Christmas Returns

What better way to kick off the new year than to stand up for your rights and be a man? As part of my retail duty to spur the economy, I did some last minute Christmas shopping, and as everyone knows, when you don’t plan properly, you suffer accordingly. Since I didn’t have time to ponder different gift ideas and shop wisely, I opted for the “buy now, return later” approach. This works up to a point, but it entails returning to retail hell to get your money back, which isn’t always a smooth transition.

When you’re pinched for time, however, you do what you gotta do. In this instance, I had several things to return, and some instances, the salespeople were not warm and fuzzy. This makes me uneasy and want to just leave well enough alone, but first off, they should treat the customers properly, and secondly, as a customer, I need to be aware of my rights.

I had several returns to go to Walmart, and I knew they would be easy because they are good about returns, it’s just that they are crowded, and deep in the heart of retail hell. Sure enough, when I got there, the line was huge, but it moved pretty smoothly, and the staff was very friendly. Welcome to Walmart!

I somehow ended up with four Lava Lamps (one back to Walmart), don’t ask me how, and had to return one to Newbury Comics. The receipt even said no cash returns, only credit, so I was resigned to this even though I never go there, I’m way too old and square. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when the manager said she could give me a refund. This is a good example, and one which I try to teach our kids, that things are not always as they seem. You really have to go out and find out for yourself, because a lot of information is not accurate. I think it’s designed to scare and discourage you from standing up for your rights. It also teaches you that it doesn’t hurt to try, because the worst that can happen is they say no.

Anyway, I ran into a bit of a hitch with my photo collages. I get our digital pics printed at Walgreens, and they do a great job and have great deals. The kids and I make collages of the big events in our lives, often involving travel, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s also a gift that mom really loves, because she’s a photographer, but also because it’s all about us as a family. This time around the pics came out really dark, to the point where you couldn’t see our faces, at all. I took them back to get them redone and the woman behind the counter was in “bad attitude” mode. She said it wasn’t their fault (implying it was my fault),and that if the lightness was adjusted, it was wash out the pics. In other words, just shut up and deal with it. I could tell she hated her job and was having a bad day, but I wasn’t about to give up, even though this was exactly the kind of situation where I feel like I’m being a pain.

Now bad attitude girl said the machine was down but she’d give me a call and tell me if my pics were still in the system. If they weren’t I’d have to resubmit them online. Fair enough, but she never called. I went back (Walgreens is at the gates of retail hell) and basically said I want these redone. This time around the woman was very friendly, and said no problem, but I’d have to do it online. They would simply exchange them at the time of pickup.

This story is a lot longer than it needed to be, but suffice it to say it worked out beautifully. The pics came out great, I had to deal with some bad attitude but acted like a real man, and even though it required a little leg work and courage on my part, there were important lessons to be learned.

I love when that happens.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Edward Virtually for the pic.