The store, that is.
You know, the ubiquitous customized gifts store found in just about every US mall. Why? Because it seems if they don’t sell it, they won’t help you find someone who does. Apparently, they just want you to buy the engraved gifts they sell….
Customer service at its very worst.
I went to the local store today to get some engraved plates for a trophy we are donating to our local Scottie club. I even lugged the trophy with me so we could pick the best alternative. The trophy base is an odd shape, so we needed a larger size than the store carries.
Well, they don’t do custom or larger plates AT ALL. When I asked where I could perhaps get something that would work, the clueless clerk said, maybe a trophy store. I asked if he knew of any local ones. "Oh no, we don’t know what the competition sells. Couldn’t tell you."
I certainly hope this was just a case of a stupid teenager on a Saturday afternoon. If instead, it is the company’s corporate policy to NOT help out potential customers when they don’t have the goods — ie it isn’t a competitive situation — then all I can say is, clueless. How hard would it be to have a list of local trophy stores that can handle the occasional oddball request? Not hard at all, I’d say.
They might even get an additional sale out of it. I was actually considering getting some small token to go along with the trophy that the yearly winner could keep. The trophy itself is a challenge trophy that must be won by the same person three times for permanent possession. I thought a small engraved ornament or something that the person could keep would be a nice keepsake.
I may or may not do that, but one thing I know for sure, if I do, I will not be purchasing it at Things Remembered. In fact, I doubt I’ll ever shop there again.
It may take me a bit longer and may not be as convenient, but if I need something engraved, I’m sure I can find somewhere else.
Count on it.
Frequent Shopper says
I shop at Things Remembered quite often. I use the regular store as well as online. I have never had a bad encounter with them and have actually found their customer service wonderful. Did you (the earlier customer) contact the company and let them know how you were treated? If you do not, then how can you complain. How can they fix something if they don’t know it is broken. I will continue to shop at Things Remembered. I love the items and the personalization is worth every penny.
Susan Getgood says
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you have had good experiences at Things Remembered and are happy with your purchases.
I was very careful to say that my experience may have been an isolated experience, and not typical of the store or company policy.
As to whether the customer has an obligation to contact the company before publicly complaining, I do not agree. It is a company’s obligation to provide the best possible products and service. We as customers have absolutely no obligation to give them a chance to explain. We can choose too, but we do not have to.
Perhaps if I cared more, if it was bad service from a firm or product that I used regularly, I might have tried harder to contact the manager and so on.
But I didn’t care enough, and companies need to understand this. Every interaction with a customer matters and you have to strive to make each one a good, because there is NO guarantee of a second chance.
BYW if I had been approaching this as a journalist writing a story about Things Remembered, I would have contacted multiple stores and multiple customers to assess a broad range of experiences. But that’s not what this post was. This post was about one customer’s experience on one day.
Make every day count.
Ron Batts says
I am so sorry that you had a poor service experience at on of our stores. Please let me know where and when this happened and I promise you I will address it.
Please call me at your convenience so I can restore your faith in our company. The toll free number is 1-800-874-2653, and my extention is 5430.
Ron Batts, Sr. VP of Store Sales and Operations
Susan Getgood says
Ron, Thanks for the note. Glad to know that you are listening.
As I wrote on my post, I hope my experience was an isolated incident. I understand that the principal objective at your stores is to sell your standard merchandise. That said, it would be a nice touch if your stores had a short list of local trophy or specialty shops that can handle the oddball requests that you cannot do. If someone has a specific custom or quasi-custom thing in mind, as I did, they aren’t going to purchase a stock item instead. Helping them would make them more kindly disposed toward Things Remembered.
It certainly would have left a far different impression on me.
Jessica says
I do not believe that Things Remembered should have to research other engravers for customers. When i shop there are many moments when the store i am in doesn’t have what i need or want. I do not expect that the store should have a list of places for me to go. It would be my job to do the research for myself.
Things Remembered isn’t an engraving store. It is a store that sells engravable products and engraving for those products.
Susan Getgood says
You are absolutely right — they don’t have to. They, or any store for that matter, can focus entirely on their product set, and not worry about a customer who wants something they don’t offer. That’s a store who only cares about you if you plan to buy that day.
On the other hand, really good customer service — like you get at Nordstrom for example — focuses on making the customer happy. Extraordinary customer service is the store that will send you elsewhere if they don’t have what you want that day. These stores understand that the lifetime value of a customer is more than what she buys today.
Specifically to Things Remembered, they do sell plates that you can affix to your own goods. They only sell them in certain standard sizes. Had a standard size fit my trophy I would have bought one. But it didn’t. And the store lost a moment to deliver extraordinary customer service by telling me where I might find what I needed.
Gary says
It is frustrating when someone else doesn’t do something the way we like, but I have to come to the defense of Things Remembered. We shop there frequently (everyone we know has received an engraved photo album) and they are always very helpful and friendly – have used three or four of their stores. They assist with gift suggestions as well as ideas for engraving – and have engraved non-store items, including the back of our son’s IPOD when he was going on active duty in the Army. We also appreciate the way the company gives back to the community – for instance they have donated millions of dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I hope you give them another chance – we have all disappointed someone at one time or another!
Karen says
I realize you stated it might have been an uninformed teenager that made your experience unpleasant that one day. However, you said “In fact, I doubt I’ll ever shop there again.” I have shopped at Things Remembered frequently and have not had a bad experience yet. Everyone can have a bad day but to boycott an entire chain is pretty extreme and unfair after only one difficult experience. To be frank- it ISN’T their job to tell you where to find what you need; they may not even know because they are busy providing you with the best service possible for THEIR products. I have been in Things Remembered stores in several locations across the country and love the friendly way I am greeted and the time I’m given to help me select just the right gift. You truly might want to give them another try!
Mike says
I’m late to this topic, but as one who used to work retail, I’m all to familiar with the sense of entitlement that many customers walk into the store with. It’s sad that we live in a society that says everything should be done for us. How far are stores supposed to go in order to satisfy customers? At what point does the customer get off their lazy behinds and do something for themselves? I guess I’m just tired of so many people whining when they don’t get exactly what they want when they want it. Yeah, I guess the store could have a list of other suppliers, but then you’d have the customer (and I know this from experience) who whines that they wouldn’t place the call for them and so it would go. Bottom line, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Anyway, that’s my rant.
Susan Getgood says
Mike, you might want to read my follow up post on this topic.
To your specific point about sense of entitlement, it goes both ways. As a customer, I am a little fed up with clerks in stores who think they are doing me a favor by waiting on me. And not just this specific incident. If you want my money, exert yourself just a little bit.
In my case, I got up off my “lazy behind,” made a special trip to the mall WITH the big-ass trophy, hoping for a little help in solving my problem and figuring it would be easier if they could see the trophy.
Instead I got a clerk who didn’t want to be bothered. That isn’t good customer service, with or without referring me somewhere else.
Sometimes you just get one chance with a customer, and whether they are an ass or not is pretty much irrelevant. If you want the business, you should do what it takes. Or pass. Choice is yours.
Jen says
I bought a really nice voice recorder keychain from Things Remembered for my boyfriend when he left for Iraq in 2004. I had it engraved with his name and his rank, and I recorded a “come home safe, I love you” message on it and sent it to him overseas. He really loved it and he said he listened to it every time he went on a mission. He has since been deployed for his second tour in Iraq and I would like to get him a new one; one that reflects his recent promotion to sergeant.
I could not find the keychain at the online store, nor in the mall. When I asked the people who worked at the store, they said they couldn’t help me, could not give me a number to call, just referred me to another Things Remembered in a different mall. So I tried to call the national number from their website and the lady told me that they no longer carry the item and that they had received the item from a supplier. I asked if she could please tell me who the supplier was. She said “no.” I asked her if there was someone else I could talk to and she said “no.”
Then I found this blog and tried to call the number that the Sr. VP of Store Sales left, but the extension no longer exists apparently. I have never run in to so many dead ends trying to search for a seemingly simple product. It would really mean a lot to me and my boyfriend if someone could please tell me where I could find an engravable voice recorder keychain.
Thank you!
Things Remembered Employee says
Susan and Jenn,
As a veteran Things Remembered Employee, I am ashamed of the manner in which you were both treated. It has always been an unwritten policy to do everything possible to satisfy the customer, with our product or assisting in finding what you want elsewhere.
Susan-We normally are able to direct you to a local independent trophy store that has the ability to supply plates in larger sizes that we carry, but since the store did not do this, may I suggest you check the yellow pages under Trophy Shops for one in your area.
Jen-I recently assisted a woman who was also looking for a “Recording Keychain”. We no longer carry the item, but Target currently has one available in their RedBox Collection for about $10. There are also a number of websites that sell Recording Key Chains; a Google search for Recording Key Chains will display a large selection. I am not sure if any of these can have a special message engraved on them, surfaces must be of a certain type to be engraved.
As for Ron Batts, he does exist and can be reached at the number he provided above.
I do wish I knew where you were both located, I would love to help both of you with the things you are searching for.
Jessie says
How was the clerk supposed to know what kind of product other stores carry? I work retail and it’s hard enough memorizing the items that *my* store carries. And the employee was also supposed to have phone numbers handy for your convenience? Apparently you aren’t capable of opening the the Yellow Pages! It was not a case of customer service at its worse, it was a case of a customer at her laziest.
Susan Getgood says
I’m just curious Jessie, why did you bother to comment on this post? If you’d read the whole story, and all the comments, you’d know that it appears that the issue ended up being the clerk, not any policy of Things Remembered to not try to help out customers. The clerk told me it was policy to not have this extra information at hand to help customers. Others have contradicted that statement.
Net, my project was too hard; he was a teen not interested in helping.
But in the end, guess what? The customer gets to be a lazy ass if he or she wants. A company that puts themselves out will get the business. And one that doesn’t, won’t. Which would you rather be?
We did end up finding another solution. By looking it up in the yellow pages as you so charmingly stated. But I would have been so much more kindly disposed if the clerk at the store had been a tad more inclined to help me out.
Things Remembered Employee says
I would like to comment on all being said. I am a TR Employee and have been for 12 years. I am proud to work for this company and TR has always prided itself in offering a fun, fast, friendly customer service experience. I have been in retail for more than 15 years, hence this has made me a VERY picker customer service shopper. I do demand, in a sense, great customer service however….I don’t expect another company to know everything about anothers business. I live 1 hour from the TR store that I manage. I drive from home to work and work to home. I am unfamiliar with all in my area or all the small surrounding areas near my store. Would it be safe to say that you would find me rude or uncooperative if I informed you to check the yellow pages because I am unfamiliar with the area? I realize I was not with you during this experience and it may have been a bad day for the both of you. However, we all can’t possibly know everything about other stores unless we have used the business (ourselves) before. I also think it is a shame you feel you were mistreated but I also find it elementary for you to say that you would never shop another TR because you will miss out on a great shopping experience. One last thing, about referrals…I have sent a customer to a specific store in the area that I found using the yellow pages on the internet and the customer I referred came back to my store VERY UPSET that I would refer her to where she received a messed up item and the service was very poor. I couldn’t apologize enough. Even though it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t mess up her item or mistreat her-the customer was so upset that I myself felt like it was me who had done her an injustice. So, I am much more cautious about referring anyone, anywhere unless I have used them myself. Thanks for listening.
Susan Getgood says
Thanks for the comment. Prior to that experience, I had always had good luck the few times I had shopped at the same Things Remembered. And I am sure most times, most TR stores do a great job of meeting customer needs.
On this particular day, the teenaged clerk (the only one on the store on a Saturday late morning btw) just wasn’t at all interested in helping me. There were other customers with easier purchases and helping me was apparently too hard. He also implied that it was company policy to not provide referrals, which has been disproved by multiple comments on this post. Heck, I probably would have been mollified if he’d just said I don’t know of any, you’ll have to check out the yellow pages, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE OUR PHONE BOOK. Remember, I had the trophy with me, and it is both an awkward size and very heavy.
How many other people had a similar less than thrilling experience at this store that day with that clerk? I wonder…. And that is the main point of the post: you often only get one chance with a customer. Make sure every experience is a good one.
Things Remembered Asst. Manager says
I remember when i started working @ TR Oct 2005. I was clueless to alot of things and it was hard to help customers when i didnt know much about my own store. the employee may have just started. we train our employees to help customers 100%. I tell my team to call myself or the CSM if they have a question on behalf of the customer. I always tell them, if one person has a bad expierence, they will tell their friends… etc.
I always give customers phone numbers to places that Monogram, emboss outside items. i try to help them as much as i can. you can always call the store, speak with the manager and report the employee. its the only way we know, as managers, what is going on. Teammates wont tell us if they displeased a customer! we need to know to make it better!!
Don't complain until YOU'VE worked retail! says
I work retail and if we don’t carry something, the customer will sometimes ask where they can get it. Quite often it seems that if I can give the name of another store, the questions become endless. “What color/size Whatzit do they have at that other store?” (I dunno, don’t work there, I just heard that they carry Whatzits!) “How much do they cost?” “Where is the store located?” “What time do they close?” “Directions?” “Phone number?” Honesty, I truly would like to be helpful, but meanwhile my other customers and duties are languishing. It’s not a case that I don’t want some other store clerk to get the sale that I’m obviously not going to make because we don’t carry Whatchamacallits, it’s just that quite often it really is just better to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t know.”
That being said, if the customer has any sort of brains and manners, they will say, “They sell them at McFurrballs? Thank you!” and either ask to borrow a phone book (gladly given!) or make their way to that other store.
Susan Getgood says
Thanks for all the comments. I am now closing comments on this post, as they’ve gotten a bit repetitive.
If you work for Things Remembered, or any other retail establishment, I apologize if my post offended you. As I’ve mentioned in the comments on this post, and in a subsequent post on this blog, I think that the behavior and attitude of the clerk that morning were atypical. Short version: high school kid who couldn’t be bothered even offering to let me look in the phonebook. “We don’t do it, can’t help you, sorry, bye bye.”
However, I do take exception to the notion that unless you’ve worked retail you do not have the right to complain about customer service. Yes, I understand the concept of the customer from hell, but we as customers DO have a right to expect good customer service. Whatever that means to us.
In my case, it means a happy customer, even if that means sending her someplace else today. She’ll come back.