Sam’s Club Black Friday Surprise!

Company: Sam’s Club

Item/Department: Club Store

Do they want my business? Yes

Tuesday before “Black Friday” I am grabbing last minute supplies for our holiday dinner. Walking through the store I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made me stop dead in my tracks. They had the Nintendo DSi game units out on a table for sale at the “Black Friday” sales prices. Going over to the table I had to grab two for my children. I asked the employee a few questions about the units and the sale – and whooo hooo! I was set. No need to get up early in the morning before the dairy farmers to get them.

After grabbing the needed dinner items I head to the check out. Beep, beep, beep – they scanned away on everything in my cart. Beep, beep, beep, buzzzzzzz.  Buzzzzzz. The DSi units would not scan. The cashier calls the front end manager. She comes over and says she cannot sell them to me. It is not black friday yet. I asked her why they were out on the tables, and marked with the sale prices. She could not give me an answer that made any sense. Politley I asked is she would contact the store manager and hold them for me. I waited half heartedly, expecting to hear  “No, I am sorry we cannot.”

The management team came right over, asked if these were the colors we wanted, and then our contact information. They were going to hold them for us because it was their mistake.

Surprise – they got it. They solved the problem. They wanted my business – and they got that too.

Sally Beauty Special – some items not so special

Company: Sally Beauty

Item/Department: Online Store – Missing Flat Iron

Do they want my business? No

Found a great online holiday special from the folks at Sally Beauty on their website.  Went ahead and ordered this cool set that included: Glossing Polish, Cosmetic Bag, Turbo Dryer, Mini Curling Iron,  and a Flat Iron…  The box came today. When I opened it, the Flat Iron and Cosmetic Bag were missing from the set. The packing slip noted that they were not setup in the shipping warehouse.

Why would they not tell you that when you got the order confirmation? Why not tell you before the shipping? Those items were part of the set which was earmarked for a gift. Now, I am shorted promised products.

I will be sending them back tomorrow, and finding someone else who can keep their beautiful promises.

>> Update 12.9.2010<<

Took the items back to the local brick and mortar like their website staff directed. The local store has no idea how to process the returns. I have to go back tomorrow, and see if they figured it out.

>> Update 12.12.2010<<

Still no call from them, Looks like a road trip to the store yet again.

Charred and Broiled

Company: Char-Broil

Item/Department: Quantum Grill

Do they want my business? No

Late this summer I had to buy a new grill for the backyard. The one we bought 8 years ago finally died. Well, actually, I almost did. Or at least lose my eye brows. The cast iron burners had rusted into powder. Thank goodness I opened the lid, removed the grates and looked before I engaged the electric starter. It would have looked like Homer Simpson lighting his grill.

After a lot of shopping, and learning about grills, I purchased the Char-Broil Quantum Three-burner Dual Fuel Grill with Flush-lidded Sideburner. I love the grill. It does an amazing job cooking everything on it. It maybe snowing, but I am still “Grillin.”

While I love the unit, it has had a ton of problems. The Infrared tub rusted in just 2-weeks. Char-broil replaced that very quickly.  After 4 weeks, the porcelain grates began rusting and the decals around the dials began peeling off. I contacted customer service and they told me – I had to pay shipping on the porcelain  cast iron grates (those baby’s weigh a ton) and they could not replace the stainless steel grill front with the decals.  Are you kidding me? It is just four weeks into the grill. I just want the decals. Not the front. No one in that company had a solution to the decals coming off? Add to that I had to pay for their grates that were rusting?

Four Months Later – still trying to get them to fix their issues and a big no from them. Can you believe it? The thing cooks great, but they have some operational issues in making the thing.

1> Rusting Infrared Tub (the replaced)
2> Rusting Grates (they will not replace at their cost)
3> Dial Temp Decals Fell Off (they have no decals to replace them).

Looks like they charred and broiled me. You can be sure that since they really don’t want to keep me as a customer, that they won’t.

Toys-R-(Not)Us Express

Company: Toys-R-Us Express

Item/Department: Express Stores

Do they want my business? No

I have to admit it. I was excited to hear that a Toys-R-Us Express location was opening a couple miles from home. No longer would I have to make the 40 minuute trek to the “Big” store over by the mall. That place is always crazy, and when the holidays come – well, sanity is no longer possible for the masses.   Finally – a smaller store near by.  Blow the trumpets and let the celebration begin.

Just this past week I had to get a gift. Toys-R-Us (TRU) was running a special on some current Nintendo DSI Games that were current releases. I ran to my TRU Express location to save my self time, gas and sanity. When I arrived to the 6,000 sq. ft. store in a very expensive “Lifestyle” outdoor shopping center I was shocked. The toys inside we not the front line toys. It was like walking into a cheap clearance center. No where to be seen were Star Wars Legos, No Dora the Explorer, No ZuZu Pets, – Not a thing any kid has on their shopping list.

Even the electronic games for Wii, PS3, DSI – were all the old games which are now regularly priced under $9.00

What a waste of marketing, funds, high profile retail space, staff and more. You would think that all the time, effort, funds and support to open the TRU Express locations, that that they would have all the top, most requested items in those stores. Why else would you open those express locations in those areas? A great idea that was totally wasted.

Now, with everyone shopping for the holidays and looking to take advantage of the new TRU Express locations, I am sure that most will not be returning, and even more will think twice about their TRU experiences.

Best Buy’s No-RewardZone Offer

Company: Best Buy

Item/Department: Premier Silver Members RewardZone

Do they want my business? No

We have bough enough “Stuff” from Best Buy that we now qualify for their silver level of the Rewardzone. It is supposed to give you exclusive opportunities to save, priavte shopping events and other cool things. It soulds like a great program to reward those regular customers who frequent the store and provide them with cash in exchange for electronic goods.

A coupon just came in the mail and we were excited. It said that we could get a $50 gift card with a purchase of $500. We already planned on a purchase of over $300. This was perfect.

I need to point out a few things about the coupon. It is printed in a grey scale ink that makes it hard to read even in the brightest of lights. The front also says you can get the offers into your smart phone by texting them a “code.” It also notes standard text rates apply. Why print it if no one can read it. While I am at it, why the whole texting thing? Why not use a Microsoft Tag on the coupon so that folks could just use their smartphones and the offer would come right up? Best Buy may not realize this, but a store that offers the latest and greatest computers, smartphones, interactive TV’s and more – they should catch up and start using Tags. Shoot the Microsoft program is even free.

Ok, back to my shopping adventure. We get to the store, pick up the PS3, and start adding things to hit the $500. A new set of phones for the house, some PS3 accessories (the new movement controllers), and more. Head up to the register, ring it all in – over $600 (and a free gift card right?)! The employee rings it in, and we find out there is no gift card. We ask why and the front end supervisor gives us all kinds of excuses. We decided to just but the PS3, and leave the other $300 of merchandise in the store.

On the way out, we decided to stop by the manager and let him know what happened. When we look at the coupon’s back (again printed in gray that is hard to read) we find out just about everything in the store is excluded. Shoot – they might have made it easier to say buy $500 of CD’s and DVD’s to get the offer.

What is the purpose of the offer to “Silver Level” Rewardzone members if it really cannot be used for much? As they say on Saturday Night Live’s sketch…. “Really?!”

From the back of the coupon…. offer excludes the following items:
Bose Audio, Polk Audio, Sony Blue-ray players, insignia, Dynex and Sony TV’s, laptops and desktop computers, netbooks, apple iPads, iMacs and Macbooks, monitors, internal hard drives, computer software, computer subscription software, in-Home Geek Squad Service, VoIP, Broadband, Desktop packages, Apple computing accessories, Wacom tablets, Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune MP3 player, Sony TX9, HX1, & WX1 Cameras, Sony D-SLR cameras, lenses and flashes, Sony camcorders, unlocked phones, contract mobile phones, mobile broadband cards, Fender, Squier, Marshall, Korg, Shure and Vox musical instruments, select Roland, Gibson, Epiphone, Boss and Edirol musical instruments, video game hardware, air conditioners, fans and dehumidifiers, Magnolia Home Theater products, Bose, MartinLogan, Sony S.U.R.E and JVC Procision TV merchandise, Sonos and SpeakerCraft Audio merchandise, Control4 merchandise and all the clearance, openbox, etc. disclaimers.

Flavorless Coal Oven

Company: Tony Sacco’s

Item/Department: Caprese, Garlic Rotolis, 12″ Bianco Pizza

Do they want my business? No

Today I went out to lunch with my wife and we decided to visit a pizza place that was fairly new to our area.  We were hoping it would be as good as Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria in Atlanta, GA.

While the service was good, we found their food to be lacking in flavor and apparently leaving the best parts of the meal back in the kitchen. Lunch started with Garlic Rotolis (Garlic Knots). The portion was large, and they tasted reasonable. They were not like the Garlic Knots you get back in NY. What I would give to get those fresh here in IN.

Next came our Caprese. My wife and I love tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. It is such a light and flavorful salad. Sadly, when the 7″ plate came, it had what looked like one small Roma tomato cut into see through pieces with a “nugget” of mozzarella cut into variable sized pieces. They were topped with a drizzle of olive oil and a few shreds of basil. Not worth the $8 they charged.

Pizza time! the 12″ Bianca (traditional white pizza) was bland at best. it lacked any kind of flavor at all.  It was just shredded mozzarella and a few globs of ricotta. It could have at least used a touch of garlic in that mix some place. Maybe even a bit of seasoning on the crust.

I think Max’s will remain the standard for the best Coal Fired Pizzeria. They know how to do it right.

Hurray! I can get down the Aisles at Wal-Mart.

Company: Wal-Mart
Item/Department: Entire Store

Do they wany my business?   Yes

Finally, after years of trying to navigate between dozens of pallets, displays, carts and more in the aisles of Wal-Mart, they have cleared the paths. No longer am I nearly smashing a child darting out of the toys section, diving between other shoppers like a NASCAR race while trying to get the items I need.

The store now has wide aisles, lots of light. It is clean, and organized.  The people shopping are now focused on the items in the store instead of trying to avoid a 9 cart pile up in the cleaning supplies area.  I know the more relaxed atmosphere will have shoppers opening their wallets a bit more. Let’s face it. The need to get out of the store faster than the speed of light is gone.

It should also benefit the company because it is now harder for shoplifters to find a hidden corner to complete their evil task.

Store security should also see less of those hit and run situations in the store where someone leaves a cart unattended for a short time in those crowded aisles.

Now, if they could just do something about having 29 registers, with only 2 open and and lines longer than Disney. I wonder if Wal-Mart has a “Fast Pass” program?

How can the deli be out of stock for over 2 weeks?

Company: Kroger
Item/Department: Deli

Do they wany my business?   No

Two items that are nearly constantly on feature/focus at the Kroger Deli are the Boar’s Head Everroast Chicken and Pastrami. They also happen to be the items my kids eat for lunch at school.

Sadly, for more than 2 weeks they have been out of the products and they are unable to tell me when they will arrive back in the store. I have been visiting the store and buying small amounts of turkey at the deli for my kids lunches. Each time I am hoping a delivery has arrived and peace will return to my home and children’s lunches.

Maybe they want me to go find another grocer/deli that offers the Boar’s Head products we prefer?

Tired of business as usual!

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of business as usual. Have businesses forgotten about the customer? Do the really connect with us?

Every day I am feeling more and more like they view us as automatronic units that are expected to just hand over cash everytime they run an advertisement.  The know our basic needs, so they can treat us with no concern. We are going to buy those items anyway.

So many times the stores you visit, the companies you use for services, just do not care about connecting with you any more. They spend hours on charts, spreadsheets, focus groups and specialists figuring out what you want. Yet, they never ask you, they never listen and worst of all they never keep their promises. They all claim stellar customer service and their widgets are the best in the world.

It is time for a change.

I will share with you my observations and experiences with you.  We can all win from this. If you are a customer, you will start to see the businesses that want your money will take better care of you. If you are a business, you will have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others and leap to the from of the pack.