Dismissive treatment at a Michaels store

If you have a smart phone you could have pulled up any number of on
line coupons and used them at the time - eliminating having to
remember the paper one.

You could have asked them to hold the items you picked out at the
front while you went back and got the coupon. I know you said your car
was "up in the air" while you were shopping, but you could have gone
back and finished the purchase after you were done.

I absolutely think you should post this on those lists you are a
member of. I craft, and participate in crafting discussions, and when
I read stories like these I feel like they tell me much more about my
fellow crafter than the business they are complaining about. Like
that he/she badgers store employees when he/she is inconvenienced.

People have really grown to feel like everything should be
ultra-individualized. Like they, their desires, should always merit an
adjustment in policy or alteration procedure just so that they receive
the best service for them personally right at that particular moment.
That seems like an awesome idea as it bounces around in your head, but
in practice it would be impossible to do this. In reality, if the
customer behind you heard that, he/she might have thought it would be
OK to make their own purchase then return to have it 're-rung' after
locating a coupon.

I also think you should have put your purchases aside, then come back
later with the coupon and finished the transaction. It's certainly
what I would have done, and it seems like it would have saved you a
lot of aggravation and time.

The cashier & the OP both contributed to the bad experience.

The cashier was rude and not professional. However, the OP walked back
into the store while she was angry and upset.

Behavior like this can put people on the defensive.

If I was in the OP's shoes, I would have waited until the next day or
later when I would be calmer before speaking to management.

It appears a cahier was being rude. Weigh your time and effort in this
equation. Could the coupon be applied to future purchases, without you
spending valuable time returning to the store getting a refund and
rebuying?

When you have to use words like "aren't really suppose to" or "isn't
technically in violation", that means you are trying to stretch
reality to to make it fit your argument. It either is allowed or
isn't.

"Not valid for prior purchases" means exactly that. If I return
something and buy it again, its not a prior purchase, its a current
purchase.

Just because a customer has decided "it means this, not this" doesn't
mean they have to use that customer's interpretation.


Which means they are fully allowed to say "no". And not have it be a
lie or rude.

As someone who works in the customer service industry, I'm a firm
believer that there is never an excuse for rudeness. Even if someone
is rude to me (and I'm not implying that the OP was rude to anyone),
I'm being paid to maintain my composure and do my job.

That having been said, I think the basis of this complaint, being
unable to return merchandise for the purpose of buying again with a
coupon, is unreasonable. If you were willing to go back to the store
to carry out that process, than you should have been willing to not
purchase the beads until you had the coupon in hand. Or save the $6
for some future purchase, better yet. On that point, I side with
Michael's.

I"m so on Team Michaels on this one. NOt every customer is worth
keeping.

1. Wanting them to do a return on a BUNCH OF BEADS ($100 worth?) then
rering them so you can save $6? Really?

2. $500 a year is not much at a store like Michaels.

3. Is your time worth so little that you did all of this over $6?

I understand you were upset & angry about the incident, but if I was
the manager or cashier, I am not sure if I would even tell a customer
I did not personally know why I was in a bad mood. I would not know
what to say at that point. For some people that could be a little
intrusive.

Perhaps it would be much better to complain to the corporate office.
Then corporate can decide whether or not to pursue the complaint based
on the information they get.

I would have to guess a customer prying about why they are in bad
moods and offering bad service would put them in bad moods.

Why would you not just buy the beads after you returned with the
coupon, or asked them to hold on to them til you returned?

Her comment about groceries was correct, would you buy groceries just
to return them later and re-buy them with a coupon?