Never Give A Sucker An Even Break

There's just no reason to make a fist and Sucker Punch your customers face. Return policies these days seem to have been written by the companies' numbers Guy, sitting in a black box with a calculator with nothing in mind other than the bottom line of each transaction. The companies are all sorts of stops in place to prevent customers from being happy.

Some of the most blatant sucker punches I see regularly are:

* No returns without original receipt (even in stores with sophisticated POS systems that can recover the transactions by credit card)
* No cash refunds. Store credit only
* Restocking fee
* Mail In Rebates. Another questionable tactic where retailers know that only a small percentage of people actually go through the hoops to get discounts.

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My wife and I used the gift registry services to several national retailers for both our wedding and the birth of our first child. For these two events, we have brought thousands of dollars of business each store. To thank us, a shop refused to issue us a $ 40 dollar refund for a return as we only had a gift receipt, not the original. (I still can not understand that one ... Why create a gift receipt if customers can not use it?). Another allowed us to exchange only the return of the $ 20 dollar for items from the same department in the store.

So we fought back. . . through word of mouth. As young people in their twenties, we have personally taken countless couples and parents for making the same mistakes gift registry we did. We made friends with legitimate retailers that we had great experiences with, and deter them from registering with the shaded two of the cluster. Between the two stores, a total of $ 70 million in refunds, they have lost a minimum of $ 20,000 from sales of my friend's wedding and birth records.

Word of mouth can make or break your company, and negative experiences like those above are the best way to tip the balance toward imminent death.

Getting Even it "wronger"

Transactions are not right for business owners. When you open your doors (or launch your website, in this day and age), you are not guaranteed that everyone will buy from you. So why the hell do you act like you do for a customer to serve?

At least once a week, I am outraged by the service provided to me supposedly reputable companies. Many fast foods are known for that, but recently, this phenomenon has spread to clothing retailers and grocery stores. Phenomenon? I call them "non-speakers".

No speakers are cashiers and store clerks who look into your eyes. They just walk when you make eye contact with them to try to mark them for help, and act as they did not see you even though you know they did. At the checkout, they do not acknowledge or make pleasant conversation. They do not even say hello. They scan your items, your total purchase, and stick in hand to pay without even telling you what you need. If you are crazy enough to make a purchase with a speaker no-show, you can actually make it through the whole line and at the door without saying anything or being spoken to.

I am the sworn enemy of the person who speaks without. I will not let them get away with it. I their pain by speaking directly to them, ask questions, and short of physical which makes them look at me, I do everything in my power to recognize me as a customer. If they do not soften, I stop by the office manager on my way and let them know my displeasure with the breaking level of service I receive.

In the virtual world of retail.