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Trying to remember that there is always a reason, always something that makes you smile during the day- recognizing the event, person or situation that made you smile will make your day seem that much better.

Monday, April 16, 2012

New Refrigerator...

Is not in our house.
When I called on Friday I was told that it was still in the showroom and that there was no way it would be delivered that day.
I admit, I was extremely angry on the phone with the person.
I cancelled the order.
I did get a comment on this blog from their social media team late Friday afternoon.
I emailed them this week.
A woman gave me a call from their "executive offices" to follow up on my unsolicited email.
She read from a script that consisted of "I understand your frustration" and " I apologize for your inconvenience".
She offered me a percentage off, with the caveat that if it was on sale in the store it would be in combination with that sale price to total the amount off that she was offering.
The thing is...I bought the fridge at a greater discount than what they were offering to me.
So, I could have paid more for the fridge that I didn't get in the first place.
She did offer me a gift card for my inconvenience.
Here's the thing....
Never once when I called the store was I offered a manager
Never once did the employee attempt to make it better.
I told them I wanted to cancel the order and I was told okay.
And then I was asked as he was going through his computer screen why I was cancelling the order.
Now many of you know, I work in sales.
This is what I do every day.
What I do is not perfect...nor do I claim that it is.
The difference is that if I screw something up I don't blame it on someone else (like the delivery people).
I try to find out what I can do to fix it for the customer.
If I get a customer that is really irritated, not only do I fix it for them, but I offer to let them speak to my manager to soothe ruffled feathers.
And I recognize that we, as a company, or me personally screwed something up and try to fix it for the customer.
If I was offered a manager last Friday, maybe something could have been done.
If I was offered something that would make restitution, not only for the inconvenience of not receiving the refrigerator but also for my time that was wasted waiting for a delivery, maybe they could have saved me as a customer.
As I said to the woman on the phone, bottom line is that as a consumer I have a choice where I will make my next purchase, whether it be bath towels or a major appliance purchase.
I will exercise my choice as a consumer to make those purchases somewhere else.
For now, we have an older refrigerator that is getting us through until I can find someone who will have the product that I want and get it to me within my time frame- or at least when they promise to get it there.
Whether a company shows me that my time and money is not something they are interested in, I will refuse to spend either in their retail establishments.

In other news, I hope that you are all doing well.  Hubby and I went out on Sunday to the movies- we went and saw Mirror Mirror...cute movie.  I got my birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse because we are both working all day tomorrow and won't want to go out when we get home.  It was nice to spend time, just the two of us, together.  I realized last week how much I miss him during the week...and how exhausted we both are when we get home at night.

I hope that you are all doing well....that you are finding reasons to smile every day!! Hugs and lots of love..

5 comments:

  1. I also would be pissed off and I understand you cancelling the order they stuffed up and they sounds like they didn't want to admit they stuffed up........

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  2. Stupid, stupid Sears. The are given multiple opportunities to fix a SIMPLE problem by doing a SIMPLE delivery but instead decide to contact you via your blog.
    The first thing I would do is erase the woman's comment from a few posts back because that just attempts to make Sears look good. Which is exactly her job. Her job is not to make sure you get your fridge delivered it is to mitigate the words you wrote about her employer in a "LOOK! We're good people over here at Sear's corporate. We'll help!" way. And as you know she didn't do squadoosh [say it out loud, you'll laugh and it is the equivalent of sh*t. heehee - gotta' have levity] This is just ridiculous.

    I know I told you to take it easy, go on vacation and this would work itself out. And honestly I really thought you would have a resolution in your favor - a delivered fridge - because for years I have trusted Sears too. I really am surprised that you couldn't fix this at store level, but to be insulted at the corporate level by being offered a discount that is still more than you paid originally [I hate "suits" that don't read the notes of the entire situation and think they can just handle it the same as always - $$$] and still not have a fridge? I am floored.

    I am not one for taking a single bad experience of someone else's or even ONE experience had by me, as I believe in second chances, but Sears lost another customer today. This episode is just too much. And contacting your blog is laughable. Doesn't it tell us, and shouldn't it tell Sears, that they have a real problem in customer retention when they have a department soley committed to social media to put out "fires"?

    I am really sorry. I don't where to suggest you go now but I am finding more and more that the Mom and Pops around us are competitive price wise [the big stores would like us to think otherwise] and the do a bang up job of personal service because they KNOW that is what it takes to KEEP a customer. Honestly for my piece of mind I would rather go to my Mom & Pops, even if it did cost a bit more.

    If I could wish you a fridge, you know I'd do it. The bright side is that you, at least, have an old one that works for the time being. And a wonderful excuse to eat out if you like. Don't want to keep too much food in the old one. Y'know, just in case. heehee

    On a happier note and my smile for the day is it's YOUR BIRTHDAY! Woooohooooo! Very exciting and dinner sounds yummy. I hope the day is as special as you are and you deserve it. I wish I was there to help you blow out the candles and give you your present. :)

    Hugs sweetheart. Thanks for the smiles [and the final heads up about Sears.]

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  3. Happy Birthday and I am sorry that you have had such a lot of trauma with this company. Enough to put anyone in a bad mood!

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  4. It is no wonder why the large Sears in Rocky Mount's large mall is closing. That company just doesn't seem to care about it's customers or their needs. I learned the hard way and seems you did too.
    Glad you had that special time for your birthday and hope the rest of this week is awesome for you both.

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  5. happy birthday! on sears.... grrrrrr! they ruffle my feathers, too.

    i like lowes. they deliver (usually when they're supposed to) and haul off the old stuff if you want them to.

    hope you had a great dinner at texas roadhouse. they have great steaks but i have to remember to tell them no seasoning. it's too salty. we haven't been in years and since we have our own "steak baron" in the family, it will probably be a long time before we go in the future.

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