Emptrophy, the decay of empathy
Since Matt was kind enough to publish his misadventures in customer service, I thought I would do the same, although in a slightly more constructive, and slightly less major fashion. What happened to Matt is epic, the sign that a company has completely lost its way.
To begin, I bought one of these, about 3 weeks ago:
A black one. My first one. Because I don't have any nice shirts for work that don't have to go to the cleaners. That is a pain, because as nice and reasonably priced as my dry cleaners is, I seem to have a real mental block about getting there. This means I often don't have shirts for work. Also, with the company changing names, there goes about half my central stock, 'cause I'm not wearing stuff with the old company name on it. Polo shirts, golf shirts, whatever you call them, are a good alternative. Except every single one I've bought in the past 5 years immediately looks like crap after a wash. They fade, they stretch, the buttons don't close, the collar wrinkles up, they suck. So I decided that if I'm going to give them any kind of a last chance, I am going to do it right. No more half measures, no more sales, just the best quality shirt I can buy. Which I decided after some research were the alligator jobbies.
Ninety Five Dollars. Yipe, this thing better be the best, for that kind of money. I tried on a couple, settled on a size 7, black (euro sizing, no less.) It fit. Close to perfectly, which starts me on my first anxious moment. "Is this gonna shrink?" I ask. No, comes the reply, as long as it's washed in cold (I always wash the darks in cold)and it shouldn't be heat dried. So I can tumble dry, or better yet hang dry it without a problem. Yes, comes the reply. Because at this point I'm happy to buy a size 8, if this is going to be a problem. No, no, you'll be fine.
I pay. I wear the shirt the next day to work. 4 independent complements. Wow. It must be nice. I'm making plans to save up for a couple more at this point. I'm wearing this thing again straight out of the wash. I'm happy.
2 days later, it comes out of the wash. I'm not as happy. I realize that despite following instructions, my worst nightmares are realized and I now own a very expensive shirt which doesn't fit me right. It's tight in the arms. Like, the actual arm holes are tight around my biceps (such as they are) and the whole thing just feels "funny."
No problem. I'm already wearing the thing, so I finish out the day, take it home, wash it a second time, and them take it back to the Lacoste store. I'm there on a saturday. The first warning flag is that I'm immediately informed that once a shirt has been washed, it can't be returned. Except that, as I point out, it's been washed according to their instructions. Oh, I'm told, I'm just a salesperson, only the manager can make a decision like this, and she's not there. The manager of the Lacoste store has decided that Saturday, the single busiest retail day, is the very best day for her not to be there. Because what can go wrong on the busiest day. So I should come back, during the week. "When exactly do you think I have time to come out here?" I ask. Oh right, of course, they apologize. They call the manager. She doesn't answer her phone. They tell me I can leave the shirt with them, she'll make a decision about it on monday and call me first thing. I leave.
Let me take a minute here to point out what they could have done, even as salespeople without the ability to solve my problem right then and there.
1) They could have asked me to try on the shirt and show them what I thought the problem was.
2) they could have asked me to try on a new size 7, to see if it had the same problem.
3) They could have (and this is the absolute key) empathized with me. Not agreed with me on the issue, just acknowledged that it sucks to be less than happy with a $95 purchase.
On Monday the manager didn't call me and left by 4:30, when I called to see what was taking so long. I was told there would be a note left reminding her to call me first thing Tuesday morning.
She didn't call tuesday, either. I called her, about 11:30. I was informed that there was nothing wrong with the shirt, that she had compared it to a new one, and that in fact there was a stain on the back of it. I would not be receiving an exchange, and I could pick the shirt up whenever I liked. The tone was clear: I was trying to pull a fast one, I damaged my own shirt, I was a crook trying to make the store eat a large cost for a damaged piece of merchandise.
Again, some things that could have been done differently:
1) How about not accusing your customer of being a general scumbag? That might be a start.
2) Maybe don't keep hiding behind the words "store policy" quite so much.
3) At least have the courtesy to call the client back, instead of making them come to you.
I went and got the shirt last friday. Know what? It's actually okay. It certainly doesn't have a stain on it, although I was able to locate a tiny bit of washing powder which came out with my fingernail. The arms loosened up again once I wore it awhile. It's fine. I probably am buying some more of them. Just not from the dicks at sherway gardens, where the policy seems to be the customer is always an asshole, angling for something for nothing. Nice Going, Salome Mohyeddin, Manager of the Lacoste store.
To begin, I bought one of these, about 3 weeks ago:
A black one. My first one. Because I don't have any nice shirts for work that don't have to go to the cleaners. That is a pain, because as nice and reasonably priced as my dry cleaners is, I seem to have a real mental block about getting there. This means I often don't have shirts for work. Also, with the company changing names, there goes about half my central stock, 'cause I'm not wearing stuff with the old company name on it. Polo shirts, golf shirts, whatever you call them, are a good alternative. Except every single one I've bought in the past 5 years immediately looks like crap after a wash. They fade, they stretch, the buttons don't close, the collar wrinkles up, they suck. So I decided that if I'm going to give them any kind of a last chance, I am going to do it right. No more half measures, no more sales, just the best quality shirt I can buy. Which I decided after some research were the alligator jobbies.
Ninety Five Dollars. Yipe, this thing better be the best, for that kind of money. I tried on a couple, settled on a size 7, black (euro sizing, no less.) It fit. Close to perfectly, which starts me on my first anxious moment. "Is this gonna shrink?" I ask. No, comes the reply, as long as it's washed in cold (I always wash the darks in cold)and it shouldn't be heat dried. So I can tumble dry, or better yet hang dry it without a problem. Yes, comes the reply. Because at this point I'm happy to buy a size 8, if this is going to be a problem. No, no, you'll be fine.
I pay. I wear the shirt the next day to work. 4 independent complements. Wow. It must be nice. I'm making plans to save up for a couple more at this point. I'm wearing this thing again straight out of the wash. I'm happy.
2 days later, it comes out of the wash. I'm not as happy. I realize that despite following instructions, my worst nightmares are realized and I now own a very expensive shirt which doesn't fit me right. It's tight in the arms. Like, the actual arm holes are tight around my biceps (such as they are) and the whole thing just feels "funny."
No problem. I'm already wearing the thing, so I finish out the day, take it home, wash it a second time, and them take it back to the Lacoste store. I'm there on a saturday. The first warning flag is that I'm immediately informed that once a shirt has been washed, it can't be returned. Except that, as I point out, it's been washed according to their instructions. Oh, I'm told, I'm just a salesperson, only the manager can make a decision like this, and she's not there. The manager of the Lacoste store has decided that Saturday, the single busiest retail day, is the very best day for her not to be there. Because what can go wrong on the busiest day. So I should come back, during the week. "When exactly do you think I have time to come out here?" I ask. Oh right, of course, they apologize. They call the manager. She doesn't answer her phone. They tell me I can leave the shirt with them, she'll make a decision about it on monday and call me first thing. I leave.
Let me take a minute here to point out what they could have done, even as salespeople without the ability to solve my problem right then and there.
1) They could have asked me to try on the shirt and show them what I thought the problem was.
2) they could have asked me to try on a new size 7, to see if it had the same problem.
3) They could have (and this is the absolute key) empathized with me. Not agreed with me on the issue, just acknowledged that it sucks to be less than happy with a $95 purchase.
On Monday the manager didn't call me and left by 4:30, when I called to see what was taking so long. I was told there would be a note left reminding her to call me first thing Tuesday morning.
She didn't call tuesday, either. I called her, about 11:30. I was informed that there was nothing wrong with the shirt, that she had compared it to a new one, and that in fact there was a stain on the back of it. I would not be receiving an exchange, and I could pick the shirt up whenever I liked. The tone was clear: I was trying to pull a fast one, I damaged my own shirt, I was a crook trying to make the store eat a large cost for a damaged piece of merchandise.
Again, some things that could have been done differently:
1) How about not accusing your customer of being a general scumbag? That might be a start.
2) Maybe don't keep hiding behind the words "store policy" quite so much.
3) At least have the courtesy to call the client back, instead of making them come to you.
I went and got the shirt last friday. Know what? It's actually okay. It certainly doesn't have a stain on it, although I was able to locate a tiny bit of washing powder which came out with my fingernail. The arms loosened up again once I wore it awhile. It's fine. I probably am buying some more of them. Just not from the dicks at sherway gardens, where the policy seems to be the customer is always an asshole, angling for something for nothing. Nice Going, Salome Mohyeddin, Manager of the Lacoste store.
posted by Mattvideo at 8:57 AM
3 Comments:
Future Lacoste Tips.
You can get the shirts much cheaper than 95 dollars. I generally pay between 60 and 70 at lacoste boutiques or online at Neiman Marcus or any upscale dept. store. Also it says on the tag on the bottom inside of the shirt not to tumble wash. I hang mine up to dry. They get all wrinkly, and you have to iron them, but they might not shrink this way. Also if you accidently shrink one, they can be returned to normal size by washing and hanging.
I believe this nerd is talking Canadian dollars not American.
I am talking canadian money, and i am a nerd.
My question is, what do I call someone who posts anonymous derogatory comments to a blog post that is like 2 months old, and also insults the author of the blog? If I'm a nerd, what does that make you?
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