In my continuing saga of Onion Letters/Orchid Letters (I really wish I could find the original article I read about these letters and Johnny Rockets and such, 'cause I would link to it or at least its source, but I can't, dammit...)
Sent out today:
September 19, 2005
Mr. M B , Manager
Huge Home Improvement Store
Plaistow, NH
Dear Mr. B :
I am writing this letter in response to my experience in your store last Saturday, September 17, 2005. My husband, our 22-month-old son, and I were shopping for a few necessary items for a home improvement project. After checking out, I remembered that we needed to make two copies of our house key. My husband and son left the store and I returned to the correct aisle.
The gentleman in the department who waited on me and his coworker who was rekeying a lock at the same counter were both very nice and helpful. Our house key is a strange shape, and it took a few minutes for him to find a match. He was able to locate two keys that worked, and in a few moments, I was back in line at the front of the store.
When I got up to the register, the woman behind the counter, whose name I do not know, very rudely told me that she couldn�t ring through my keys, as they weren�t on a cardboard sheet, and that I would need to leave the line and return to the department. She offered no assistance.
I returned to the aisle. The man who had helped me was gone, now helping another customer in another part of the store. The other gentleman was still rekeying the lock, tweezers in hand. I looked around and located another associate in the next aisle. When I said, �Excuse me,� he turned and abruptly replied, �I can�t help you right now,� as he walked away. I could hear my son crying in the front of the store. I put the keys down next to the key machine and left.
This particular purchase was a small one, less than $5.00. We are, however, in the process of remodeling an 1800�s farmhouse, which requires a lot of building materials. Up until this time, we have always had a good experience with Huge Home Improvement Store, but for future purchases I will go where I can expect to be treated with courtesy and respect. Right now, Huge Home Improvement Store does not feel like that place.
I�m sorry I cannot supply you with more specific identifiers regarding the employees I spoke with. I left the store rather upset and did not pause to find names. I did, however, think you should be aware of the level of customer service in your store. Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Jenistar
Will just woke up from his nap to the sound of our neighbor cutting his grass. A little sleepy voice drifted out of his room, calling, "mawnmomo!" In English, this means lawnmower. That child loves the lawnmower. He also loves the broom, the Swiffer, and the mop. I've given birth to a neat freak in training. This frightens me.
Kirk, Will and I went to church with his mother yesterday. The church she's at now is the church Kirk went to as a little kid. A large contingent of the old-timers found him in the crowd because they looked at Will and saw Kirk 30 years ago. It was actually a very nice day, even if it meant I missed out on a day at the lake, which I was not happy about. We got the Big Pitch, though, from all involved. Sorry, kids. I want to find a new church, but I'm not ready to chuck it all and become a presbyterian. I haven't exhausted the possibilities in my own church yet.
As soon as our NH weekends are over (sadly, there are only three more of them), I go into New Church Finding Mode. I'm a girl on a mission.
Right now, that mission involves liberating a little boy from his bed. Pleasant evening, all...
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