I try to stay upbeat and positive, I really do. But man, retail is HARD.
Yesterday, I had a father and daughter stop into the shop. I greeted them and told them to let me know if there was anything that I could help them with. They all but ignored me (that's fine - I'm used to that), and the daughter grabbed two skeins of yarn (both Angora blends). The father questioned her on whether that is really what she wanted and she told him that yes - that's what she needed. Now, all of our yarns have a price tag ON EVERY SKEIN. I rang up the transaction and told him what the dollar amount was (again - there should not have been a question on how much the yarn was). He handed over the credit card, I chatted with him and his daughter as I was bagging up the yarn and they went on their way.
Fast forward about 10 minutes and in walks the husband, daughter and wife and they are wanting to return the yarn. I inform them that I would be happy to do that for a store credit or an exchange, but that it is our policy that we do not issue credits back onto their credit card. We have this policy posted on our counter, on the wall right behind the register, and on the receipt. We are a small business. It costs us money every time we swipe your card. There was a fee that we incurred when you made your purchase, and now you want us to LOSE money on the transaction because you want to bring it back? Swiping your card again for a credit incurs us yet another fee. Get it? - WE LOSE MONEY WHEN YOU ASK US TO DO THIS. We don't break even, it is a loss. That is the reason that we have this policy. The big box stores can afford to credit back the money onto your card - they have thousands of transactions and deal in volume. Your little small business down the street? Not so much.
And really, being nasty and telling me that you are going to go out on the "blogosphere" and let everyone know what kind of business they would be dealing with if they purchased anything from me isn't going to sway me. Go ahead and blog away. I don't care. Rant and rave all you want - that only makes me stick to my policy even more. Nastiness won't win you any brownie points from me. And, by the way, way to teach your child how to handle conflict. What did she learn? That you make threats when you don't get your way. She was all ears and eyes as you and your wife were throwing threats at me. I politely pointed out to you where our policy was posted. Really, I should have this policy posted on my door? How many businesses do you go into and the store policies are listed on the front door?
And people wonder why retail is such a hard job. The majority of the customers that walk into the door are angels, but there are a few that make you question just why you are doing this.
Kind of counting down the days........
