Starbucks birthday bevvies, better late than never

I'm a huge Starbucks fan. I’m not entirely brand loyal but I do need my decaf Starbucks every morning whether it’s VIA or freshly brewed. Sometimes I’ll even splurge for skinny lattes with one-pump sugar-free vanilla syrup. No snickering!

Read more...


Recent articles

• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog
• Customer service tips for my hair salon
• west elm's Neil Gazmen connects with local customers

Where’s the beef?

There are certain basics bricks and mortar businesses, such shops and restaurants, need to get right before they consider incorporating social media into their marketing mix. Face-to-face customer service, competitive pricing and signage are but a few.

Do you think the new Hero Burger in our neighbourhood considered what customers would see as they walked by their window?

Read more...

Recent articles

• Customer service tips for my hair salon
• west elm's Neil Gazmen connects with local customers
• Tip of the Week: Display your contact information prominently

Customer service tips for my hair salon

Dear hair salon,

I’ve been a regular customer of yours for more than two years now. I love that you’re with in walking distance from my home. The colour tech team is awesome, especially Sabrina. She does a great job of keeping my colour in check and making sure everyone else takes good care of me when I visit.

As much as you hold yourself up as a salon excelling in customer service and charge clients a premium for that privilege, here are some tips:

Read more...

Reception (Photo credit: austinevan)

Related articles

• west elm's Neil Gazmen connects with local customers
• A week of firsts... #digitaledu, Storify and Spin Sucks
• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

west elm's Neil Gazmen connects with local customers

According to his bio, “Neil Gazmen is a retail people manager with over 9 years experience in managing high volume, complex stores in the Toronto area. He is a strong supporter of relationship based selling and grassroots type marketing that targets building a community of loyal followers, one customer at a time.” The last sentence is quite telling.

I met Neil on Twitter several months ago and recently in real life. He’s always bright, friendly and busy making everyday conversation with his Twitter community. Although he’s always quick to answer customer questions, he makes a point of being himself and not overtly promoting west elm or its Toronto store – the first Canadian location – where he is Associate Store Manager.  A of couple weeks ago we had a chance to chat and in a few minutes shared each of our “how we got into social media” stories. I was fascinated by how he’s been helping west elm build relationships with customers one tweet at a time and asked if I could share some of his story with you.

Read more...

Photo credit: Eden Spodek

Recent articles

• A week of firsts... #digitaledu, Storify and Spin Sucks
• All that's wrong with blogger relations...
• Blogger relations: PR dinosaurs need to retire or get with the program

A week of firsts... #digitaledu, Storify and Spin Sucks

This has been a week of firsts.

Last night, I gave my first lecture to our amazing students in U of T School of Continuing Studies Digital Strategy and Communications Management Certificate program or #digitaledu for short.

This morning, I used the Twitter backchannel discussion from last night’s class to create my first Storify. 

Read more...

Recent articles

• Social media goes to college at PodCamp Toronto 2013
• Blogger relations: PR dinosaurs need to retire or get with the program
• International Women's Day - progress, passion and a little bit of cattiness

Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

Our bill from Jack Astor’s

And just when we thought we’d have the makings of another Applebee’s disaster on our hands, Jack Astor’s scored a big customer service win for Diane Begin and I the other night.

It was late. We’d just finished class and we were hungry. While Diane ordered fries and guac, I asked if I could have a chef salad with grilled chicken added. The server implied that wasn’t an option and suggested I order the California Grilled Chicken Salad instead. I reluctantly agreed.

Read more...

The threat of a tweet

Ewww!

All was going to do was tweet “Ewww!” with a photo. Nothing more needed to be said. You probably would have looked and seen that little ugly hair on my plate.

I had no intention of naming the neighborhood eatery where we were having our weekend brunch. And then, just as I was snapping the photo and my husband said “Don’t tweet it! You don’t have to tweet everything, you know.” Or something to that effect, I was caught smartphone-handed by the restaurant manager. I had just snapped a pic and he seemed to have heard every, every word except for the “I had no intention…” part.

Read more...

Twitter bird icon credit: Bruno Maia, IconTexto

Why retailers need to get their stories straight before calling customers

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bought: boots at Davids aka a tale of two sisters
  
• Should retailers be responsible for all comments made by their employees?
• Club Monaco and return policy mishaps
  

The lost iPod: what would you do?

Today while I stopped into Home Outfitters for a few minutes, I found an iPod Nano on a shelf inside a charging station valet. There were small, messy fingerprints all over but no other identifiable information. Obviously it was misplaced by a child who was probably crying somewhere in the mall. Maybe her parents were busy trying to retrace their steps.

I couldn’t just leave it there. I asked a couple salespeople if they knew of anyone looking for a lost iPod. They didn’t. I was on my way to the checkout. So, while paying, I gave the cashier the iPod and asked her to take my name and number. I left clear instructions asking her to call me if the owner didn’t come back to claim it within a week or so. Why? I wanted to make sure someone working at the store didn’t take it home. There had to be some way to find the owner even if she didn’t come forward.

After I had made my decision and returned the Nano, I put the question out to my friends on Twitter. Here’s what they had to say.

As you’ll see, most of them would have done the same thing. One person suggested doing nothing. Daniele Rossi and Dave Jones suggested taking it back to Apple since they could probably trace it back to the owner. Great tip, I hadn’t thought of that.

What would you do?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Fit-in 15 - we're all winners!
  
• Get Fit-in 15 and win an iPod Shuffle (bargainista.blogspot.com)

Should retailers be responsible for all comments made by their employees?

Yesterday I purchased a pair of Vans KISS Sk8-Hi Skate shoes for my son. I’m not sure about you but buying footwear for either of my sons is such a chore. So, when we were shopping with my nephews for winter boots and L’il Spo just had to have these shoes, I obliged on one condition. I needed to know they could be returned. Yes, they could... for a full refund within seven days as long as he didn’t wear them outside and we kept the bill. Why? Because I know he tends to get suckered in by the appearance and often complains about the fit when he gets home.

Last night I checked them out on the Getoutsideshoes.com. Surprise, they were on sale for $15 less than what I paid in the store. I called them right away and very politely told the woman who answered the phone. She was most apologetic and said sometimes the “north” store doesn’t have its systems up-to-date but that I could come in and get a price adjustment. The refund policy would still stand. Today I went back to the store, presented my bill and got a refund for the difference between the regular and sale prices. Painless.

Sounds great, right? We’ll not really. Getoutside is right on when it comes to customer service policies. The staff could have been more helpful though. They weren’t very attentive when we needed help – there was plenty of staff – the store is set up in a self-serve manner but we were shopping for kids’ footwear and stores selling to kids need to be more accommodating.

But that’s not the issue that concerned me most. When I called back last night, the woman I spoke to was lovely and accommodating. She wanted me to know it was an honest mistake. The problem was how she said it – she said, “I wasn’t trying to gyp you or anything.” Yikes! I never assumed she was.

There’s no excuse for racist remarks even when said out of ignorance. Regardless, that type of comment never sits well. I think it reflects as poorly on the store as it does the employee. What about you?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bought: boots at Davids aka a tale of two sisters
  

Loving Aritzia

No, it’s not cheap but I’ve always had a thing for Aritzia from the time they opened their very first store in Toronto. Until the other day, I only looked. I bought an awesome black, silk cashmere, shrug-meets-boyfriend-cardigan sweater by Wilfred. At $95 and the amount of wear I’ll be getting from this baby, it’s worth every penny.

At the cash, I noticed my earring was gone. Oh, no, it was remodeled from some of my late grandmother’s jewelry. The sentimental value was huge, the monetary value no so much but it wasn’t costume. After taking a quick look around without success, (I hadn’t put anything over my head while trying the sweater on) I assumed it fell off the office and left.

Back at the office and a mere 15 minutes since I left the store, the phone rang. It was someone from Artizia letting me know they had found my earring and it would be waiting for me to pick up after work. I told her I’d be right there since I worked practically across the street.

When I got there, two sales associates recognized me at the cash and gave me my earring (I showed them the mate still on my left ear.) Another customer piped up and told me she had found the earring. We chatted for a minute and I thanked her profusely. She expected nothing but the knowledge that she was paying it forward.

I was particularly impressed by how quickly the lovely ladies at Artizia called me (I’m also impressed by their blog but that’s worthy of another post one day). I wanted to do something nice in return. The next day, I brought them a box of chocolates as a small token of my appreciation.

Sometimes we praise sales associates for excellent service but more often we’re quick to chastise them. Very rarely do we thank them for going above and beyond. Perhaps it’s time we should.

Are you a fan of Artizia? Check out Aritzia’s Facebook fan page and follow @ArtiziaLoves on Twitter.

When was the last time you experienced a sales associate going that extra mile? How did you show her your appreciation?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Trip to The Clothing Show
  

Danier Factory Outlet may surprise you

Mr. B. wanted a new leather jacket. He found one he liked at Danier’s Yorkdale store on sale for $100 off the ticketed price. Being the savvy shopper he is, he wanted me to take a visit to Danier’s St. Clair Factory Outlet.

Like the mall locations, I found Danier’s sales help quite aggressive. So we kindly let the saleswoman who shadowed us upon arrival, that we were okay – thanks.

Within a few minutes, Mr. B. found the same black leather bomber he had seen at Yorkdale for an additional $50 off.

As much as I would have liked a new leather jacket (I’ve been wanting one with a zipout lining for years), I hadn’t planned on buying one. A leather jacket is a substantial purchase and something I’m unlikely to consider as an impulse buy.

The outlet location is much larger than the mall stores with several clearance racks – perfect for leather lovers on a tight budget. I perused the deep-discounted coats and jackets. There were some great finds but nothing that fit me properly.

Mr. B, on the other hand, decided I should have a leather jacket too. Whaaaaa? This was not characteristic of our shopping trips. Even more unusual, he picked out an awesome jacket for me. Of course it wasn’t on sale but we decided since the last leather jacket was one I bought myself as a university graduation gift, it was time to get a new one.

Hmm, outlet location, two jackets – one at regular price. Let’s see what I can do. I asked the salesperson if there was anything they could do about the price. (Just so you know, I despite the name of this blog, I don’t make a habit of negotiating ticket prices with stores. However, this was a factory outlet. We were buying two of their better-quality leather jackets and one wasn’t marked down. What did I have to lose?)

Ask and ye shall receive. The manager gave me 10% off my jacket. Still no bargain but I was happy to take what I could get.

What good deals have you found lately? Have you ever tried negotiating on a price (cars and homes don’t count), if so, what happened?

Adrian’s needs a lesson in customer service

So, my younger son had been wearing his new running shoes when one of the elastic laces snapped…

(Let me preface this rant by saying he had last spring’s version of the same slip-on running shoe – he wore them into the ground – and never had a problem with the laces. They’re an interesting alternative to Velcro and are more socially acceptable for older kids.)

On the weekend, I went to the Adrian’s where we bought his shoes. It’s a rare breed, one of the few stores carrying children’s footwear that actually still fits children properly. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to put up with their attitude (something we’ver] experienced several times.)

I asked them if they knew how I could fix the shoes. The immediate reaction of the first woman I spoke with was to tell me she’d she if they had another pair in his size but she thought they were sold out.

Me: Waaaaiiitt a minute! It’s just a lace, the rest of the shoe is totally fine. I was asking to see if something could be done to fix them and if you’ve ever had this problem before.”

Her: “You can remove the elastic and replace it with a regular shoelace.”

Me: “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the shoes?”

The owner was in the store so I proceeded to ask her. I surely didn’t think this was the only pair where the elastic lace broke. She basically told me the same thing.

First woman: “As kids get older, they’re harder on their shoes.”

Me: “He wore his first pair until they didn’t fit, they held up fine. He’s only a four months older now.”

Owner: “It’s just like a seam splitting on a dress. There’s nothing we can do.”

Gee thanks for nothing. I’ve only purchased how many pairs of shoes and boots from you over the years?

Still standing at the cash, with no other customers in the store and the only three staff people standing behind the counter, I called my husband who was on his way to the shoemaker. I asked him to take our son’s shoe with him and see if anything could be done.

As I turned to them and asked if they’d like me to share the outcome because it may be helpful to other customers. The store phone was also ringing.

The owner replied with an apathetic “Sure” as she proceeded to answer the phone.

It was obvious the person on the other end wasn’t a customer and was asking why it had taken her so long to answer. I can’t recall the exact wording but in a somewhat snarky tone she replied she had be speaking with a customer who had taken up a lot of her time.

Hello, excuse me? I was within earshot. What the heck was that? Well, I think you’ve just lost me as a customer for good.

But there’s more to this than me being upset with the store and deciding not to give them my business. The experience doesn’t bode well for New Balance either. They manufacture the shoes – New Balance 630 – which coincidentally were selected by Good Housekeeping as the Runaway Winner for Best Kids Sneakers. New Balance probably wants stores to let them know when customers have problems with their merchandise. Maybe they have a solution.

Perhaps the retailer doesn’t care if she has my business. She knows she corners the market when it comes to properly fitting children’s shoes and black oxfords for private school uniforms. And let’s face it, I can blog and rant online all I want. She probably won’t have a clue and she may lose another customer or two. Big deal. But what she doesn’t know is whether or not New Balance is listening online. She also has no idea what type of relationships her customers have with her suppliers either. For all she knows, I could be related to a senior exec.

As I was ranting about this on Twitter last Saturday, several people started sharing some of their recent experiences with poor customer service, including @kimberly_lyn who was called “Dude” by an annoying salesperson.

Please leave a comment and share some of your recent frustrating customer service experiences - you’ll feel better, promise. (If you’re going to use a company’s name, please be remember to be respectful and fair. )

Why Banana has so much appeal

I’ve been a fan of Banana Republic for a long time and I don’t even like a lot of what they carry in the store. But, I can usually find at least one thing I want anytime I walk into any of their stores… anywhere. I know how much of their clothes fit and I can buy, try at home and return unworn items within 30 days as long as the tags remain and I keep my receipts. Plus, they often have awesome sales. What could be easier?

What I’m not so crazy about is the fact it’s a chain store. I wish I had more time to spend trying on clothes at smaller, local shops and boutiques. Truth be told, I’m often in a rush and I’ve gained some weight, which makes it harder to find something I like that both fits and is affordable. At the end of the day, when I’m in a rush and looking for something reliable and within my budget, Banana is often my default stop.

During our trip to Chicago, although I did a bit of shopping (still another post or two to follow), I didn’t buy any new clothes for fall. So, when a coupon for 40% off appeared in my inbox the other day, I was thought it was pretty darn awesome. Of course I shared it immediately on my Twitter feed. Yep, 40% off on all regular-priced merchandise for two full days in mid-September is a pretty sweet deal.

Like everyone else who works on Bloor Street and can’t afford the likes of Chanel, I scooted on over at lunchtime on day one. The store was absolutely packed with people but low on stock. The line-ups at the cash were not to be believed. It looked like Boxing Day in the 80s! Thanks to the suggestion from Sarah Roger, I had hoped to find a suit but their really weren’t any that cranked my chain. Oddly enough, the fitting rooms were relatively empty. I quickly picked up a few pairs of pants and tried them on to confirm my size.

Then I went on to survey the rest of the store all the while wondering how I’d possibly have time to stand in line for at least 30-40 minutes. I had a client meeting in 15. There was no way. I resigned myself to putting down the pile of pants I was carrying, when out of nowhere came a salesperson. I took a chance and asked if he’d be able to put my items on hold. I told him I’d be back to buy all of them – even at 40% off, Banana was still accepting returns – he told me I could have until the end of tomorrow. Music to my ears. I couldn’t believe it – most stores would have said no way, especially when the stock was so low. I’m sure wearing a Banana Republic dress didn’t hurt my cause either. ;-)

How could I avoid a line up the next day? I needed to devise a plan. Hmm, arrive before noon to try beating the lunch rush. Walk directly to the cashier counter, do not pass go. Do not look at a single piece of clothing. Don’t worry about the clothes on hold.

Get in line, NOW! You’ll find a salesperson while your waiting. Yep, that was my plan. It worked. I was in line for less than 10 minutes, when a salesperson appeared. She was helping another woman in line who looked like she was buying one of everything in the store for her daughters. Be patient. Just a minute. Ah, finally. I had her attention and told her I had several pairs of pants and one sweater on hold. Within three minutes she was back with only a minute to spare before it was my turn to pay. Yahoo!

At the cash, I double-checked the return policy and also learned I could even exchange any of my purchase for the same item in another size at the same price (to be confirmed). I also got a postcard giving me 40% off on one regular-priced item once a week throughout the entire month of October! Talk about service and cultivating customer loyalty. Maybe I’ll still get that new suit yet... and at 40% off.

Have any shopping tricks up your sleeve?

Air Canada – makes a save and a happy customer

Image via Wikipedia

Until about 8 months ago, my airline travel was limited to once a year while visiting my kids at summer camp. I’d been flying WestJet and been perfectly happy receiving warm, friendly service from their cheerful flight attendants. I’d been hearing lots of negative chatter about Air Canada.

Last winter I flew to Vancouver and Halifax on family and business matters. I tried Air Canada again because they had the best combination of price and convenient flight times. Despite traveling in horrible snowy weather, they came through. Last month I had the pleasure of flying Porter – more about that experience in an upcoming post.

Air Canada had a great seat sale in February. Knowing we had to book flights to visit the kids this summer, Mr. B booked our tickets. Knowing very little would keep us away from visiting our kids, Mr. B didn’t arrange for flight insurance.

So, when camp cancelled visiting day this year because of H1N1 fears, we thought we were SOL. According to Mr. B’s research, we were eligible for a credit good for one year from the time of purchase (not the date of travel), we’d have to pay a penalty of $150 per return fare, and either pay the difference for a higher fare or lose the difference on a lower fare; and the credit was non-transferable.

Since we really only use air travel during the summer with a very specific purpose, having a credit through next February wasn’t much of a benefit. My sister told me about having to cancel a flight on Air Canada last year and after asking for an extension, she was given an extra three months.

I called the airline this morning to see if there was anything they could do to help. I explained the situation and the customer service representative (CSR) told me in no uncertain terms since Air Canada didn’t have an H1N1 policy there was nothing he could do. No extension, three-month or otherwise. He lectured me about buying cancellation insurance. I was getting annoyed. I asked to speak to his supervisor. He raised his voice and told me his supervisor wouldn’t do anything different. I told him I didn’t care and I wanted him to escalate the call. The next thing I heard was a dial tone.

After I got over the initial shock of a CSR hanging up the phone on me, I called back. This time a friendly woman helped me and offered to extend the credit period by three months. I asked if she’d consider extending it until the end of July. She explained she couldn’t. I thanked her, told her I still needed to deal with the rude CSR and asked to speak to her supervisor. She kindly obliged me.

The first thing I asked the supervisor was whether or not calls are recorded. His answer: “Sometimes”. I told him about my experience with the first CSR and how I found him to have an abusive manner. I was brutally honest about my airline travel habits and recent exceptions. I confessed that my tone was curt in response to the CSR in question and that although I wasn’t abusive, I may have elevated my voice out of frustration. He was sympathetic under the circumstances. He understood both my difficult predicament and my disappointment with the service.

Within seconds he not only found evidence of the recording, he identified the CSR, told me they worked in the same office and I got the distinct impression he wasn’t a team player. He didn’t have listen to the recording. Without missing a beat he offered to refund our non-refundable tickets in FULL!

To be clear, I was told the refund wasn’t because I had to cancel our flights etc. It was an apology for the poor customer service. And to that I said, “Thank you!” and before we ended the call, a refund confirmation appeared in my inbox. Now that’s what I call service. Air Canada made a fan out of me.

What I’d like to know is how much money companies lose apologizing for poor customer service? Have you had a similar experience? Did you take poor service at face value or did you escalate the call and if so, what happened?

Support your local toy store

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Jenny discusses one of my favourite places: toy stores.

I’m a big believer in supporting local businesses. Sure, you can often find better and bigger bargains at chains like Walmart and Toys R Us, but I’ve been doing a lot of local shopping lately during my maternity leave, and it’s cemented for me that when shopping for toys, price isn’t always everything. Here are some compelling reasons to support your local store.

1. special orders
Recently I stopped into Mastermind’s Beaches location. A friend had recommended to me a bamboo mat, designed to fit any stroller, that wicks sweat away from baby’s back in the hot summer months, that she had purchased at that location a few weeks earlier. I was set on getting one because both my girls suffer from heat rashes and I figured this item would provide some relief. Unfortunately a lot of other moms had counted on it too, and the store was sold out; but a salesperson immediately set about special-ordering one for me – an option no Toys R Us clerk has ever offered.

2. knowledgeable staff
My local toy store, Treasure Island Toys, is a great example of how knowledgeable, friendly staff can make a shopping experience effortless and comfortable. Many’s the time I’ve stopped in to buy birthday gifts for girl #1’s cousins, classmates, and friends, armed with only a gender and age; the staff never fail to offer assistance within a few minutes, and always have a recommendation or two that’s appropriate for the child’s age and sex, taking out all the guesswork for me.

3. free gift wrapping
Treasure Island Toys also offers free gift wrapping – an incredible boon to busy moms, especially when faced with the often oddly-shaped packaging of many toys! Again, not a service I’ve ever heard offered at a chain store (except perhaps during the holiday season).

All these reasons have a common thread – unparalleled customer service. The service I’ve gotten over the years at big-box stores has been spotty at best; but the local stores I’ve frequented have never failed to surpass my expectations. I like a good bargain as much as the next person, but often (like when I’m hauling a hyper 5-year-old and a cranky infant along with me to the toy store) speedy, friendly, knowledgeable service that goes the extra mile is well worth the extra few dollars I might pay at the cash register.

Editor’s note: As I was preparing this post, I learned Mastermind has gone full force into social media and they seem to be doing a great job – they blog, have their own YouTube channel and you can reach them at @MastermindToys on Twitter.

H&M excels in customer service

We’ve had lengthy discussions about stores that have tightened their return policies and trimmed customer service this year. It’s only fair that I share a story about a wonderful experience I had at H&M on Bloor this week.

I want a pair of skinny jeans and have my eye on a pair from Fidelity but I’m trying to avoid the just-shy-of-$200 price tag. So, I thought I’d check out H&M during my lunch on Tuesday. I found a nice pair. Not as detailed or as well made as the ones by Fidelity, but for ¼ of the price, I thought they were worth the try.

Have you seen the change rooms at H&M? One word of warning – the line-ups are long – avoid them if you can. Fortunately, H&M has a 30-day return policy. I picked up two different sizes to try on in the comfort of my own home.

The cashier told me she put the bill in the bag. When I got home, it was nowhere to be found. I’ve had this happen before. It makes me so uncomfortable. I always think they’re going to assume I’ve stolen the merchandise when I return to the store.

I thought I had lost the bill. Last night I called the store and told the guy on the phone what happened. He told me to return with the jeans and tell the person on the cash that I never received the bill (that way I’d have an easier time.) So, yesterday that’s what I did.

While waiting in line at the cash, I read the return policy. H&M accepts returns within 30 days with or without a bill! (Note: Photo ID is required.)

When it was my turn at cash, I told the salesperson I wanted to return the jeans but I didn’t have my bill. She asked for the approximate time of day the purchase was made, the type of payment and which cash registered was used. Turns out I was speaking with a manager named Jackie who explained it would take 5-10 minutes for her to locate the transaction. She suggested I go upstairs where there wasn’t a line-up and once she found the details of the sale, she’d issue a refund right away.

The clock was ticking and I had a meeting in 30 min. how long would I have to wait? Hmm, within two minutes, the salesperson that rang in the sale on Tuesday came right over and greeted me with a friendly smile. Her name was Sarah. She was so happy I came back because she knew I’d left without a bill and I was planning on returning at least one pair of jeans. Within seconds she had my bill in hand and took care of my refund!

Whoever said customer service sucks in modestly priced clothing chains is wrong.

And a couple more things…
H&M’s summer sale is on now. There are several tables and racks of clothes starting at $10 and up. I actually received a pitch from their PR rep in the U.S. when when I got back from H&M the first go round. She asked if I’d let you know their sale was starting on Wednesday. I let her know it had already started in Canada. ;) And by the way, I wrote this post because I had a great experience - the pitch story is a total coincidence.

Check out H&M’s Dressing Room and Fashion Against AIDS program. You can upload a video and create your own ringtones too.

What about you? Have any good news customer service stories to share?

Sweet treats at Sweet Flour

One of the advantages of spending a lot of time on Twitter is learning about new things, including new local businesses. At least those smart enough to take advantage of connecting with people (and potential customers and ambassadors online).

I know this will sound diametrically opposed to my weight loss efforts but I’m a huge cookie fan. So, a few weeks ago when I started reading tweets about a new cookie shop called Sweet Flour Back Shop, I paid attention. Sweet Flour’s founder Kim Gans was also on Twitter and started sending me DMs (private messages) inviting me to stop by.

It took a few weeks and some convincing but today I finally got my family on board. We decided it was a perfect day to spend time strolling along Bloor West Village. The outing wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Sweet Flour.

Why Sweet Flour? Well, in my university days, I visited Steve’s and worked at Greg’s – I learned about mixings early on. Sweet Flour is all about made-to-order fresh baked cookies, muffin tops and granola. You can even buy a “shot” of raw cookie dough. How could I resist?

How it works
• Start by choosing your cookie dough (today’s menu included original, peanut butter and oatmeal - I choose original)
• Next, choose from 20 yummy mixings – (two are included in the price and you can add more for $0.50 each - my pics: semi-sweet chocolate chunks and cherries)
• Watch a baker mix your custom cookie, pop it into a special oven and two minutes later, you’ll have a fresh cookie right out of the oven.
• Enjoy! Pure deliciousness.



My younger son ordered a hot chocolate too, it was made from scratch using chocolate chunks. Honestly, it was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. He thought it was among the best he’s ever tasted but found it too hot and after burning his tongue, had to let it cool for 15 min. Perhaps Sweet Flour should follow the coffee shops and keep the temperature lower when making hot drinks for the kiddies.

I made a point of not asking for Kim when we arrived because I didn’t want us to receive special treatment. Once we had paid for our orders, Kim recognized me and introduced herself. She is just as lovely as her baked goods asked my son about his cookie and his favourite cookies because he might become the customer of the day. Sure enough, when we got home, he received this email – it made his day and his burned tongue was quickly forgotten.

“Thanks from Sweet Flour
Thanks for visiting Sweet Flour today. We want to let you know that the picture of you and your family will be up as our customer of the day on Tuesday. We hope you had a great visit.

Regards,
The Sweet Flour Team”

We’ll be back and yes, the verdict was unanimous. It was worth the 1/2 hour drive.

There’s more to starting a new business than having a unique concept and service yummy treats. Making customers feel special is an equally important ingredient and it looks like Sweet Flour is starting off on the right track.

Check out my annotated flickr photos (same ones as in the slide show but with commentary).