion that floored me. “Why don’t you just bring the pants in and we will take the security tag off for you? Then, you won’t have to send them back at all and you can wear them right away!” “No, no, no – I didn’t get these at the Nordstrom in Chicago; it was at a small boutique,” I quickly explained. “Yes, I understand that. But wouldn’t it be easier to just bring them in here?” Not quite sure of all this but wanting to take advantage of this before she catches on, I took the pants with me and, after work, I went to the store.
“Is Judy here?” I asked, because she told me to ask for her. “Actually, she’s not, but (looking at the bag in my hand) are you Greta?” Like a deer in headlights I answered, “Y-y-yes?” “Oh, Judy explained the situation. My name is Phyllis and I can help.” I gave her the pants and she called their loss prevention department. Someone came down and whisked my pants away. While I was waiting, Phyllis showed me the pants in other colors that made me look so good and asked if I wanted to look at any other colors. Why not? I was standing there anyway.
Loss prevention came back to say that this was a different type of security tag than the one they use and it wouldn’t come off. Disappointed but appreciative, I said thank you and was on my way when Phyllis said: “Let me make a call.” She took my pants and said she would be right back. “Where are you going?” I said with confusion. “Oh, I think Saks has this type of tag, so I am going to see if they can take it off.” “What? Wait a minute. You remember I didn’t get these here?” “You still need it off though, don’t you? So let me take it and I will be right back”
And she did! Holy customer service! Do you think I will continue shopping there? Do you think I will question pricing? Do you think I will tell others? I’m telling you aren’t I?
Gee, I wonder if this helps them sell?
Other articles you might like:
- Are you easy to do business with?
- Some people just know how to serve
- Be unusually good every time
- President Obama offers useful customer service lesson
- Minnesota auto dealer makes a bad deal worse
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