Bare Necessities

 

6

5

Lorri Lee L.

San Mateo, CA

Bare Necessities is an ecclectic little shop that carries women's clothing, jewelry, lingerie, and fragrance products (candles, massage oil, etc).  The target market is clearly a bit older but there are some nice little finds, too.

Three weeks ago I purchased a blouse.  I wasn't crazy about it, but the owner kept nudging me and I kinda felt sorry for her so I gave in.  Well, I've tried this blouse on several times since purchasing it and it just isn't me, so today I attempted to return it.  

When I walked into the shop, there were two customers in the shop and the owner didn't even make eye contact with me.  She seemed frazzled and a bit disheveled and she was giving the two customers the same hard sell she had given me.  I looked around and then waited patiently at the register/counter until she had a free moment.  As I was waiting there I noticed the return policy -- no returns beyond 7 days (a bit unusual in the retail world).  Just as I was reading the sign, the owner acknowledged me, I commented on the policy and left the shop.

But, it was bothering me.  Here is a little shop I'd like to patronize.  I'm a small business owner myself and I also have a refund policy in my business (which I bend and break all the time).  In my opinion, good customer service means building a relationship and that means making the customer happy.  

So, about 30 minutes later I returned to ask her to at least offer me an exchange.  When I entered the store the second time, the owner was sitting at her desk in the back of the shop, chatting on the telephone in what appeared to be a personal conversation (yeah, I was eavesdropping).  I waited at the counter for about 10 minutes before she put the phone down (not hanging it up, but simply excusing herself from the conversation for a minute) and asked me if I needed anything.  I said that I wanted to discuss her return policy with her and asked if she would accept an exchange or a return with a 20% restocking fee.  She said no and immediately returned to her telephone conversation.  I tried to continue the conversation with her, mentioned that I owned a business myself and tried to discuss customer service.  As soon as I said that, she verbally attacked me, told me that I wasn't the type of customer she wanted anyways because I didn't like her shop and thought it was matronly (I had actually said that the blouse I purchased looked matronly on the hanger before I had tried it on, but had complimented her on her shop).

Whew!  I guess she doesn't need me as a customer, but now I have a brand new blouse that I will never wear.  Since most retail clothing stores have at least a 30 day return policy (if not more), it sure would be nice when the shops that have an unusual policy like her's would bring that to their customer's attention at the time of the original transaction.

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