Highs and Lowe’s
I’d like to share one of the few pieces of advice that I can offer that has stood me well through life: If a branch of a chain store dicks you over, call their head office.
I learned this when I worked in a branch of Comet. When we screwed up—and it seemed that almost daily someone would, for example, forget to book a delivery for a customer—we’d make vague stabs at the branch level to make it right. However, if the customer was shouting and being a git, we’d just be stubborn gits back and try to help as little as possible.
If a customer called Comet Head Office, on the other hand, and complained to customer care, we’d get phone calls at the branch insisting that we had to immediately bend over backwards to make things right. Just re-arranging the delivery for later in the week wasn’t good enough—We had to get that forgotten item out there today!
I had a chance to put this into action today. (Rant alert) Joy & I attempted to buy a washing machine and tumble dryer on Saturday, as the washer we inherited with the house had packed in. We went to Lowe’s, since we had a 10%-off coupon, and went through an hour-long charade where we’d select a washer and/or a dryer, a salesperson would disappear out back for 5–10 minutes, then we’d be told that they were out of stock.
(Aside: I asked a salesman if we could buy the machine off the shop floor. “Oh, we don’t sell those,” I was told. “That would leave gaps on the floor.” Apparently, it’s better to have a full display of washers you can’t sell, than only display the ones you can.)
Eventually we settled on a washer that the computer claimed was out of stock, but three salespeople had independently verified was actually in the trailer out back. The delivery was booked for Tuesday, and I arranged to work from home for the day.
Fast forward to 8.30 this morning, when someone from Lowe’s left a voicemail (since I slept through the phone ringing) to say that they didn’t have the washer in stock, so they couldn’t do the delivery today.
I called the store back immediately, and tried to speak to the person who’d left the message. After being passed from person to person who couldn’t help, then listening to a ringing phone for 20 minutes, I called back again and asked to speak to the manager. I spoke to someone who told me that they had absolutely checked for the machine, it wasn’t there, someone must have sold it, no stores nearby had one, there was nothing he could do. I asked for their head office number, and he gave me some 800 number that I was sure went to a call center in the arse of nowhere. So I went a-googling.
(It’s important to note: You must call “Head Office”. You need to speak to someone in the same building as all the management. The number is almost guaranteed not to be on the corporate website—Instead check out Hoovers.com or Forbes.)
Sure enough, at 9am, I found myself speaking to Karen in head office, who listened to my complaint, apologised (she was the first person to actually do this!), then assured me that she would call back within an hour “with good news”.
45 minutes later, Karen called back. “The store’s agreed to make a free upgrade to one of two washers they have in stock, which they can deliver this afternoon. They’ll call you soon with details.” Hurrah for head office!
Of course, a minute or two later the store called back, and miraculously, had managed to find the washer we ordered. Someone would be out with it this afternoon.
Sure enough, at 4pm a truck arrived bearing our new appliances.
What followed involved our basement door being ripped out, our old washer + dryer being carted out, our new washer being installed, our old dryer being re-installed, a spigot spraying, a waste pipe falling apart, water all over our basement, and me & Joy needing to call a plumber. But that rant can wait til tomorrow. Let’s just say that Karen in Head Office will be receiving another call from me bright and early.
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