THE POINT OF NO RETURN
I have fond memories of Lord and Taylor, a department store that’s been in business since the nineteenth century. It’s now owned by Hudson’s Bay Company. With a large corporate ownership, like so many great resources of bygone days, sadly, it’s not what it used to be.
My mother and I often made Lord and Taylor part of a destination outing. Lunch, shopping, bonding—those times were special, and I’ll always have the memories. When they had a sale, they really had a sale. My mother once bought me a skirt for 99 cents. It was well made and oh-so-fashionable. It would have been better if they had one in a size larger. But they didn’t, and for 99 cents, I could manage. I learned that you can suck in your gut, but you can’t suck in your waist. it wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t wear it that much. But I enjoyed the look, if not the feel, when I did wear it. We did get our 99 cents worth and then some.
Then, there was the dress, Lord and Taylor was a go-to for formal wear. My friend, Judy, and I bought the same dress, each not knowing that the other had bought it until later. It was a stunner—black, silky, with gorgeous blue and russet beading. And it’s timeless. We both still have it and have talked about when we would wear it again. The one problem was that it had large shoulder pads. Judy remarked that it was still a great dress, but reminiscent of the Carol Burnett skit where she played Scarlett O’Hara, struggling to survive fashionably during the Civil War. If you haven’t seen it, it’s still funny—take a look on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JPQh5rBCw . I solved the problem by pulling the pads out and looked really stunning in it 15 years after I bought it. And I’d wear it again if for the right occasion.
But now, Lord and Taylor doesn’t have the same allure—nor the same customer service.
Problem 1:
As I age, I panic at the thought of running out of makeup. Preferring the finished look to the Frankenstein look, I keep an extra of my go-tos so that I’ll never run out. I bought a finishing powder at Lord and Taylor, though I didn’t need it for a couple of months. I always keep receipts until I open the product, just in case there’s a problem. Well, this time there was a problem. The powder looked fine in the compact, but it was crumbly when I tried to use it. So, I had a defective product. Lord and Taylor has a 90 day return policy. I was at about 100 days. But, since this was a defect issue, I thought that it was very legitimate to return it.
Although I gave the cashier the receipt and explained the problem, she said that she could only give me the discounted price. Really???!! I had the receipt, and as with so many prestige makeup brands, there rarely is a discounted price. When I pointed that out, showed her my receipt, and asked how she would calculate a discounted price, she told me that their system uses the “warehouse" price. She couldn’t explain that, and I didn’t care. I had the receipt, a defective product, and I was pissed. What next? Of course, the Cosmetics manager was next. He explained the policy, told me that it was a system issue, but magically was still able to override the system to refund my purchase price.
Curious about how all of this worked, I called the store manager later. I assumed that they would probably send the defective product back to the manufacturer. And as far as the policy, what happens if a customer returns something on the 91st day, rather than on the 90th day? The manager couldn’t answer any of my questions, but assured me that he would get back to me after researching. Of course, I never heard from him.
Problem 2:
While Lord and Taylor is no longer a destination for me, I do buy there occasionally. They frequently mail or email coupons—percentage off and occasionally, dollars off. Somehow, I fell off of the mailing and email list. Why? Was I targeted because I brought the defective powder back 10 days over the rigid timeframe? No, I’m not that paranoid. As with so many large corporations, probably some system issue. I thought that a quick call to Customer Service should get me reinstated. I was wrong. After being routed offshore, disconnected, asking for a US call center and being disconnected again, I thought that I’d use the “Contact Us” feature of the website.
I wrote:
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2017 3:54:00 PM
To: customercare.other@lordandtaylor.com
Subject: From: Mauree Miller
I had received Lord and Taylor email and mailed coupons. For some reason they stopped. Please reinstate promotional emails and mailing. Send via email to: (my email address)Send via USPS: Mauree Miller, (my home address)
Thank youPretty simple, yes? Not at all. Take a look at Lord and Taylor’s response:
On Jun 29, 2017, at 4:46 PM, servicelt@lordandtaylor.com wrote:
Dear Mauree Miller,
Hello and thank you for contacting Lord & Taylor.
Due to recent changes in our system, we are no longer able to make any changes to our mailing list online. Should you wish to be added from the mailing list, please visit your local Lord & Taylor, or you may submit a written request to:
Lord & Taylor, 424 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10018, Attention: Marketing Mail Services.
Please note that because customer lists often are prepared well in advance of an offering; sometimes two to three months before the offer is made, it may take two to three months before your first offer is received, after your request has been submitted. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in allowing this time for your request to be fulfilled.
While you wait we would like to invite you to sign up to receive coupons and notification of sales, news, events, and promotions via e-mail if you have not already done so. You will begin receiving emails within 7-10 days. To do so, please use the Join Our Email List option located on the bottom right hand side our website. Enter your email address then please click Subscribe.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Department via email, or by phone at 1-800-223-7440. Our representatives are available until 2:00 AM EST and will be happy to assist you.
We value your patronage and thank you for shopping with Lord & Taylor.
Best regards,
Brian R
Customer Care Center Associate
Lord & Taylor
What’s wrong with Lord and Taylor’s email? EVERYTHING!
1) 30 days to respond to a simple request is not good customer service.
2) Spouting corporate crap about how the company functions is not good customer service. .
3) Turning a simple customer request into a complicated series of chores for the customer is not good customer service. Assuming that I’ll go through the onerous process with “patience and understanding”—seriously?? And do I believe that you “value” my “patronage”? No!
4) If Brian R ever bothered to contact their Customer Care Department, he’d understand why I had to send the online request. The representatives were not happy to assist me. Not good customer service.
5) Finally, Brian R, if you need to remain anonymous to do your job, you and your company have a real problem. This is not specific to Lord and Taylor, and many companies serve customers with a herd of nameless associates. While I understand worries about deranged customers, the likelihood of any customer visiting a representative is minimal. Although these anonymous, unhelpful representatives can push an otherwise reasonable individual to the edge, it’s hard to imagine that individual pulling it together to fly out to the probably-offshore call center to commit mayhem.
I tried to call Lord and Taylor and Hudson’s Bay Executive offices. Although I’m good at getting to the right people, these companies are pretty much fortresses. I’m sure that I could work through the local store management to get to Executive, but this situation is just not worth my time. In the past, when there were percentage off coupons, the salespeople had a coupon at the cash register and would offer the discount. If I really want something at Lord and Taylor, I’ll go that route. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll shop elsewhere. Although I liked the dollars off coupons, I can live without them—and again, I’ll shop elsewhere.
WHEN CORPORATE POLICY AND PROCESS TRUMPS CUSTOMER SERVICE, IT’S TIME TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO A COMPETITOR