It's 5 years old, but nobody said it had an expiry date

[Ree]

A guy came in a week or so ago with a tube of caulking that, according to our price ticket was over 5 years old, and almost 6 years old. He claimed it was all hard in the tube.

He had no receipt.

In fact, he didn't even know where he bought it, because he had taken it to another of the stores in our chain and they told him he had to bring it back to us once they looked at the ticket. (I have no idea why they didn't just explain that, without a receipt, he was probably SOL, and the fact that it was 5 years old probably wasn't helping.)

Anyway, it was explained to him at our store, but he wasn't taking no for an answer.
He admitted it was probably 5 years old, and that's why he couldn't find the receipt, but the tube didn't have an expiry date on it, and nobody told him that it had a shelf life, so we owed him a tube of caulking.

Umm...if it was 5 years old, how do we know the inked stamp didn't rub off or wear off at some point.

All caulking manufactured by our company has a batch code on it, and this one didn't, so if there was no batch code, it's not unlikely that the expiry date would be missing as well.

Not only that, but we only have his word for it that the tube was just opened.

He demanded the name of someone at head office.

That's when it all fell on my lap...again.

I called the manager on his phone, and he was in a pissy mood, so I got my head taken off.
He said, "No..that's our policy. If he doesn't have a receipt, he can't get a refund or replacement, and he especially can't get it after 5 years."

I explained that he wasn't going willingly, and wanted a name.
I got a snippy answer again, "If he wants to call **** ******** at head office, then he can. Just give him the number."

I did that.

I got thinking about it, though, and I figured I needed to give the guy at HO a head's up, as well as our side of the story.

I could not believe it.
Well, I guess I can.

He took the customer's side, and I got made to feel like an idiot because, "It seems stupid to force a customer away over less than $5."

I made sure he knew that I had discussed it with the manager, and it was on his instructions.

[Peppergirl]

He took the customer's side

Hence the reason SCs everywhere are allowed to continue to abuse the system...it's encouraged by nitwit home offices like yours!

"It seems stupid to force a customer away over less than $5."

Perhaps this idiot is unfamiliar with the term 'customer'? After all, doesn't one have to actually purchase goods from any given establishment in order to be a customer??

This guy admitted he didn't know if he bought it there, but insisted on money back and his scamming-ass was validated by your company.

Nice.

I don't know how you kept from throwing the phone...seriously!

[JLRodgers]

After all, doesn't one have to actually purchase goods from any given establishment in order to be a customer??

That's what I was going to ask

But how is sending someone away who isn't buying anything, but wants a replacement for something "bad"?

[Ree]

What ticks me off is that, if I tried to write up a claim through HO, I would be asked a purchase date, and would be expected to have a receipt.

Also, even if the dude did have a receipt, as soon as I entered it on the claim, it would spit it back out at me and say that it is too old to process, and the claim would be denied because of the shelf life of the product.

For the record, the guy never got his refund or replacement and he left, pissed off and vowing to call the dude at HO.

That's why I decided to call first. (Who knows what the customer was going to tell him.)
That's when I got the lecture about losing a customer over less than $5.

I still haven't heard if the guy called or not.

[blas]

Not to sound like an idiot, but what is caulking?

[Ree]

It's a waterproof sealer or filler that you put around windows and doors, or the bathtub or grout.

It's made out of latex or acrylic, and it cures over time and hardens, so it's rather stupid of him not to realize there is a shelf life on it.

[blas]

I see, thank you for clarifying. Yes, that does sound dumb.

[Chromatix]

So... he had "hard caulk"?

[Ree]

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be pronounced "cock" or if the "l" gets pronounced.

In my area, it's just pronounced "cock".

They still tease me from a while ago, when I was working on freight, and my job was to price case lots and bulk stuff.

One of the guys asked me what he could get for me and I said, "Give me all the caulk you've got and I'll do it."



Yeah, they roared laughing at me for a bit, and one of the young guys still jokes about me being a "perv".

[Rapscallion]

Chromatix beat me to it, but missed http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/d/20090112.html as well.

Rapscallion

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

"It seems stupid to force a customer away over less than $5."

Last time I checked, a customer was somebody who actually spent money someplace, not somebody who thinks he spent money someplace.

Nice to see that your company is willing to shrink itself into Chapter 13 just to placate the almighty "customer". I bet he never even bought the caulk at your store.

[Ree]

Well, we are one of the last dinosaurs who still put price tickets on our stuff.
The tickets have our store number and the date received.

The ticket was from our store, but the date was over 5 years old.
That's why the other store sent them to us.

Our company, storewide, has a policy that we can take back anything from another store in our chain as long as there is a receipt. If we don't sell it in our store, we can just send it back to HO. If it's defective, we write up a claim and get our money back.

The fact that the guy didn't have a receipt is probably why the other store didn't just deal with it.

[tamezin]

I could not believe it.
Well, I guess I can.

He took the customer's side, and I got made to feel like an idiot because, "It seems stupid to force a customer away over less than $5."

I made sure he knew that I had discussed it with the manager, and it was on his instructions.

Your home office doesn't have to deal with the day to day. They have to deal with the numbers. Bottom line is, if it takes a 5 dollar exchange to keep a customer satisfied, and this person isn't someone who has been a repeat offender, then they will likely always take the customer's side. This whole dispute had already cost the company more than 5 dollars in wasted resources.