I Hate Macy’s
I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this about myself, but I really can’t stand Macy’s. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s just the one near my house or Macy’s in general, but I can’t hate shopping there. Now, in the past, I’ve gone there with all three kids, and sure enough, things take too long, and the kids break down, and I can’t get out of there quickly enough. I certainly can’t blame the store for that. Well, if they had a mini restaurant or something there where I could get them a little snack – and make them a little extra money – it might help, but I won’t hold that against them.
I went there today with several items to return (the fact that there were so many returns ought to say something, but let’s just chalk it up to difference in styles, and overlook for now the fact that the two toys that were purchased there – for a combined $90 – broke within 2 hours of opening them, through no fault of the kids). So I’ve got these 2 toys and a kid’s outfit, a woman’s sweater, and a men’s sweater. And I go to one of the “Customer Service” desks to make my returns.
“These will have to be returned upstairs,” the lady says immediately looking at the children's toys and clothes.
“Well, I have something from this department,” I tell her (this is something that someone told me once before when telling me she couldn’t handle my return at the counter closest to the door, thus forcing me to go all the way upstairs to another identical counter in another department).
“Fine, but these will have to be returned upstairs,” she repeats, pointing to the toys and kid’s outfit.
Now, I’m not sure if this is my being a bitch or just being assertive when faced with an asinine store policy, but I decided not to go upstairs for the return.
“What’s the point of shopping in one store if I can’t make all my returns in one place?” I was very polite when I said this.
The other lady agreed to take all the returns (mind you, there were no other customers waiting in line at this point, neither one was helping anyone else, and they were getting paid to be there). In the end, she managed to credit the items to my mom’s credit card, which I didn’t have on me, without a receipt, which, for a couple of the items, I didn’t have on me (not on purpose; I was digging through my purse the whole time looking for it).
Afterwards, I did end up going upstairs to the children’s department anyhow to use up the damn gift cards we had received, but still. So I went upstairs, bought just enough stuff to use up the gift cards (and pay $2.38 in cash rather than leave cash on the cards), discovering in the process that the Extra 20% Off card with barely any restrictions doesn’t apply to regular priced items. Kind of sneaky use of the word Extra, if you ask me. It’s those regular priced items that I’d like to get cheaper.
I know this isn’t some horror story. Pretty mundane, actually. But I was thinking about it the whole drive home. In this day of “The customer is always right,” I feel like Macy’s has policies that are more convenient for the employees than the shoppers. The first lady (who didn’t help me) showed me that rather than help me, she’s happy to stand around and do nothing for her money. The second lady (who did help me) showed me that Macy’s refusal to allow returns in one spot is more a policy than a restriction on their systems. They can do it; they just choose not to. And to make me feel like they were doing me a favor by doing so?! That’s kinda low.
If their computer systems are capable of handling returns anywhere, and the employees are trained to handle returns anywhere, then it’s mere laziness if they don’t handle returns anywhere. Why should I carry the merchandise upstairs for them? Why can’t the other lady, who was just standing around anyhow (did I mention she was getting paid to be there), carry the items upstairs? I’m not suggesting that people who work in retail don’t work hard and get tired, especially this time of year. I am usually rather considerate and will go out of my way to help others. So to get me to think this of an employee makes me mad. If Macy’s really doesn’t want to have items from different departments lying around everywhere, perhaps they could just have one customer service desk that handles all returns. It’s been done before, and people accept that concept pretty readily.
Anyhow, enough venting. Just do me a favor. If you’re going to buy me a gift, please don’t get me anything from Macy’s. In case I don’t like it (or it’s not my size, or I already have one), I don’t want to have to go back there. It’s hard to boycott a place when you’re forced to return.
I went there today with several items to return (the fact that there were so many returns ought to say something, but let’s just chalk it up to difference in styles, and overlook for now the fact that the two toys that were purchased there – for a combined $90 – broke within 2 hours of opening them, through no fault of the kids). So I’ve got these 2 toys and a kid’s outfit, a woman’s sweater, and a men’s sweater. And I go to one of the “Customer Service” desks to make my returns.
“These will have to be returned upstairs,” the lady says immediately looking at the children's toys and clothes.
“Well, I have something from this department,” I tell her (this is something that someone told me once before when telling me she couldn’t handle my return at the counter closest to the door, thus forcing me to go all the way upstairs to another identical counter in another department).
“Fine, but these will have to be returned upstairs,” she repeats, pointing to the toys and kid’s outfit.
Now, I’m not sure if this is my being a bitch or just being assertive when faced with an asinine store policy, but I decided not to go upstairs for the return.
“What’s the point of shopping in one store if I can’t make all my returns in one place?” I was very polite when I said this.
The other lady agreed to take all the returns (mind you, there were no other customers waiting in line at this point, neither one was helping anyone else, and they were getting paid to be there). In the end, she managed to credit the items to my mom’s credit card, which I didn’t have on me, without a receipt, which, for a couple of the items, I didn’t have on me (not on purpose; I was digging through my purse the whole time looking for it).
Afterwards, I did end up going upstairs to the children’s department anyhow to use up the damn gift cards we had received, but still. So I went upstairs, bought just enough stuff to use up the gift cards (and pay $2.38 in cash rather than leave cash on the cards), discovering in the process that the Extra 20% Off card with barely any restrictions doesn’t apply to regular priced items. Kind of sneaky use of the word Extra, if you ask me. It’s those regular priced items that I’d like to get cheaper.
I know this isn’t some horror story. Pretty mundane, actually. But I was thinking about it the whole drive home. In this day of “The customer is always right,” I feel like Macy’s has policies that are more convenient for the employees than the shoppers. The first lady (who didn’t help me) showed me that rather than help me, she’s happy to stand around and do nothing for her money. The second lady (who did help me) showed me that Macy’s refusal to allow returns in one spot is more a policy than a restriction on their systems. They can do it; they just choose not to. And to make me feel like they were doing me a favor by doing so?! That’s kinda low.
If their computer systems are capable of handling returns anywhere, and the employees are trained to handle returns anywhere, then it’s mere laziness if they don’t handle returns anywhere. Why should I carry the merchandise upstairs for them? Why can’t the other lady, who was just standing around anyhow (did I mention she was getting paid to be there), carry the items upstairs? I’m not suggesting that people who work in retail don’t work hard and get tired, especially this time of year. I am usually rather considerate and will go out of my way to help others. So to get me to think this of an employee makes me mad. If Macy’s really doesn’t want to have items from different departments lying around everywhere, perhaps they could just have one customer service desk that handles all returns. It’s been done before, and people accept that concept pretty readily.
Anyhow, enough venting. Just do me a favor. If you’re going to buy me a gift, please don’t get me anything from Macy’s. In case I don’t like it (or it’s not my size, or I already have one), I don’t want to have to go back there. It’s hard to boycott a place when you’re forced to return.
posted by BrainHickey | 1:09 PM
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