Am I being totally unreasonable?

saw50st8

Thu, May 12 2016, 11:56 am

Fox wrote:

Despite the fact that all of us claim we value customer service, retailers in America have learned that we're lying through our teeth. We shop based on price with one eye on quality. If a similar store opens down the street and sells the same merchandise for 10 percent less, all the great customer service in the world won't save them.

I often buy my kids shoes at Nordstrom because they guarantee the shoes will last. I'm willing to pay more there because they fit the shoes well and stand by the products. Yes I pay more, but it's worth it (I didn't do that last time and both my kids shoes were trashed in 1 month but there was nothing I could do). I buy things at Costco for the same reason.

FranticFrummie

Thu, May 12 2016, 12:10 pm

I make one of a kind items, and operate on a very narrow margin of profit, so theoretically I can see where the shop is coming from, but...

There's an old saying, "You can be right, or you can be happy." The shop is technically right, but if the customer is not happy, then the shop owner will not be happy in the long run.

I'll accept a return on an item that I sold last year, for a repair, replacement, or refund. In 20 years, I've had to do this maybe 5 times, but those customers turned out to be the best and most loyal. They come back and place large orders on a regular basis, and every birthday, wedding, and bas mitzvah, they think of me first. Not only that, they tell all of their friends, too.

Was it worth having to restring a necklace that was handled too roughly by the customer's child? O heck yes!

Raisin

Thu, May 12 2016, 12:15 pm

I'm sorry, but while I might shop in such a store for myself, I would hesitate about buying items that I am not sure about, and I would certainly never buy a baby gift there. Or any gift. When I get a baby gift I make sure it is from a store with a good return policy. However exquisite my taste, its extremely probably that 3 other people got the same outfit.

Miri7

Thu, May 12 2016, 1:13 pm

I agree with saw50st8. I've begun shopping more and more from Nordstrom, especially for gifts, because they are AMAZING about exchanges. I discovered this when I was returning a gift from my MIL, couldn't find something I wanted and got a call to come pick up a sick child. When I told the salesperson that I would come back later to do the return, she said I could just do the return and she would give me cash.

WOW! That was so nice. Since then, I order baby gifts online and send to the new parents, knowing that they can bring the item back in 6 months and not get any flack about returning or exchanging. I understand that local shops need to have reasonable return policies so they don't get stuck with out of date merch, but not exchanging one color baby hat for another to a good regular customer is just shooting yourself in the foot.

OP, I would call and speak with the manager. Explain how much you like to shop there, how you walked out on a $1000 purchase because they wouldn't let you change the color on a baby hat. Seriously. The owner/manager needs to know this because if they keep this up they will go out of business fast. Think of the thousands of dollars of lost business you represent to them.