The needier this store projected itself, the more open it was to scams and customers throwing tantrums. One reason why Dear Customers now has people acting like 3 year olds in front of her. BBBY was like an overly permissive mom or dad. Except it was the employees/nanny that ended up dealing with the tantrums.
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This happened and I have no doubt it was the fault of whoever was on the line at corporate that day telling them to do it. Maybe your "righted ship" included the introduction of the word "NO" to Union's vocabulary? This would not have been the first time the company got fleeced over this. You had years of needy begging for business with the coupons and the return policies. May as well put up a big sign out front that says COME IN! PLEASE!
Don't tell me it's a legend when I witnessed this at 53.
Urban Legend
Maybe years ago….but our return policy has finally righted ship. One positive in the last few years.
Unfortunately this is on poor product quality and wasteful spending.
You're right: they brought this on themselves. Taking ancient coupons that have been 6 years expired, taking literally anything back. It was like BBBY was acting desperate all along. Very needy company when it came to customers. Set no boundaries and don't get shocked when you are fleeced na--d.
Yeah, the Chicago Ridge store in our district said they were proud to be standing up to people re: returns. Not sure if it worked or did not: I only did inventory there once in a blizzard. SM was pretty nasty, so might be a reflection. The only problem I have is that the store in NJ paid for it with their jobs when in fact the same corporate goons that cut their store would have happily said "give em the refund" if called. And the CS and FEMs were afraid to even have them call corporate.
Certain store in NJ closed because of our too customer friendly return policy. Customer base knew how to work it and they made gazillions from it. Serves BBBY right
I can only say the ASMs were only concerned about the extra work they had to do if you did a hold or a ship and it didn't get done on the other end. Customers? So what? Unless they called Corporate, it was ALL so what? We had many ASMs not giving a cr-p LONG before now but this is how you end up where BBBY is today. Very bad customer service. And this attitude of "I don't want to do any extra work". Now maybe she had gone through all this before with the company, and I cannot have it both ways as that is hypocritical of me. I just wanted the customer to get what they were after. That was the job I reckoned I had to do. Same ASM once told me that I "do too much for other departments around the store". And this was a flagship store. And "I know what you mean, I am like that, too!" I did more because I was one of only about 3 people there who knew the whole store. After 3 years at that point. Whatever. I did my job.
And yes, the pots were obviously used a great deal. I do not recall if he had the original receipt. But he did say he "didn't like them". And he got away with it. At the same time a fellow worker got chewed out by an ASM for not wringing something right and "costing the place $25" on coupons. And once when I placed a hold and ship another store failed to send the item.(Clybourne, was it?) So therefore it was MY fault and WE NO LONGER DO THAT. Could name names but won't. It was done by a corporate kiss ar-e who is now a recruiter for another company.
I was so demanding at times that I once asked the DeKalb store for confirmation that an item was IN HER HAND (per our rules at one time) so I could send a customer from Maple Park over tomorrow to pick it up. She just told me not to worry and "we've got plenty". College kid? At any rate, told the customer to talk immediately to the store manager up there if it is not there and tell him I got no confirmation from the employee. De Kalb went under, just another one of the many dead college stores.
Oh, the guy just walked in one day with a sack full of old pots and pans, dropped it in the hard side floor in front of their computer, and asked for his money back. Only one item was caught not being from the store- we had a woman working in Registry who said that one thing was not ours. The rest? The usual song and dance. Customer service tells him it cannot be done, he calls Corporate number asking for a supervisor, and supervisor makes CS refund the money. One thing I am not sure of is whether it was a gift card or money: I would guess a gift card. And no, I would not have believed it if I was not the one stuck working the rest of hard side while they sorted this all out. Saw it with my own eyes. Friggin unbelievable. Was a source of humor for weeks at the store. But all you had to do was call up corporate and they did not want that angry YELP traffic. This is how you go under, gift cards or not. You may as well go to Goodwill and collect their pots and take them back to BBBY for credit.
@gsx Is this true? How???
After having seen people return an entire expensive set of pots and pans after using them for 9 years and actually getting their money back, I cannot prove you wrong. Our store was so used to corporate caving in on something like this that it probably cost us three CS people. SM s also relented. Between this and the coupons....
Prove me wrong!