RULES ARE MEANT...

Following up on last week’s post, the Gap dresses arrived. One looked great. The second one, not so great. I looked like... I don’t know what I looked like, but it wasn’t good. 

When I placed the dress order, the webpage gave instructions for return in store and by mail. That was good. Last time, one item had been a return by mail only item, It was a nuisance. I also had to return another item from that earlier order, but it could be returned in store. When I returned it after having already mailed the other piece back, the sales associate told me that I could have returned the mail only item to the store,despite the instructions.

Surprise—when I looked at the packing slip for this last order, the items had a “mail only” return notice. Because of the last experience with the sales associate in store and because this item wasn’t flagged online as a mail only return, I went to the store. This time, a different associate told me that I had to return by mail. I told her (nicely) that she needed to override the return rule and explained why. Quickly, she processed the return. 

Always question a rule or policy if you think that you have a better option. 

************************************************************************************************

Oh, how I hate to follow rules and policy when they don’t make sense. I don’t like cliches, but “rules are meant to be broken” is a part of my mantra—but only when appropriate. Not when a rule involves safety, courtesy to others—the important things in life.

When can you break a rule?

1) When the rule doesn’t make sense. In this last situation, despite the mail only return instructions, it was very easy to return the dress in store. 

2) When you’re not in jeopardy of hurting others. Don’t run red lights—the real kind. It’s fine to run figurative red lights when appropriate.

3) Not when you’re dealing with government. Pay your taxes.. Don't leak state secrets--if you know any.

4) Not when there is a very clear and specific instruction that can’t be overlooked. Such as—when there is a sale and specific categories or item brands are clearly excluded. Don't ignore signage labeled "Danger/Do Not Enter"

5) Not when there is a contract. I've learned that some contracts could just as well have been written on toilet paper, having seen egregious breaches. But I do respect contracts. 

If you haven’t stepped outside of these parameters, let there be freedom to break the rules. While my little Gap adventure is a minor blip in the greater schema,rule breaking on bigger issues can be life altering—in a good way. Rule breakers can be groundbreakers—think writers, artists, scientists, revolutionaries. 

Rule breaking can lead to impressive outcomes. Rigid thinking doesn’t.

So much for my anarchistic side—for today.

THE TEN PERCENT RESOLUTION

I lament what seems to be the impending demise of brick and mortar stores. I can’t  believe that I’m even using the term “brick and mortar”. Not so long ago, it was just “stores”. So, when I stumble into an online shopping experience, I feel trapped and guilty. Trapped because if I’m ordering online, it generally means that I can’t find what I’m looking for in a store. And guilty because I’m worried that I’m contributing to the death of retail.  When I recently received a Gap email with a 40 % discount promotion, and then an extra 10%, still feeling guilty, I had to take a look. I found two dresses, neither available in my local store. I got busy with other things, but made a mental note to order later. Though “later” turned into falling asleep before I had a chance to place the order. The promotion expired that day. 

The next day, I received another email, again, 40 percent off, but without the extra 10 percent. Annoyed that I missed that bonus, I called Gap anyway—and asked for the extra 10 percent. I told the rep that I had fallen asleep before ordering the day before. My bad. But, I also told her that the items weren’t available in my local Gap, where they offer 10 percent off to Gap cardholders. She immediately agreed to give me the extra discount. No quibbling, no “I can’t put it through the system”. She had access to customer service coupons, located one, and added the discount to the order. No pain; my gain. And Gap’s gain—I was a satisfied customer.

                                 *************************************
Today, on a trip to Whole Foods, I found that they did, as promised, change their rewards program. When I checked out, I saw that I had received a 10 percent discount on my order. Nice! As I was leaving, I noticed a sign saying that for the next four days, they were discounting beauty items by 25%. I’d been considering trying some of their beauty products. The 25% inspired me to take a closer look. I took my beauty items to the cashier and told her that I had just checked out on my other purchases with the 10 percent discount; could she add the discount to these additional items? Almost as a reflex, she said that the 10 percent was for a one time purchase. I pointed out that the time differential between purchases was 10 minutes, and if I had seen the sign earlier, there would have been only one purchase. And, they would have taken 10 percent off of whatever I was buying, regardless of the number of items. So the nit-picking now was annoying. I had other things to do and almost caved on the 10 percent. But, remember, it’s me. I couldn’t cave. I said the magic words: “Can you please get a manager?” She rolled her eyes—not acceptable—and took off 10 percent—which was acceptable. 

                                  ******************************************

One more 10 percent resolution—Howard’s consumerism. Last week, we found that we needed to go out of town for a night, and Howard made a hotel reservation. Yesterday, playing on the computer, an advertisement popped up, showing a travel site that had the same hotel listed at about 10 percent less than our booking price. (On the one hand, it’s a little creepy that  your activity becomes a playground for Internet gremlins. On the other hand, sometimes, there are associated perks.) Howard called the hotel and asked if they would match the price. He told them that he didn’t want to re-book and have them pay the travel site fee, so he decided to go right to the hotel first. The associate at the hotel immediately said “No problem; we always honor website rates”. Howard had forgotten to get her name to document the interaction in case the rate change fell through. But within a few minutes, we had an email with a confirmation of the new price. Howard grinned and said, “I did a Mauree”. I’m so proud.

IF YOU HAVE A LEGITIMATE AND LOGICAL REASON, ALWAYS ASK FOR A PRICE ADJUSTMENT OR DISCOUNT. MOST BUSINESSES ARE GENERALLY WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU. AND IF THEY’RE NOT REASONABLE, YOU CAN USUALLY FIND WAYS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN ANYWAY.

IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES/IT WAS THE WORSER OF TIMES

There is a restaurant near us that had been Aaron Burr’s headquarters during the American Revolution. No, he wasn’t dining there—he was just revolting—in several senses of the word. Aaron Burr had a chequered career. Our last visit to this restaurant pretty much evoked the spirit of Aaron Burr. 

We had enjoyed this restaurant many times in the past. They had closed for a few months for renovation and we made the mistake of going just after they re-opened. In the past, we had sat upstairs in a lovely and quiet room. This time, they seated us close to the bar. We thought that it could be okay.  Our bad—it wasn’t. It was noisy and chaotic. So much for ambience. But the service was worse.

The server took our order. She was a bit inexperienced but pleasant. The appetizer arrived pretty quickly. Then, we waited for our entrees. And waited. And waited. Our server had pretty much disappeared, and when we did catch a glimpse of her, she slithered away. Finally, it was time to get serious. I grabbed a more experienced looking server and explained the problem. Although initially earnest, he came by a few times and told us that our entrees were coming. When he put out a dish of oregano for Howard’s pizza, we though that we were back on the front burner. (I know—bad pun.) But the oregano sat there as a decorative reminder that we were being ignored. I finally caught sight of the manager—he looked like a character in a New Yorker cartoon. And acted like one. I caught his eye. He averted my gaze and scurried away. We finally had the server get another manager. A woman who was inexperienced and inept. We couldn’t even say “Please sir; we want some more” because we didn’t have anything to have more of. We finally got a limp apology, a mediocre dinner, and there was no bill. 

Having such a negative experience in a place that had formerly been good, it seemed worth calling the manager the next day. I finally reached Mr. New Yorker. His response didn’t add to my confidence. He knew us, and when I asked why he avoided us when he knew that there was a problem, he fumbled on that one. A disingenuous comment that he was running to check on our dinners. Really? I doubt it. If that were true, he should have stopped to tell us that. “My staff isn’t trained.”  Maybe they shouldn’t have opened before they were up to speed. The end result was that I should call before we returned and he would make sure that things were better. Would we trust that tepid response? Not really. We haven’t been back. I felt my inner Dickens saying “It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”. Admittedly, that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s hard to lose a former resource.

The stars seemed to be aligned against us that weekend. The next night, we went to a reliable and favorite restaurant. Howard’s entree came out quickly. My burger took forever. The difference here was that several servers came by to check on us and to apologize for the delay. Our server took the initiative to bring the manager to us. She apologized, took responsibility for making sure that my burger was appropriately cooked, and didn’t make excuses.

Why was Restaurant #1 a flop and Restaurant #2 a winner in the end?

1) Restaurant # 1 spent so much energy avoiding the starving guests (us) that they prolonged the negative vibe.

2) They were pretty cavalier about when the food would arrive and about the undertrained staff.

3) The excuses and indifference were a turn off to the point that if we go back, it will be a while. And we’re not sure that it’s worth trying again-maybe/maybe not. 

4) Restaurant #2 immediately saw the problem, apologized honestly, and took responsibility for their mistake. 

When a business doesn’t get it right, the experience can be put aside if they just man up and take responsibility in a way that assures a better experience in the future.

“It is a far, far better thing that we do, then we have ever done”. We’ve ignored Restaurant #1 and gone back to Restaurant #2 many times since.

Apologies to Charles Dickens. Perhaps the title of this piece should be “THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE HUNGRY”?

REWARDS PROGRAMS--MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU

I'm a bit of a Rewards junkie. Although I’m a consumer advocate, I have to confess that I sometimes become too eager to take advantage of rewards programs. At those times, my inner advocate goes to sleep and my inner couponer takes over. And there are consequences to that. Generally nothing devastating but, let’s say that chasing rewards can become a bit “overextended”.

For example, CVS receipts often spit out “Extra Bucks” rewards based on purchase history. How can I let a $5 reward expire without using it? Sometimes I think things through, take inventory and realize that I really need something. When I combine the reward with a sale, a manufacturer’s coupon and a CVS item specific coupon, I can buy the product at a good price. Or, it may even be free or so low cost that it’s a wonder that they make money. I think that I figured out how they make money—money rolls in when I (and everyone else) am driven to use that reward whether or not I need something. I usually buy anyway. My thought process goes something like this:

“What do we need? We don’t really need anything right now. I can’t let this reward        expire. I know—toothpaste is a staple. I’ll buy toothpaste.”

Pretty logical. Well, sort of. I just took inventory before I started to write this. We have 7 tubes of toothpaste in the bathroom cabinet. That doesn’t count the one that we just opened this week. Yes, you can always use toothpaste. But you should know that they have expiration dates. Just look at the stamp on the box and on the edge of the tube. Or, try to look—my close vision is pretty good, but it’s hard to see. (ARE YOU LISTENING, MANUFACTURERS? MAKE YOUR EXPIRATION DATES EASILY VISIBLE!)  Since it’s just Howard and me, we’ll share the booty with Tracy and Jonah. Unfortunately TSA won’t let us take it in a carry on bag when we see Cory in California. 

It looks like we’ll be brushing a lot. I guess that’s a good thing.

I could write a whole book about rewards programs. But I won’t. Suffice it to say that there are quite a few ways to reap benefits.

1) Don’t forget about small businesses. They’ve had reward programs for years—before the big guys overran the marketplace. The best children’s bookstore in the world, Children’s Book World, in Haverford, PA, has a book club card. Purchase 10 books (no time limit), and they’ll discount the next purchase. And the added reward is that it’s so much fun to shop there!

2) Some rewards programs are too complicated. That was the case with Whole Foods. You had to go online to see the rewards available to you. It was cumbersome. I complained. I guess that others did, as well, since I have an email saying that they are simplifying the program this month. I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like.

3) If you forget your supermarket or drugstore club card, you can usually access discounts by either having the cashier enter your phone number to pull up your rewards account, or they’ll just scan a generic card. It’s better if you can use your own account, since the purchases specifically tied to your account lead to more rewards.But a generic card will still get you that day’s discounted prices.

4) Reassess your perks periodically. If we’re in travel mode, we’ll use a hotel or airline rewards credit card. If we’re in department store mode, we’ll use the department store card more often. 

5) I find American Airlines distasteful and heavy handed. After they merged with US Airways, they continued to charge for their “Advantage” card but reduced the perks significantly. No more $99 yearly companion fee on a domestic flight; no more yearly use of the lounge. (Really!!! How much does it cost them to allow a passenger to use the lounge once a year???) They do it because they can--the worst possible reason for an action. But, trapped in Philadelphia, where they are the dominant carrier, there aren’t so many choices. What was the government thinking when they allowed that merger to go through? (But, I digress…)

Bottom line—you can save big time by using rewards programs. Just make sure that you do it logically and with forethought.

QUICK TIP--A FINAL SALE ISN'T ALWAYS FINAL

My brother and sister-in-law have an annual Thanksgiving tradition. They stay overnight in New York, see a show and take in all of the holiday glitter. This year, for reasons beyond their control, they weren’t able to stay overnight. The problem—they had prepaid their hotel room through an online discount hotel site so that they could get a good rate. The prepay option was a “no cancellations” reservation. Uh oh—a bargain isn’t a bargain when the money just flies away.

When Scott glumly told me about it, I suggested that he call the hotel site and explain what had happened, that this was an unexpected situation, and see if he could obtain a refund or use the payment toward an alternate stay. He had been staying at this hotel and booking through this site for years. Maybe they’d be willing to make an accommodation for a repeat guest.

Scott called me back a few days later. He thought about my suggestion and realized that all he had to lose was a few moments of time, and the worst that could happen was that they wouldn’t agree to his request. When he called the online site, the agent was receptive but said that she would have to check with the hotel. While Scott waited on the phone, the agent called the hotel. The hotel graciously agreed to refund the pre-paid charge.

Why did I suggest trying to obtain a refund?

1) Scott frequently uses this online site for hotel bookings. He had also stayed at this hotel numerous times. He was a repeat customer who had never made this request before.

2) It was the holiday season—perhaps the hotel would be booked and could re-sell the room. Or, they might just want to show their holiday spirit.

3) Keeping a guest happy when an unanticipated event occurs is a good way to maintain a relationship—for a first time guest or for a repeat guest.

4) Stuff happens, and a good business realizes that. Scott had never done this before, so he had credibility.

5) And, as always, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know what you would have achieved.

Remember that there are generally exceptions to every rule when the situation warrants. And don’t be afraid to ask—“No” isn’t the worst word in the world, and “Yes” happens more often than you might think.

QUICK TIP--HEALTHCARE

With most healthcare plans in Open Enrollment, it’s time to take stock of how your healthcare needs coordinate with health plan offerings. As a matter of fact, if you’re anticipating using healthcare services at any point in time, it’s always a good idea to take stock. A little planning can go a long way in avoiding problems.

                        ****************************************************

          This week, I took a call from a woman who was in the process of scheduling an MRI.  She wanted to make sure that the hospital where the MRI was to be performed was in her network. I helped her to check with her insurer, but also told her to make sure to check with the hospital a few days before the scheduled MRI.  Remember, networks can be fluid, and service providers that are in a network one day may be Out of Network at a later date. And vice versa—a provider may be Out of Network at one point, but may change status later. And don’t depend solely on insurer websites—they are not always up to date.

          The issue of “blind” or “hidden” providers is an important consideration for healthcare services. You may seek treatment at an In Network facility, only to find out later that there were services rendered by a non-participating clinician (blind/hidden provider). These include the radiologist who reads a study, Emergency Room physicians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, assistant surgeons, etc. The best way to address this is by planning ahead when possible. If you know that you’re going to have an MRI, surgery, etc., ask the facility or your doctor whether there will be ancillary providers involved in your care. For example, if you are having surgery, your doctor should know whether he/she will need an assistant surgeon and who that surgeon may be. When you obtain ancillary service information, call your insurance company to check network status. If you find that the ancillary services are Out of Network, you can request a “Gap Exception”. This means that you are asking the insurer to pay the blind provider at the In Network rate because there are no In Network options available. Insurers are more likely to make this accommodation when you make the request beforehand. The dollar amounts may vary. Depending on the insurer and the type of plan, the claim may process at the In Network rate. Once in a while, I’ve seen the insurer pay based on the charges rather than on insurance allowances. However, since you can’t count on that, check with your doctor/hospital to obtain contact information for the blind provider's office, and see if you can negotiate so that you won't be balance billed for charges that exceed the reimbursement from insurance. Some will negotiate; some won’t.

                   You can’t control everything, but you can certainly try.

BEING PROACTIVE ON THE FRONT END CAN OFTEN PREVENT PROBLEMS ON THE BACK END.

        (For more information, see the Healthcare section of The Consumer Playbook)

GREAT SERVICE/NOT SO GREAT SERVICE--NARROWING THE GAP

When it comes to sales and promotions, it may be hard to believe, but I can be a retailer's dream.  When I spot a good promotion, I’m on it. This works really well when I get bargains on things that I enjoy or need. Of course, it doesn’t work so well when there’s a sale on salad dressing, toothpaste—whatever—and I snap up a good buy and later find that I have a cache of expired items cluttering our shelves. But Gap promotions often turn out to be real winners.

In September, I found that I had GapCash to spend. Why? I had spent enough over a specific period of time to earn $125 on a $250 purchase. (See 8/17/16 post, "THE LADY IN THE GRAY SEDAN". I made it to Gap Silver.) 

It was time to see what I could find. I found a great sweater for Cory. And, of course, I dragged Howard to Baby Gap so that we could drool over adorable clothes for our adorable Avery Rose. (She drools, too, but her drooling is a bit soggy.) We found great Fall clothes. And socks—she can never have too many socks. She’s often one sock short when they fall off of those tiny feet. The staff was helpful, pointing out matching items and just being all around nice. When we paid the bill, I asked for the GapCash printout, since I hadn’t used the full amount. Sales associate, Dan, explained that it could only be used one time. Oh, no! I didn’t want Cory’s sweater at regular price; I’m much happier with a discount! When I told Dan that I needed to buy a sweater in the regular Gap, he handed me the printout so that I could use it for the sweater.

We walked over to the Gap. Thomas and Megan manned the cash register and listened as I explained that I wanted to make purchases at both Gap and Baby Gap, and needed to use the GapCash more than once. As it turned out, I didn’t need to explain. Dan had already called and spoken to Thomas, greasing the wheels for me! So, Thomas was ready to help, rather than to nix the second use of the GapCash. He explained that if I wanted to do this in the future, I should make the first purchase without using the GapCash, then go to the next Gap, have the cashier do a return on the original items, then re-ring all items from both stores with the GapCash discount. And that’s exactly what he did.

Baby Gap came through again last weekend, when staffers Liz and Tiffany handled another confusing promotion. I had received a "40% off of a purchase" card in the mail. Sometimes there are exclusions, but on this one, the red edging said “no merchandise exclusions”. One item that we chose was on sale already, but the additional 40% didn’t come off. Liz and Tiffany looked at the offer and realized that “no exclusions" applied to rewards, not to the 40%. But because of the confusion, they overrode the system to allow the discount. Another excellent service experience!

Why are these such great stories? 

1) The staff explained the system to me without making me feel that I had to accommodate to Gap policy. They could make Gap policy work for me.

2) They told me what they could do, not what they couldn’t do.

3) They acted proactively and creatively, rather than hassle me with corporate mumbo jumbo. This created a terrific customer service experience.

              ************************************************************************************

On the other end of the spectrum, I was at work and had to call a health insurer to fix an appeal of a denied medical service. The appeal had been mishandled. During the previous week, I had spoken with a representative who understood and, as with the Gap staff, told me what she was going to do to get it fixed. I called the next week to make sure that the problem had resolved. Unfortunately, I reached a different representative. I explained what I needed in order to verify that the appeal was where it should be. The representative started to tell me why the problem couldn’t be fixed and spouted company policy. I wasn’t interested in company policy and knew exactly what I needed to hear to ensure that all was corrected. What did I do? I walked her through each step by asking very specific questions about the appeal. When she answered the questions, I knew that the problem had been corrected due to the previous representative’s work.

What’s wrong with this scenario?

1) The representative was poised to stand on company policy before she really grasped the issue and the details.

2) I had to walk the representative through the corrective process. I don’t work for her company—she should have been able to do for me what I was doing for her.

3) I don’t care about company policy when it doesn’t apply to a specific situation. I was able to get past that, but not without angst.

So, two very different customer experiences.

Remember that there is usually a way to get past policies that don’t work for the consumer by thinking the problem through and looking at logical and creative solutions. And, if you’re lucky enough to receive the excellent service that I received at the Gap, make sure that you thank the staff and let the company know how good they are. I took the survey that came with the receipt, specifically mentioning these excellent staffers.

So, thanks, Dan, Thomas, Megan, Liz and Tiffany.  As Arnold said, “I’ll be back”.

QUICK TIP--HOTEL RATES

Howard and I decided to get away for a weekend in the Fall. We generally book hotels as far in advance as possible, hoping that we are locking in a rate that could go up if we were to book the stay closer to our trip date. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve seen rates go up and we’ve seen rates go down. Supply and demand. If a hotel isn’t fully booked, rates may drop in order to attract business. If the hotel is getting full, rates can go up because the hotel knows that if someone really needs to book a stay, they’ll pay the price. 

We had booked a November stay in July. We just found that this is going to be a family event, and we needed another room. When Howard booked the additional room, the price was $166. When we had booked in July, the room charge was $205. Why shouldn’t we be able to pay the same price for both rooms?  We should be able to do that, since we didn’t pre-pay the charge. I called the hotel’s Guest Services Manager and asked if she would match the current $166 price on the $205 room. She graciously agreed to make the adjustment. (I always look for “gracious” in the hospitality industry—not that it isn’t a good thing in other settings, as well.) We’re pleased that we’re saving money. The Guest Services Manager has a couple of satisfied guests who will return to the hotel in the future. Everyone’s happy, which is always a good outcome.

WHEN YOU BOOK A HOTEL, CHECK THE PRICE PERIODICALLY BEFORE YOUR TRIP. YOU MAY FIND THAT YOUR ROOM RATE WENT DOWN. IF YOU FIND THAT THIS IS THE CASE, ASK FOR THE ADJUSTMENT. MOST OF THE TIME, YOU’LL FIND THAT THE HOTEL IS WILLING TO MAKE THE ACCOMMODATION.

QUICK TIP--SUPERMARKET RETURNS

I was standing in line at the supermarket today and overheard the woman in front of me talking to a manager about a recalled item. The woman was trying to figure out how she could be compensated when she didn’t have a receipt and had thrown the item away. The manager was sympathetic but couldn’t give her a refund without anything to document the purchase. I suggested that the woman call the manufacturer to let them know that she had bought the recalled item but couldn’t get a refund and ask them to send replacement coupons. She was pleased that I had given her a solution to the problem—one that she hadn’t considered.

When there is a problem with an item purchased at a supermarket, there is usually a way to resolve it:

Wegman’s chocolate cakes are the BEST!. There was a short period of time when they weren’t carrying the small ones. So we tried the vanilla version. While I’m sure that many people like it, we hated it. Wegman’s isn’t around the corner and we weren’t going back for another few weeks. I didn’t want to keep a perishable item for a couple of weeks, but I kept the receipt. When I returned a few weeks later, Customer Service understood that we didn’t like the cake and that it wasn’t reasonable to keep this perishable item for a few weeks. They issued a store credit for the $9 cost. 

You should be reimbursed for problem products, and there usually is a way to do that. And it's a good idea to let manufacturers and vendors know when there is a problem. If they’re alerted to the problem and see a trend, they can take steps to fix it.

AS ALWAYS, THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX AND SPEAK UP.

IT CAN'T HURT TO ASK

IT CAN’T HURT TO ASK    

My family is the first thing on my mind every morning. And the last thing on my mind at night. They’re with me all through the day, too. Although I’ve always had a career and other interests, being a wife and mom gives me the most joy and also defines me. 

In the Woody Allen movie, Manhattan, Allen lies on the sofa thinking about things that make life worth living. Most important on that list is “Tracy’s face”. Well, I have a Tracy, as well as a Howard, a Cory, a Jonah, and an Avery. They are at the top of my list of things that make life worth living. (Sidebar—if you haven’t seen Manhattan, see it. It’s perfection.) Despite the fact that Howard, Cory, Tracy and Jonah are adults, taking care of them makes me happy. Maybe it’s a tradition  thing— a way of keeping my mother alive. a way of keeping a simpler, gentler time alive. My mother had a friend who had access to a local shoe manufacturer when I was young. (Yes, there was local manufacturing once upon a time.) They would go to the factory and I’d come home from school to find three or four pairs of shoes sitting by my bed. I have no idea how she could be certain that they’d fit, but they did. I remember the warm feeling as I looked at the new shoes. I loved the fact that my mother’s idea of a good day was to take care of me. So it goes in my life.

When Cory was visiting a few weeks ago, we went shopping for T-shirts. He chose the Ralph Lauren Polo brand. I had a Macy’s coupon and looked at the back for Exclusions. Several Lauren labels were excluded, but I didn’t see Polo as one of them. (I don’t quite understand the reason for Exclusions—brand hubris? because they can?) There weren’t many people in the store and the cashier looked a bit lonely. He scanned the package then scanned the coupon. The coupon wouldn’t scan. I looked at him with a doe eyed, perturbed, quizzical look. (I'm not sure how I got all of that into one expression, but I did.) I found that he was a customer service oriented guy in a store that wasn’t busy that day. He and I agreed that Polo wasn’t specifically excluded and he offered to do a manual override. He used common sense— an excellent customer service tool! I don’t think that Macy’s will go under because of this discount, and this salesman will be a "go to"when I shop again. Win/win.

Anyone who’s read The Consumer Playbook knows that I hate to pay full price if there’s a way to avoid it. Last week at my local CVS, they had a Buy One Get One 50% Off” sale on Cover Girl. I found a lipstick that I liked but couldn’t find a second color. It wasn't unreasonable to ask if they would give me the equivalent promotional discount, 25% off of the single item, because they didn’t have a second item that I wanted. The cashier agreed with me, the manager agreed with both of us, and I walked out a happy customer. 

It never hurts to ask. This applies to these small purchases, but also works for bigger things. The worst that can happen is that the answer is “no”. But more often than not, it’s “yes”.

THE LADY IN THE GRAY SEDAN

 

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.

THE CASE OF THE PURLOINED REWARDS

I love the word purloined. It evokes the wonderful noir stories of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, with their crisp prose and riveting plots—Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain. Not to mention TV’s Perry Mason and the Nancy Drew books. I used to watch Perry Mason with my father, always amazed that he could figure out “who done it”. (As I got older, I figured it out, too. It was always the character with the fewest lines, introduced in the beginning of the show, who didn’t appear much until the end. Sorry about the spoiler alert if you watch the reruns.) It’s also nice to have memories of a simpler time when I could sit in a cool, shady spot and read the latest Nancy Drew mystery. Unfortunately, this story isn’t noir, though it sort of felt like it while it was happening. 

Gap had Friends and Family last week, with 50% off in stores and 40% off online.  I found a few things online, checked to see if could find them in the local Gap store, but went back to an online purchase since they were showing as unavailable in the store. If I didn’t have the ability to purchase the items in the store, shouldn’t I get the 50% off since this was a company issue, not my problem? When I explained this to Christina at Gap Online, she understood and figured out a way to create something close to the 50% discount. Her system couldn’t take the 50% but she went right into customer friendly creative mode by taking the 40% off and generating a 10% coupon to add to the discount. Great customer service! She listened, understood, and rather than parroting the sale terms on the email, found a way to make me feel that Gap was fair and valued my business. 

But, then, the rewards. I had $35 in Gap rewards that had just arrived in my last bill. When I gave her the reward numbers, Christina told me that they were already used. That was impossible! They were  brand new and I hadn’t used them. She looked a little further and found that they had been used in an online order a few days earlier. I didn’t place an order a few days earlier. Who could have done that? She found the order that had taken my rewards. The culprit--Tracy!! My Tracy! Oh, well. The rewards were gone. Or were they? (Film noir music would fit well here, but this blog doesn't have sound capability.)

I called Tracy and asked her why she used my rewards—not a big deal, and I probably would have given them to her anyway, but why not ask me? Because she didn’t know that they were my rewards. She had used them to buy a snowsuit. (We've added to our family-- the beautiful Avery Rose, our angel granddaughter, 6 months old now -- the new owner of a Baby Gap snowsuit.) Much as I hate to think of snowsuits as the summer fades away, Friends and Family was a great time to buy—new merchandise, great selection and great discount. When Tracy placed her order, the representative told her that there were available rewards and asked if she wanted to use them. So, she used them, unaware that they were my rewards. How did this snafu happen? We have two separate accounts on two different cards—mine Gap; hers BananaRepublic. The mystery deepens. (More film noir music)

What to do? Since Gap messed up, they needed to leave her order as is, but they needed to give me the same $35 in rewards. I called Gap a few days later and explained the problem and asked for a $35 credit. Assuming that someone at a higher level needed to figure out how my rewards landed in her account, I asked for a manager. After a lengthy Hold, I was transferred. Surprise! Not a supervisor but a first line person at the bank that handles the Gap card. After I explained the problem, the rep couldn’t find any reason for the rewards to show up for Tracy other than the fact that although I had removed her from my account when she finished law school 5 years ago, she was still showing on my account. That didn’t make sense, since Tracy wasn’t ordering with my account. The rep took Tracy off of my account in an effort to avoid this problem in the future. For the $35 credit, she had to ask a supervisor if she could do that. She put me on Hold for waaay too long. Generally, I use the 7 minute rule—no more than 7 minutes on Hold  (because I like the number 7). But I was making a banana bread for Tracy, so I put the phone on speaker. After 15+ minutes, I was disconnected! Okay—now I’m getting angry. I called back to Gap, explained my problem to the new rep and told her that I’d spent far too much time on this and needed a manager asap. I was transferred. As I did my usual check to understand who I was talking to (call center location, rep’s title, etc.), I found that I had been unceremoniously transferred to the bank again,and only to a line person. I asked for a manager. Another Hold, so I went back to my banana bread. But after 10 minutes, with the bread ready to go in the oven, and as I was starting to steam, I disconnected and went back to Gap once more. This time the rep got me to a manager quickly. The manager understood and credited $35 to my account. To compensate for the hassles, he issued a 20% coupon that could be combined with other promotions. He is supposed to be researching how this mess occurred, and I’m waiting for a call back on that one. 

What is the moral of this story? 

1) Ask and you should receive. At the time of the original order, I asked for the in-store price because I couldn’t locate the items I wanted in the store, and the rep did what I asked. 

2) If there’s a snafu, fix it. I don’t want to deal with mixups in rewards in the future. Hopefully, when the bank took Tracy off of my account, that should (theoretically) fix it.

3) Don’t waste your time on Hold for excessive periods of time unless you’re baking a banana bread or multi-tasking in some other way.

4) When you’ve spent excessive time to resolve a problem, you should be compensated—my time and your time are worth something. The Gap manager understood this as he gave me the $35 credit and sent me the 20% coupon.

5) To all of the customer service agents out there: Don’t leave customers on Hold for an excessive length of time.

6) Another point for customer service reps: If you’re transferring a customer, tell them where you’re transferring them and why so that they can decide whether that transfer will meet their needs or whether it would be just another waste of time.  

7) Customer service reps need to think creatively as Christina did when she increased my discount. Systems don’t control everything. There are ways to make things happen if you make the effort to do it.

I never intended to spend this much time on what should have been a simple issue. But once I got going and the more annoyed I became, the more I felt the need to rectify the problem. (So, what else is new?) And, never leave a mystery unsolved. Chandler, Hammett, Cain, Mason and Nancy Drew wouldn’t have abandoned a mystery, so why should I?      

THE CINDERELLA EFFECT

Nordstrom is known for excellence in customer service. Nothing’s perfect, and there are slip ups here and there, but they deserve that reputation most of the time. Except for the time that customer service fell by the wayside when they had me play out the Cinderella story over a pair of shoes.

i have small feet. That’s a good thing since they don’t make me look clunky and I don’t trip over them. (Except when I’m dancing—which is a blessedly rare event. Not a pretty sight.) The store didn’t have my size so I ordered them online. When I went online, I noticed that a competitor had the same shoe for two thirds of the Nordstrom price. Nordstrom is generally good about price matching. They even scout out competitors and program lower competitor prices into their system so that the prices can be automatically matched. They hadn’t seen this competitor's pricing, but when I told the agent about it, she checked their website. As it turned out, they had every size but mine. The agent refused to match the price. She read me the Nordstrom price matching policy, which says that the item must be the same size, color, style, etc.  That makes sense most of the time. I had found an outlet for this brand online, where the price was less than half of the Nordstrom price. But I didn’t ask for that price because that site was showing random sizes and colors in stock, and I didn’t think that it was fair to ask a full service retailer to match the bargain basement outlet price when the stock was very different. But with the other competitor, they were only missing one size—mine.

The agent said that Nordstrom wanted to be “fair to all customers” and couldn’t adjust my shoe price because my size was missing in the competitor's inventory. That didn’t make sense to me. Fair?? Imagine 100 people banging down Nordstrom’s doors to get a price adjustment. And Nordstrom would say to each, “Okay, we’ll adjust the price.” Then, they’d get to me. “But not for you", they’d say. Is this fair? It looked like this Cinderella wasn’t getting to the ball that night.

Of course, I didn’t stop with the agent, but went to her supervisor, then to a manager. Much policy babble and poor customer service. I decided that I’d order the shoes anyway, not wanting to cut off my nose to spite my feet. I'd deal with the pricing later. I asked for the manager above the manager. She said that she was the highest one on site. Yeah, really?? Let me re-phrase that.  “Who do you report to?” I got a first name, but the last name, phone number and work hours were top secret. Aside from the poor service up to this point, this little snit also had me wait on Hold for over 5 minutes to get the order number. Add that to Cinderella’s trials and tribulations.

Surprisingly, the snitty manager did tell her superior about the incident. This didn’t excuse her obnoxious behavior. I guess that my tenacity was obvious and she understood that I’d get there somehow anyway. The Operations Manager was concerned about my complaint about the manager below her and agreed to address that problem. She heard me on the price adjustment issue but explained policy again. I didn’t want to hear policy. Policies are guidelines, and when there is a valid extenuating circumstance, there should be an exception. And I pointed out that the competitor may have my size in one of their stores, but I wasn’t going to spend the time researching this. To her credit, this manager volunteered to do the legwork here—or maybe it was footwork. She came up dry—the competitor didn’t have the ability to see national inventory, so the OM called several stores, none of which had my size. Cinderella still won’t get to the ball. I think that it would be safe to assume that  across the country, with a large competitor, there would probably be at least one pair in my size somewhere. But the OM stood firm—pleasant but firm. Perhaps she should have sent Prince Charming out to find the glass slipper in my size. But she didn’t.

Did I stop there? Of course not. I called the Executive office and reached Mr. Nordstrom’s secretary. She was truly dismayed when I told her that I was having a customer service problem. She had one of her staff research. He called me back—same answer. I decided to let Mr. Nordstrom’s secretary know that although I am often pleased with Nordstrom, they just lost  their position in my “go to” lineup. When I called, Blake Nordstrom answered the phone. When I told him that I wanted to let his secretary know the outcome on a customer service problem, he, too, sounded dismayed. But when I gave him the quick overview, he politely extricated himself. I guess that Blake Nordstrom wasn’t my Prince Charming that day.

Final resolution would have been to take the printed page with the competitor pricing to the store and have the price adjusted. I’m pretty sure that they would have done that. But we’ll never know, since I didn’t like the shoes and returned them.

Nordstrom has since redeemed themselves, adjusting a skirt price from full price to sale price a couple of weeks after I bought the skirt. But I really can’t understand how they could be so incredibly rigid on the shoe price match. Uh huh—treat everyone else fairly, but send Cinderella home, running for the carriage in her bare feet, only to find a pumpkin waiting for her.

The Consumer Playbook gives you a roadmap for dealing with challenging consumer issues. In this blog, you are going to see more stories about how to be an effective consumer. Some of the issues are big; some are small. But all stories are true and will give you the tools to be heard in a difficult consumer world. For today, I’m the star of this show. But you’ll also see a cast of characters—husband, Howard; son, Cory; daughter, Tracy; son-in-law Jonah; as well as friends and more family. Not to mention the sometimes stellar and sometimes scraggly cast of characters on the business end of the issues. Feel free to use the techniques and to let me know how they work for you.