BoyMommy Works Her Magic: A Lesson in How It's Done

I thought for a moment that this blog entry was going to be dedicated to convincing you, dear readers, to stop shopping at a certain big box toy store because of their less-than-stellar customer service.  (I won't name them directly, but it rhymes with ShmoysRUs.)  But alas, I worked my magic and they have therefore been forgiven.  You may continue to shop there until further notice.

We bought Large and Medium a certain gift for Christmas which will herefore be known as The Big Gift.  I purchased two The Big Gifts so as to guarantee that there will be no fighting and/or whining about whose turn it is. I ordered said purchase online on December 1^st and I was assured that it would ship out from the warehouse immediately.

Except I got several apologetic emails stating that The Big Gift was backordered and I started FREAKING OUT a lil’ bit that they might not arrive in time for Santa’s delivery.  Worry not; they have since arrived, but in the meantime I got on the website and discovered that the price per The Big Gift had dropped by $50.

Now I’m not so good at the math, but I bought two of these suckers, so that’s $100.  That’s a lot of money.  Right?  Two children at $50 per gift = $100.  Yes, one hundo.

Once I received my order, I pulled out the receipt and called the 800-number to attempt to get a price match and be refunded $100.  Surprisingly enough, I spent a significant amount of time on hold.  My call was very important to them.  They appreciated my business.  They would answer the call in the order in which it was received.  While I was waiting, I was welcome to check out their website at www.Shmoys-R-Us.com.  So I did.

In the interest of killing time, I started reading the online product reviews for The Big Gift. 

Rut-row.

MANY customers were complaining.  Not about the product, but about the customer service they were receiving as they attempted to get the price difference refunded and the fact that the product didn’t ship when it was supposed to.

It’s time for BoyMommy to work her magic.  I’m not one to try to buck the system or be unkind to customer service representatives.  After all, they’re just doing their jobs.  I'm only interested in being fair, but sometimes their policies are dumb.  (That’s the technical term.)

"blah, blah, blah, but it says!   with the little stars!"

Finally, an actual real-live person picked up the phone.  I explained my situation . . . made the purchase in plenty of time, item didn’t ship immediately, recently discovered price difference, me wants my money. 

Customer Service Representative: “I understand, but our 'policy' states that we cannot refund money on a purchase that was previously made.”

BoyMommy:  “That doesn’t make any sense to me.  I could go to the store and return this item and then repurchase it for the lower price, OR you could make it right over the phone.”

Rep:  “Yes, you could do that, but they may have to restock the item before they’ll allow you to purchase it again.”

BoyMommy:  “It says on my receipt here, all highlighted with cute little stars, that ShmoysRUs guarantees hassle-free returns!  Going to the store 3 days before Christmas is NOT hassle free.  Is there someone else with whom I can speak?”

Because I’ve got good smarts and I like to use proper grammar.

Eric gets on the phone.  Eric sounds as if he is about 25 years old and I’m pretty sure he does not have any children, though I didn’t ask.

I exlpain the situation again, except this time I also mention that I have THREE children, I am a frequent customer of ShmoysRUs, and I am not the kind of customer they want to lose.  And I WILL boycott.  (Ask me how many times I’ve had Father J’s pizza since the 30-year-old-still-lives-in-his-mom’s-basement-delivery-driver messed up my order at the baseball field, which you can read about here.)  I mention the stars on the receipt and the hassle-free returns.  I mention the MANY negative reviews I’ve been reading online.  I want to know WHO decided it was good business policy to refuse to make a price match if the customer makes the effort to redeem it.  Then I begin my diatribe on the crappy economy and how $100 is a lot of moolah.  Did I tell you I mentioned the little stars?

THAT conversation won me a trip to speak with the Senior Customer Service Supervisor. 

Go ahead . . . I ain’t skeered.

Guess what, folks?  ShmoysRUS refunded $100 to my credit card.  It seems they lowered the price on The Big Gift before my purchase ever even left the warehouse, so they felt obligated to give me the price that was offered on the day it shipped.  (It's also possible they felt obligated to get me off the phone once they realized I could go on for a looooong time.)

And that, my friends, is how it’s done.  God bless us, every one.