Tags
Customer Service, Kozy Shack Rice Pudding, Little Rascals, Meijer, Returning Goods, Spoiled Milk
I’m sure everyone has a ‘consumer returns’ story or two to tell. I don’t ever recall returning anything back in the day growing up on the avenue. I usually just suck it up and chalk it up as a loss or lesson well-learned.
This past Sunday my wife went grocery shopping to a place she often visits, Meijer. It’s a huge shopping joint here in Michigan. You can get almost anything you wish, even gas. (A few years ago when my late mother Carol came out to visit us, she spent over 4 hours in there).
On Sunday, my wife picked up two containers of Kozy Shack Rice pudding. (hey, Pynn’s deli went under so it’s tough getting good pudding)
On Tuesday afternoon I cracked one of the containers open and shared it with our daughter Taylor. I dove into my bowl first…YUCK!
It was awful!
Totally sour. Like in the Little Rascals episode when they were all whispering to each other, ‘Don’t drink the milk, it’s spoiled’!
I looked over at Taylor who was now scoopping up her second spoonful of the creamy treat.
“Taylor, how does it taste?”
She turned and looked at me with the funniest mug ever.
“Here daddy, I don’t want it.” She explained as she lifted the bowl and passed it to me.
Usually Taylor can polish off a bowl of rice pudding within minutes, especially after school.
So last night I took the two tubs of pudding back to Meijer.
I approached the gentleman wearing the earring in one ear and neatly trimmed goatee at the customer service desk.
“Hey how ya doin?” I said as I placed the Meijer plastic bag in front of him on the counter.
To me, this guy was in a cranky mood already. It was around 10:30 PM and from looking behind him and noticing him glancing up at the clock on the wall he had clearly taken back a lot of returns; it was probably a long shift.
I was waiting for him to say something back to me but no greeting – no problem. (Maybe he missed the customer training orientation)
“My wife purchased this rice pudding Sunday night and they are sour.”
The guy looked at the two containers and NOT at me.
“You have a receipt?” he asked.
“No, I don’t.” I replied.
“Ok I can’t give you cash back, you wanna replace them?” he asked.
Like I wanted cash back? What is he a mind-reader now?
“I came in late last night, the desk was closed. I tried to replace them with the cashier but the four containers on the shelf were marked, Dec. 18th.”
Since it was Dec.16th, I decided to pass on the rice pudding until a fresh batch was delivered.
“You have a drivers license?” he then asked.
I looked at him for a second and thought to myself, ‘A drivers license! What am I getting pulled over by a cop for speeding’?
“I left my wallet out in my car, I gotta go get it.” I said to him.
Now mind you, this is Michigan and it’s 10:30 at night – it was a bit cold outside, not to mention there was snow everywhere.
“I’ll be right back.” I said. Again, no sound from the fella.
So I walked to my car and grabbed my wallet out of my car.
As I returned back to the counter and handed him my license, he started banging all these buttons on a computer in front of him, hawking my card. (maybe I had to be 21 to return something and the guy was making me feel good?)
‘Why the hell is this guy looking up my info’? I thought to myself.
‘Maybe he’s running my license to see if I have any outstanding tickets’?
Whatever this guy was doing, my attitude had gone from being very cordial and optimistic upon my arrival to perturbed.
While he was typing away my eyes wandered up to the wall behind him and I began to read their exchange policy; it wasn’t very long but there it was in white letters over a blue background; ‘NO RECEIPT REQUIRED FOR RETURNS ON FOOD’. No where in sight did it say anything about cash back.
So I’m like, ‘why did this schmuck ask me for a receipt‘? Was he flexing his Customer Service muscle? Maybe he felt like bullying me? Or better yet, he was letting his authoritative presence be known.
Finally, after five minutes he handed me a Meijer card.
I wasn’t going to let this guy make me feel like I was doing something wrong on the count of a product being spoiled; all l wanted to do was bring the pudding back; if I got my money back, cool. So I asked him why he was asking me all these questions.
He stared at me with the dumbest look, a blank expression shall we say.
He tried his best to explain himself and I told him how he needed to change his approach; I asked for a manager.
The manager was standing a few feet away privy to our issue/conversation.
She walked over and I explained what had happened.
‘Sir, we are required to ask many questions’, is what she told me.
So we went back and forth for a few minutes, in a calming fashion I may add.
I can see why she was the manager, she knew how to deal with customers.
The bottom line is, why is it that I have to be put through the interrogative process just for returning some rice pudding? I mean it’s not like I was returning an expensive product that had already been used.
-SF
Hoops135@hotmail.com
CONTAINER DIARIES 
TONYF16ST said:
Steve this is what happens when you give an asshole authority.
A while back I was in a local conveinent store with my daughter and an elderly gentleman who was ahead of me was returning a quart of milk that was sour. Well this kid was harrassing the shit out of the poor guy and talking very loudly about how old people think they can get over and how cheap this guy was being ” just ask me if you want more milk,don’t make beleive its sour so you can get free milk” at this point my Daughter looks at me with that this guys in deep shit isn’t he look and I tell her go get a half gallon container of milk and a loaf of white bread. I lean over and I whisper to the kid asshole take a sip of the milk and he looks at me like who the f@#k are you? So I say it louder this time and I add, do you have a grandfather?
Now my daughter comes back and I take the bread and milk give it to the man and tell him the clerk is throwing in the bread as a bonus for your inconveience isn’t that right pal?
Then I tell him tomorrow when I come in I’m telling your boss what happened and your gonna be history and the next day he was.
Jack Kelly said:
For some reason when you get out of the city crazy and unexplainable things occur. A few years ago after a day in Sesame Place. I went in to a store in PA to buy some beer. I was told that I can only buy two six packs. As I was being told this I noticed a guy going in and out of the store and each time he went out he had two six packs with him. I pointed to the guy and asked the clerk what that was all about and the clerk told me that you can come in as much as you like but you can only walk out with two six packs at a time. Needless to say after four trips I got the two cases I wanted. As I was paying for the last two and trying to make sense of all this the clerk looks at me and says with a smile “that wasn’t hard now was it”. I said “absolutely not and from all this excercising I just did going back and forth I’ll now have room for all that beer.”
Maureen Rice (Flanagan) said:
Too funny, I was reading this while I was on hold with Apple, trying to return my new IPod Nano, which DOESN’T WORK!!!
I had resisted the digital music age for a long time, but caved in recently. A musician that I really liked just released a new Gospel CD, and when I went to buy it, it is available for download now, and when the CD is pressed, they will send it. I am going to New Orleans on Saturday, and for the first time in a long time, I am not flying JetBlue. I figured I would load up my IPod for the flight. Anyway, the thing does not work. Lest you think it is my computer-challenged self, I verified this with a 19 year old computer whiz who works in our office! I headed over to the Apple store on 14th and 9th in the city. Man, talk about a changed neighborhood, every time I go there I still cannot believe it. Have you been to an Apple store? This one is 3 floors of glass and concrete. They have a circular staircase with glass slabs for steps. It is like a cult in there. All the staff are holding Apple Laptops, and they confront you as you walk in, what can I do for you? I tried explaining my problem, took out the IPod, and he says “Oh, wow, you got this wet!” I said, no, it has only been in my office, it has not been around water. He said again, “Oh this is what happens when you get it wet” Again, I tried telling him that was not the case. After he said it again, I told him “Look, I only had it in my office and I do not work in the aquarium!” So, he set me up with a consultation with one of the techs at the “Genius Bar” Try living up to that, talk about job pressure. Anyway, bottom line, they will send me a new one, but first I have to package the old one, call Fed-Ex to pick it up, they will not send new one til they get this one.
I thought that was not the best they could have done, it is a week til Christmas, I am leaving for 5 days on Saturday, I still haven’t finished my shopping. So I have one more thing to do. What really kills me is that this is their fault to begin with. Anyway, I spoke to the guy an hour ago, they were going to e-mail the Fed-Ex shipping label, I do not have it yet. I may be forced to call back and try to explain to the robot who answers the phone that no, he CANNOT help me, I need a live rep!!! So there, I hear ya coach, and once again, I must say that if this is my biggest problem in life, I am doing just fine 🙂 Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to all the bloggers, and all the readers.
vivian tahan mayrena said:
Hoops,
I see you sign SF,and I just read about your late mother Carol. My question is…did your mom ever worked in Timbose on 5th ave…if so I knew your mom she was a few years older then me…did she have at one time short reddish hair? I would hang out with her when she worked on 6th ave around the 40’s. Also, I would come over to the house…If that was your mom she was a good person, and I am sorry for your lost.
Vivian
Maureen Rice (Flanagan) said:
oh, there is really no need to post this long-winded commentary twice!
Jerry Cole said:
Coach,
Being a marketing guy, I know the value of solid customer service, when a product does not live up to your expectations “GOOD” companies want to hear about it. Years ago I learned the value of a well written letter sent to the right person.
I bought an expensive pair of cross-training sneakers from one sneaker manufacturer and after just a few weeks the sneakers were falling apart. I wrote a letter to the Director of Marketing and a week later they sent me an even more expensive pair of cross-trainers.
When returning something in person, there is no doubt that your end result depends on whether or not you are dealing with a person that cares about their job and more importantly knows that customer retention is all about getting good customer service.
Maureen, my daughter’s iPod crashed earlier this year. I was expecting to spend a nice chunk of change replacing it. So, I went to the Apple store in Freehold. The kid at the customer service area couldn’t have been nicer. I had my daughter explain the problem and then he looked at the iPod to see wat he could do. He tried about a dozen different methods to power it up and connect it to their computers. He looked up my account and saw that this iPod was ONE day past warranty. I figured; “great just my luck now I have to buy a new one.” He then notices that the account has two other iPods attached to it. He reaches into a drawer takes out a box with a brand new iPod and hands it to my daughter. I asked about the cost and warranty for replacement and he said; “it’s covered.” We thanked him an left the store. Without a doubt, service like this will bring me back to that store.
hoopscoach said:
TonyF,
You are right, all the guy had to do was just change his attitude and it wouldn’t a been a big deal.
Jack,
LOL. Same thing happened to me in PA. I was driving to NY and a girl behind the bar said the same exact thing – buy 2 and take them out to your car and come back in…
MO,
Twice as nice!
Vivian,
You got it right Thank you.
JC,
Good stuff. While getting my undergrad degree I worked at a sporting good store and the owner insisted we take all returns and make the customer happy. No wonder the guy is the best in the business.
Maureen Rice (Flanagan) said:
Update on my IPod saga, I had to call Apple back because they never e-mailed me the fed-ex postage. Now I got someone who told me they don’t do that, they will send out a package, when I get it, I will put the old (new) IPod in it, and then they will replace mine. I asked, what about e-mailing me the postage like the other guy said, he told me they never do that. I again expressed my displeasure at the whole situation, and he said, well ma’am any company can make a lemon!! I was astounded, I never once complained about the IPod not working, it was about the customer non-service. Jerry Cole, I hear you on your very different experience, it always seems that once something starts going south, it just escalates. So, this morning, I had 5 different e-mails from Apple, 2 of which included FED-EX postage! I am going to New Orleans tomorrow (maybe somewhat delayed due to the storm) and I will deal with my IPod when I get back. le bon ton roulez!! ( I am sure the spelling is wrong, translation- let the good times roll)
hoopscoach said:
Mo,
I just wish people in those positions were a lot more understanding. Make people’s day, know what I mean? If I ever worked in customer service I’d be the best. Just make people feel a bit better about their returns; what’s so hard about that?
jimmy vack said:
I used to rave about Sears. Whenever we needed paint, appliances, sporting goods, and even tires I went to Sears. Then about 10 years ago, they went downhill, we bought a refrigerators that did not work and the replacement did not work. once we got that fixed, I bought a shed and a lawnmower. When I went to pick it up, they took out the wronf shed. I told the sales guy, he will deliver the correct shed and mower to my house free of charge or I will cancel
the order and contact the district manager. He returned it.
Tony, I was in a deli getting breakfast in lwer manhattan and this a(**was cusrsing outthis young lady whohe said overcharged him and she told him the prices changed. The guy called her a bitch. I asked him did he have a daughter or a neice her age and would he like some a**h*le calling her that word. He said who the (**& are you? I said,” I am her uncle who has a very short temper and a very long reach.. He took his breakfast and left. My “neice” gave me my breakfast for free!!
I am with you Jerry, I appreciate good customer service and have no tolerance for bad. In a school assignment in college, I wrote 20 companies, criticizing or praising products, I was amazed how much coupons, letters, and free stuff I got…
Fátima Joaquina Anabel said:
I have not checked in here for a while since I thought it was getting boring, but the last handful of posts are really great quality so I guess I will add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend. 🙂