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This story actually started two weeks ago. A gentleman bought a DVD/VCR player. The DVD player didn't work, so he came back to exchange it. It was a standard 'start the return to make sure we can, pause it while he gets the replacement, resume when he gets back'. I didn't start the transaction, but I finished it up.
Flash foward a week. The new one eats tapes, and he has a couple chewed-up Barney tapes to prove it. He's not too too upset about losing old tapes, but he wants a working DVD/VCR player--perfectly understandable. NOW the trouble starts.
He didn't have the exchange receipt. Okay, not really a problem since he used a credit card. Only...it didn't come up on the card. A quick price check shows it's more than our 'without receipt' exchange limit. Our refund authorization hotline proves its uselessness again (they're great when you already know what you need from them, but can be really bad if it's not a standard problem). So I give him the 1-800 number for returns and explain that he needs to call them to see what he needs to do. He listens carefully, asks a couple intelligent questions, and leaves calmly, a bit disappointed but willing to do it our way and try looking for the receipt.
Flash foward another week, to today. I recognize him as soon as he sets the box on the counter. He called the number, they sent him to the manufacturer, the manufacturer said return it to the store. So he's back at square one. I try refund authorization again, and this time get someone who tries to help--she can see the exchange, but because the exchange was paused, we get tripped up by a rare glitch. She can't give me the new receipt number, because it won't show up.
The poor guy was not only staying calm and reasonable himself, he was keeping his two-year-old son bubbly and entertained the whole time, NOT an easy task around dinnertime.
The lead on duty and I finally worked out something that let him do an exchange--since I was there for both previous transactions and Refund Authorization said they could see the exchange, we let him have the exact item again. He was very grateful and nice enough to be worried about us breaking policy! (Which we weren't really. Bending it pretty far, maybe, but not breaking it.)
Then, after all that hassle was done, he kept his promise to his son and bought him the Barney DVD the kid wanted as a reward for behaving in the store. I'm not sure why that little detail just made the whole thing perfect to me, but it did.
Two visits of 30 minutes each (not counting the original return), who-knows-how-long on the phone, and he still didn't turn into a SC? Why can't there be more people like that in the world?
Flash foward a week. The new one eats tapes, and he has a couple chewed-up Barney tapes to prove it. He's not too too upset about losing old tapes, but he wants a working DVD/VCR player--perfectly understandable. NOW the trouble starts.
He didn't have the exchange receipt. Okay, not really a problem since he used a credit card. Only...it didn't come up on the card. A quick price check shows it's more than our 'without receipt' exchange limit. Our refund authorization hotline proves its uselessness again (they're great when you already know what you need from them, but can be really bad if it's not a standard problem). So I give him the 1-800 number for returns and explain that he needs to call them to see what he needs to do. He listens carefully, asks a couple intelligent questions, and leaves calmly, a bit disappointed but willing to do it our way and try looking for the receipt.
Flash foward another week, to today. I recognize him as soon as he sets the box on the counter. He called the number, they sent him to the manufacturer, the manufacturer said return it to the store. So he's back at square one. I try refund authorization again, and this time get someone who tries to help--she can see the exchange, but because the exchange was paused, we get tripped up by a rare glitch. She can't give me the new receipt number, because it won't show up.
The poor guy was not only staying calm and reasonable himself, he was keeping his two-year-old son bubbly and entertained the whole time, NOT an easy task around dinnertime.
The lead on duty and I finally worked out something that let him do an exchange--since I was there for both previous transactions and Refund Authorization said they could see the exchange, we let him have the exact item again. He was very grateful and nice enough to be worried about us breaking policy! (Which we weren't really. Bending it pretty far, maybe, but not breaking it.)
Then, after all that hassle was done, he kept his promise to his son and bought him the Barney DVD the kid wanted as a reward for behaving in the store. I'm not sure why that little detail just made the whole thing perfect to me, but it did.
Two visits of 30 minutes each (not counting the original return), who-knows-how-long on the phone, and he still didn't turn into a SC? Why can't there be more people like that in the world?
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