2.04.2006

what would YOU do?

check this out and tell me if i'm crazy.

i just got back from a birthday lunch with my mom and a couple of my friends. one of them was nice enough to give me a gift certificate to a yarn store i have been going to for years.

i was showing my presents to my hubby and suddenly realized i was missing the gift certificate. stupid me left it on the table inside an envelope. i called the restaurant and spoke with our server. she remembered throwing out some envelopes after we left. when she went back to retrieve them from the kitchen she was told the garbage had already been dumped.

sooo, i decided to call the yarn store to see if they might understand my dilemma. luckily, the owner answered the phone...i thought: she knows me, she knows i'm a good customer...surely she'll understand and offer to reissue the certificate. it was worth a shot, right?

i told her if she would be willing to do it, i would come in and spend the $20 certificate PLUS buy double that in yarn for a knitting class i'm teaching next thursday. she was like, we don't do that...we don't keep track of gift certificates. then, she said, i know you are a good customer and i know you aren't lying, but i can't just can't afford to do that. (yeah. right. whatever.)

ok, it was $20 worth of yarn, not $100 i was talking about. plus, i've spent a ton of money in that shop over the years, AND sent my friends there. i realize it was my fault to have left the gift certificate in the restaurant, but am i out of line to think she should have cut me some slack?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

she is definitly out of line. I would call and say it was really bad customer service. Since she can't afford to cut you some slack(hasn't the person already paid for it?)you can no longer in good faith come to her yarn store and spend your money!!!!!Nor advise your friends to do so. Is this the grumpy store I've been to?

laura said...

She should have cut you some slack. Since even she admits she KNOWS you aren't lying, what exactly is she losing? She has already been paid for the yarn by the person who paid for the GC. Could you perhaps contact the person who gave you the GC and ask them if they bought it on a card and could they dispute the claim?
That way she doesn't get money for merchandise no one got. Also, I would never shop there again. Even if it meant I bought my yarn at Wal-mart for the rest of my life.

Chris said...

I think Laura has the right idea - ask the gifter is she has a receipt or put it on a card and see if you can go from there.

Major bummr, tho. Pretty majorly bad customer service, too. I'm willing to bet this isn't something that she has people breaking down her do with everyday...

Jane M. said...

Miss Kate, of course she should have given you the stupid 20 bucks. For the love of Pete.

Jane M. said...

Wait a minute! Birthday lunch? Did I miss your birthday?

Anonymous said...

you know, we knitters are pretty easy to please, if the LYS has decent yarn ,a smile to just acknowledge our presence in their shop....we are loyal to the bone in dropping our money there. But for crying out loud...she went out of her way to give bad service. BAAAAD yarn juju, it will come back on her!!!

Laura said...

I agree with the others. If she doesn't help you out, that's like free money for her. And shops generally make out like bandits on gift cards/gift certificates anyway (people never use them, time value of money, etc.). So you'd think that she could do this for a regular customer. If your friend bought it with a credit card, I would have her start there. They might replace it for her, or at least give her back her money. I hope you have more than one LYS!

Anonymous said...

There is the possiblitiy that she thinks someone else might find the gift certificate and present it. Was your name written on the gift certificate? Probably not. In any case, she should have given you the value of the certificate, given a markup of 50% it would only cost her $10.00 to keep you happy. I wouldn't shop there anymore.

PuNk rAwK pUrL said...

at MY yarn shop, we track the gc's, it's not a lot of work & it makes it easier to help people when little things like LIFE happen. BUT most importantly... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! are you 21, finally old enough to drink? ; )
Or as my bf wrote on the evite last year "come celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Tammy's 30th birthday". love that man!

Anonymous said...

First, Happy Belated Birthday.. and I agree. She definitely should have cut you some slack. WTH? Was your name on the Gift Cert? And what kind of shop doesn't keep track of their GCs? That just sucks.

Anonymous said...

If you can get your mom's friend to find the receipt, it would help. The shop owner should cut you some slack. Come on, $20? And you're a regular? And she doesn't keep track of the gift certificates? Maybe it's time to go to another LYS. You should tell her why.

- MJ

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