One of the most fashionable footwear shops, Davids Shoes together with one of the finest spas in the county, The Stillwater Spa, have teamed up for a contest.
The prize? You can win two awesome gift certificates – $500 towards a day at The Stillwater Spa and $500 for Davids – just in time for Mothers’ Day.
The catch? You have to enter online and agree to receive promotional material from the contest sponsors.
Seems like a small price for the sponsors to pay to build a healthy customer database. With so much of our personal data shared these days anyway, handing over an email address and phone number may be a small price to pay in exchange for a chance to win a day at the spa, especially with such high odds.
Are you entering? What does it take to get you to share your email address and phone number with businesses?
You may remember last fall when I wrote about my new winter boots. Well the good news is, they got me through most of the winter - and I wore them almost every day. The bad news is they leaked a bit, I couldn’t remove all of the salt stains and two weeks ago, the zipper on one boot broke.
The other bit of good news is La Canadienne guaranteed them for six months. So, I called Davids. The sales associate told me to bring them in and they’d fix the zippers (the other one was on the verge of breaking too) or I could contact La Canadienne directly to complain and ask them to honour the guarantee.
I thought it was a bit strange Davids wasn’t going to act as intermediary between the customer and the supplier. I wanted my boots back asap so I opted for the zipper repair.
On Monday, the sales associate called to say her supervisor said the cost of repairing the zippers was too high so they’d gladly offer me a refund or a credit note. Of course I opted for a refund. I was delighted and assumed I could show up at any time and get my refund.
This morning I went back to Davids with my receipt and repair tag. The sales associate who had been helping me was there. When I asked for my refund, she promptly said “Oh, you mean your store credit.” I don’t think so. I’m not a regular Davids’ customer but I’ve learned their Yorkdale location has some stuff in my price range. (You may remember I bought the boots their because of the inferior service at their sister store.)
She went on to say she may have made a mistake. She’d to check with her manager first and would I come back when the manager’s here in a half an hour.
Me: "Sorry, no. I’m here now. I have to pick up my son in a half-hour and you need to honour your word. If you made a mistake, you'll need to take responsibility.”
We had a brief discussion ending with me saying, “I don’t want to escalate this but I will if I’m left with no choice.”
She was a bit dumbfounded, picked up the phone and unsuccessfully tried reaching her manager. I told her I’d be back in five minutes for my refund.
When I came back, I got my refund. She and the other sales associate were a bit patronizing but said they wanted to make me happy.
What am I missing here? • I bought a pair of boots with a six-month guarantee. • The boots didn’t live up to that guarantee. • I took them back to the store. • The store offered to repair the zippers or gave me the option to contact the manufacturer directly. • A day later, the store called to say the repair would be too expensive and they’d be happy to give me a full refund or an exchange for something else (they didn’t have any more of the boots in stock.) • I opted for the refund – they’d be getting a refund from La Canadienne wouldn’t they – so what’s the big fuss?
Why did they give me a hassle? I wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable. I went to the store this morning expecting them to deliver on their promise. All this would have been prevented had the sales associate confirmed all the details with her supervisor before calling me. Even better if she would have sent me an email confirming the details.
At the end of the day, Davids’ reputation for stellar service is a bit tarnished and I’m SOL for winter boots. We’re probably still in for more snow before the season is over so, I’m expecting a couple days with cold wet feet.
I bought a pair of black leather La Canadienne boots. I’ve never spent so much money on boots in my life and the last few pairs I owned were all on sale for less than $100 each. This was different. I really wanted a pair of fashionable black leather boots and with my hard-to-fit feet getting anything to fit is a big deal.
I should have started looking a while ago to get the best selection (those of you with easy-to-fit feet may want to hold out a bit for the sales – they’re just around the corner), this year I was late. I lucked out and found a pair of boots from La Canadienne that fit me comfortably that were also fashionable, insulated and waterproof. Best of all, they have six-month guarantee and they’re made by a Canadian company.
But this post really isn’t about the boots. It’s about the service.
Two weeks ago, I went to Capezio at Yorkdale. The sales associate helping me had helped me before and I trusted her opinion. After trying on several pairs of boots that just weren’t right, I tried a pair of La Canadiennes. They fit perfectly. I planned on buying fashionable boots. These boots also doubled as winter boots, helping me justify the expense.
Only one problem – there was a split in the leather. The sales associate said she could order another pair from another store but they’d arrive tomorrow and I had to pick them up that night. Huh? Not gonna work with my schedule.
The other option was to pay for them right then and there. A 10-day return policy would apply from the date of purchase. I was cool ordering them and even paying for them on the condition that the 10-day return policy wouldn’t begin until the pick-up. Mr. B was planning to go to back to the mall mid-week and he offered to pick them up for me. That idea wasn’t working for her. During the conversation, while she was trying to decide what to do, she left me hanging there while she rang in a couple sales at the cash.
Yes, those were definite sales and my purchase was uncertain but c’mon. Remember, I wanted those boots but the only ones available were defective. I’ve also been a Capezio customer for almost 30 years. I usually by at least one item of footwear there each season. Do the math and it’s not hard to see I’ve been a very good customer over the long-term. Unfortunately, with staff turnover and multiple stores, it’s not necessarily something a sales associate would know. But I did and my bank account did too.
I left and walked down the hall to Davids. Yes, you read that right. Bargainista went to Davids. Davids at the mall not only carries some of the higher-end footwear found at it’s Bloor St. flagship store. It also sells more moderately priced items, including La Canadienne. They didn’t have my size in stock. The sales associate offered to order them from another store. Knowing they were the higher-end big sister of Capezio, I wasn’t sure this was going to work out.
“No problem, we can hold them for you and you don’t need to pay for them now,” said Anthony, the sales associate.
My husband went to pick them up at mall a few nights later. I asked him to take a look before brining them home. Et voilà, they also had a rip. No problem, Davids ordered another pair. A couple days later I received a call from Michael, the store manager apologizing for the delay. They had several pairs on hold for other customers. They’d either have a pair for me in a day or two or they’d put a pair aside from their next order. Nice.
Last Monday, I received a voicemail telling me they had a pair on hold and asked me to call them. I didn’t – I was distracted with some stuff on the homefront and it slipped my mind. Saturday morning I gave them a call. The boots were still waiting for me. Wow, impressive.
That afternoon I went to pick up the boots. I tried them on again, making sure they fit and there were no rips or tears. Nada. While I was at the cash paying for the boots, Michael treated me as if I was spending a lot more coin – and keep in mind, they have a full collection of the likes of Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choos – most of their merchandise way out of my budget. (Mind you, that didn’t stop me from drooling or entering a contest for a $500 gift certificate.)
I mentioned my experience at Capezio and he was surprised. His response surprised me too. I expected the difference in policy and service was because Davids deals with a higher-end customer has a well-earned reputation for stellar service. Michael said there was no excuse since they were all part of the same company. (Capezio and Davids are sister companies.)
Bottom line: the moral of the story is, don’t let the high-end stores fool you. They often sell some of the same merchandise sold in lower-end stores and treat you much better.
Have you had a similar experience where you bought something at a higher-end store because the service was so much better, even when the same thing was available at a store with more affordable merchandise?
One of the most fashionable footwear shops, Davids Shoes together with one of the finest spas in the county, The Stillwater Spa, have teamed up for a contest.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vesiO_Z8AvmetzhB5jDjVQvT8h6kUhmf3EEiArBXfFV-SK9ZYlP0dzxP6mRlPoiJXE4QWR4TNaw51pre-1kcgCn6s4myXJcpZMsGCSAlK4umiiGN_5e3dDb5dIxSUGVBT4uniNNGBE5gjFLcvKjh2n=s0-d)
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