Managing This Return

I work in web sales at the head office for a mid-size retailer that has eighty-ish brick and mortar stores and sells widgets that are of a somewhat personal nature — not like that! As we can’t resell it if it’s been used and we don’t have a third-party vendor to return to, our policy is overall generous but very strict: all items must be in the original packaging, unused, and undamaged.

I’m encouraged to help with store-level issues to the best of my ability before transferring them to the store liaison, so when a woman calls me, I tell her she has the wrong department, but I’ll try to help if I can.

The woman has bought two of our accessory pieces as well as a main piece in our store and brought them home. She laid them out to look at them and decided that, while she likes the main piece, she doesn’t care all that much for the accessories. She wants to return them. I ask for more details.

Me: “So, have you taken them back to the store to request a return?”

Customer: “I did, but the manager wouldn’t take them back! And she was super rude. I took my things and told her head office would hear about this!”

Me: “Oh, dear. Which manager was this?”

She names the manager I literally spoke to two hours ago, whom I know to be a genuine sweetheart.

Me: “Okay, and what did she say? Why wasn’t she able to do the return?”

Customer: “My husband threw out the packaging, which wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t know I needed to keep the original packaging. [Corporation #1] and [Corporation #2] take returns without packaging all the time!”

We are not a large corporate entity the likes of [Corporation #1] and can’t absorb losses the way they can.

Me: “Oh, dear. Yes, well, it does say so on the receipt—”

Customer: “Well, she said that and I said, ‘I didn’t look at the receipt!’ And she rudely pointed at a sign on the register, but I shouldn’t be expected to read signs at the register! They should have told me when I bought the items! [Corporation #1] and [Corporation #2] never have a problem with doing these types of returns. She was just completely unwilling to make me a happy customer!”

She goes on quite a bit more, rehashing the same stuff.

Me: “Okay, well, I’m going to have to speak to the manager, and someone will be in touch with you.”

I called the manager and her version pretty well lined up with the customer’s, except that, apparently, the woman was hysterical and screaming at her, but she tried her best to stay calm. We laughed a bit, I reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, and I told her to email her version to her district manager and the liaison and CC me, and I’d fill the liaison in when she was back in the office.

When I told the liaison, I told her, “Read that email chain; we have a customer who wants complaint resolution because… [Manager that the liaison has known for years and has been friends with for most of them] followed corporate policy and did her job. Have fun!”

The liaison sent the woman a polite but firm email saying that they would accept a return this once, but that the manager had been doing her job. We never heard from the lady again.