THE LADY IN THE GRAY SEDAN — The Consumer Playbook

He leaned against the fire hydrant, hat tipped over his eyes, observing. She pulled up to the curb in a gray sedan. His eyes glanced her way. A pair of comely gams slid out of the car followed by a sleek length of black dress that just grazed her knees. He gave out a low whistle, barely audible. She wore a necklace, the kind he’d never seen before. He was entranced by the column of black and the mysterious necklace. What were those stones? He would never know. And he’d never know that she'd designed it. He would never know anything about her, as she slipped away into the crowd.
Two Weeks Earlier
She opened the package with some trepidation, the mystery of the stolen rewards still on her mind. Out came two dresses, one striped and one black. Hastily, she slipped the black one on. It was perfect. Mid-calf, well made, soft and easy to wear. Her necklace designs would make the look hers alone. Suddenly a frown crossed her brow. “I like it”, she thought. "But wouldn’t it have been a good idea to have a shorter one"? Suddenly, she jumped as if startled by her own thoughts. She would order a second one and shorten it so that she’d have both looks. But she didn’t want to place the order without a promotion and free shipping. Then she had an idea. Her heart racing, she picked up the phone and dialed Gap.com.
She explained to the representative that she had ordered the dress less than a week ago, and it arrived today. Because of the short time lag, she asked if they could extend the discount and ship without charge. “Damn”, she thought. “If I were still at Gap Silver level, free shipping would be automatic.” When her children were younger, she had Gap Silver because she made so many purchases. “Wait”, she thought. "I buy so much for Avery Rose now, so I must be at Gap Silver level.” She made a mental note to check on that another time. “Avery Rose”. The name conjured up the piercing eyes of a curious baby. The sweet smile of the innocent. “Yes," she thought. "Avery Rose would need clothes. She’d look great in those cute baby duds. Damn right! She’s the ticket to Silver.” But for now, she could only point out the minimal time lag, not to mention the pain and suffering over the stolen rewards from the last order. The representative put her on Hold to check on the free shipping. She came back on the line and said that she would waive the shipping charge for this one order. The rep had asked her supervisor, because she couldn’t do it on her own—she could get fired. When the lady asked her to match last week’s promotion, the rep told her that the 40% was on for today as well, and the dress was also on special promotion at a lower price. “Hm” thought the lady. “With less than a week’s lapse, the other dresses from the last order should be price matched.” The rep agreed to do that. Very satisfied, the lady waited for the survey at the end of the call and gave the rep an excellent rating. One question on the survey struck her: “Did the representative tell you what what she could do, not what she couldn’t do?” Great question and something to remember when a business is giving you a hard time.
The new dress arrived. She tore open the package and smiled at her prize. She took it to her tailor. He worked the dress into a knee skimming column of black loveliness. Transformed, she was one sleek, chic dame!
Points to consider:
1) Try not to pay for shipping. If the lady hadn’t had the exemption that day and without Gap Silver, there was a shipping charge for orders under $50. But if the rep had given her a hard time, the lady remembered that last week’s promotion had free shipping regardless of the total purchase amount and she would have asked for that. Or, she could have ordered something else to get to $50 and taken it back to the local store if it wasn’t right. But she didn’t have to do any of that—the rep understood and took care of it. Now, the lady has to take a few minutes to see if she can alter her status to Gap Silver to avoid the issue altogether in the future.
2) With such a narrow window between the first purchase and the last one, it was very reasonable to request the price match.
3) Surveys are important. They tell the company how the customer feels about the service so that they can encourage good service and do something to address poor service.
The lady smiled as she walked out in her newly shortened version of the black dress. “You can never have too many black dresses”, she thought to herself, as she slid into the gray sedan and drove away.