A Tale of Two Merchants

I went to a local office supply store this week to purchase ink for the printer.

As I was checking out I remembered I have been wanting a new mouse pad for our computer. No one was behind me as the young clerk rang up my purchase so I asked if the mouse pads were close by and could I grab one.

He looked at me like I was perhaps from another time in history.

So I quickly asked if mouse pads were still a thing.

He asked what surface I was using.

A painted wooden desk.

Thankfully, these are still used in the modern world.

He asked if the mouse had any drag or skipping on the screen.

No.

Well then, he didn’t think I even needed a mouse pad.

He said they have them in the store, but if I was doing okay without then just keep it simple.

I paid for my ink and thought about giving him a hint that sales might not be his calling.

Because I have worked sales and talking people OUT of a purchase that they want to make?….Not usually what corporate has in mind at the monthly pep talk meetings.

Fast forward to today.

I ordered several items of clothing online because they were having a special 50% off sale.

Right at the top of the website it said “50% off Fall and sale items”.

So I ordered two “Fall” items and one “sale” item.

At the checkout I entered the promo code and it said it had been taken.

But the prices didn’t seem to change.

I assumed it would all come about once the credit card rang through.

I was wrong.

So I called the 800 number and spoke to Greg.

He did several little searches into it and discovered that my “sale” item was a special promotion which doesn’t count as a sale. Apparently a lower price is not always a “sale”.

And the two tops, while new for Fall were not included in the big savings…only certain new items were actually considered eligible….

according the fine print denoted by a teeny tiny asterisk that I had missed….

I am sometimes not nice with customer service people.

I admit I have a problem.

But since I had just written that touching piece about not venting, I kept my voice calm and sweet and I told Greg that I thought this information was a bit unclear and misleading on the site and he might want to mention that to his supervisor.

He agreed and apologized.

I told him…again…honest….in a very calm voice… that it wasn’t his fault and have a nice day.

So here’s the deal.

I will return to the store where the young man talked me out of buying something I didn’t need.

I won’t be ordering from the clothing store any more. Ever.

Because trust and integrity are important.

In all we do, let’s do our best to be people who are true to their word….especially if we are going to say we are people of THE Word….

Have an honestly great weekend <3