In August 2015, my husband bought me two rings for our anniversary. They didn’t fit, so I took them back
within the 30 day period. However, they were not accepted because I didn’t have the receipt. (Of course I didn’t. They were a gift.) A few days later, the owner of the store called me, leaving a voicemail saying that I could return them anytime—without a receipt—because the transaction information was in the store’s “system.”
A month later, life happened. My husband asked me for a divorce and for a while, thereafter, I was busy moving out. So returning the rings was a low priority. Seven months later, I was finally able to return to the store. I explained my predicament to the cashier, and she issued me a gift card. I decided to spend the gift card immediately since I didn’t know when I would be able to return.
While I was shopping, the cashier had a change of attitude. She walked up to me and asked, “When did you buy the rings?” I replied, “You know when I bought them. You looked it up on your computer when I came in. It was my anniversary, August 18.” She just stared at me and finally blurted out, “The owner called you?” “Yes,” I said. “She left me a voicemail and said I could return them anytime.” The cashier simply walked away with a disgruntled look on her face and then began to whisper to two other colleagues behind the counter. I was feeling very uneasy at this point.
But I kept shopping and chose a pair of earrings and a necklace and took them to the cash register. One of the other employees said very loudly, “You know the return policy is 30 days, and you HAVE to have a receipt.” Now I was getting upset. I turned to the original employee and asked, “If you don’t want me to have the gift card, just say so.” She simply said, “You can have it, but our return policy is 30 days. It’s posted everywhere, including on the receipt, and you MUST have a receipt for all returns.” I had now had it, so I said, “You obviously don’t want me to have this. So fine, take it.” I put the gift card, the earrings and necklace on the counter and left with nothing. I was furious.
Two days later, the store manager sent me an email telling me to come back and get the rings. I replied back with how upset I was at the service I had received. Here’s her response:
Hi Barbara,
We are sorry that you are so upset over this situation. (Nice start – using empathy!) It might be helpful for you to consider how you contributed by erroneously telling our staff that you had spoken with a manager and were told you could return the rings. This was not true. Did she just call me a liar?
Again, I can only say that you purchased the rings in August and we do not resell used merchandise. Is she now accusing me of wearing them? How can I wear something that doesn’t fit? Should you feel that you need to write a yelp review, please be honest about what really happened or we will need to! Is this a threat?
Now I’m livid. In my opinion, she just called me a liar and accused me a wearing the rings—that don’t fit! And I’m feeling threatened.
The owner ended the string of emails by telling me that I need to be happy with my life and learn to let things go!
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Great customer service starts at the top! If the owner demonstrates lousy behavior herself, it will trickle down to her employees.
- It’s great to have return policies. But do you really want to lose a customer over a “policy” that doesn’t allow returns in certain situations? Study after study has shown that bringing in a new customer costs considerably more money than retaining existing customers.
- Be careful of dealing with an irate customer over email. And NEVER accuse a customer of lying and/or stealing.
- Never tell a customer the source of a problem is because she is unhappy and should then learn to be happy and “let go or be dragged.”
Remember: The key to dealing with an irate customer is to acknowledge the problem—sincerely—then find a solution that both of you find acceptable. Making the customer feel bad NEVER works.
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” – Mahatma Gandhi
What do YOU do when someone wants something outside of your policy? I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below.