Need advice on how to sock it to Things Remembered.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, granted, I’m only having this urge because I’m twirly and pissed right now, and really, this is only one Margarita on the Drink to Forget scale. In fact, it makes a pretty lame rant, so I’m not even putting it in the Pit.

But I still have to share.

So I’m leaving town tonight, on my way to L.A. to visit a friend. I purchased a gift to bring to said friend, and took it to Things Remembered (henceforth TR) in my local mall to have it engraved. My plan was to pick it up sometime during my work day today, because I’m headed out of town as soon as I get off work (I still have to pick up my dogs at home, but my luggage–and theirs–is already in the trunk of the car).

Well.

This morning I showed up at the mall at 10 am, ready to pick up my engraved goodies at TR.

Hmmmm. TR wasn’t open. OK, so I was about 10 minutes early, and none of the stores were open, but all of the other stores at least had lights on and people inside. TR was dark and empty.

When the other stores opened, I did some shopping and went back to TR at around 10:30. Still unpopulated, except for now there was a man on the outside, peering into the darkness for signs of life.

We conferred a bit–he was there to pick up an engraved item, too–but neither of us had any information about when the store opened or what was up.

At that point, I’d been away from work (which was all the way across town) WAYYY too long, so I left, with the idea that I’d have to come back later in the day.

So I returned to my office and spent the rest of the morning calling TR and experiencing my panic anew as each time the phone rang and rang and rang and rang and rang . . .

Finally, at around 1 pm, I called the main office of the mall itself to see what was going on–I needed my engraving STAT!!! Plus, I was on my way out to a 1:30 meeting, and thought that I could head to the mall afterwards, while I was still out of the office, because I figured once I went back in, I’d never get out again.

(We have a tiny staff, and as many of you know, we’re–ahem–short one employee now, so opportunities to leave the office are few and far between; as soon as one person gets back to man (or woman) the ship, the one person who’s in the office goes flying out the door, late for an appointment because s/he had to wait for someone to come back before s/he could leave. I mean, it’s gotten to the point that when you need to leave, you just mumble something and run, before anyone can say, “Wait! Don’t leave! I’ve got a meeting in half an hour!”)

The nice lady in the mall office seemed rather shocked to learn that TR was not open, and sent mall security guards to check it out (see, there’s the purpose of a security guard!) while I waited on the line. Finally, she came back on and said no, TR wasn’t open, but that she was going to get to the bottom of things and call me back on my cell phone.

Which she did.

About twenty minutes ago (which was about 3:30 p.m.).

And TR is finally open now (after Mall Management lady called in reinforcements from out of town).

But now I’m stuck in the office until the end of the day, because I’m the only one here.

So now I’m pissed. I’ll spare you the details, but with dogs to pick up at my house, a mother to hug at her house, and a mall that’s not really close to either of these locations, picking up that damn engraved item (and still managing to get out of town halfway on schedule)–in 5:00 traffic, no less–is going to be a logistical nightmare!

But I need it NOW so that I can give it to my friend when I get to L.A.

So yes, I know that this is all a big mistake, and that whoever is responsible for the cavernous scheduling glitch is deeply sorry, and that people make mistakes . . .

. . . but I want restitution, dammit, for my mood now if nothing else! :mad:

So tell me, guys and gals . . . what would you do/demand in this scenario? Anything, or would you just chalk it up to “Shit Happens” and have that Margarita?

2

Not much you can do here other than write a letter to them or possibly file a complaint here:

www.bbb.org

Problably not worth it though, its most likely the $7 an hour clerk got fed up.

3

See if they’re willing to deliver it to your mom’s house if you’re willing to pay the delivery fee.

That said: Are you coming up to the Bay Area this weekend? I’d love to buy you and Skip a drink.

4

I’ll bet its not ready when you do finally get there. It only takes them about 2 minutes to engrave shit, and they always say “Pick it up 2 days from now” and when you show up 2 days later, its never done and they do it while you wait in about that 2 minutes.

Kinda makes you wonder…

Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.

5

Maureen, I knew I liked you. :wink:

Whereabouts in the Bay Area do you live? I lived on Alice Street in Oakland for two years, while I was going to grad school at SFSU. I loved to drink at Vesuvio’s and Liverpool Lil’s in the City.

Damn shame we didn’t meet then.

Oh, and no, we won’t be up that far, but if you’re heading to Vegas this weekend . . .

6

Don’t forget to make sure that they’re being appropriately reprimanded by the mall. I know that sounds funny, but I’ve worked in a mall, and if the management caught you opening late, they would fine the store!!

I would ask for my money back. And the item.

Be sure to write a letter to someone higher up than store level. For reference, there’s a great book called “Shocked, Appalled, and Dismayed” that’s all about writing an effective letter of complaint.

7

I’m in Fremont. If you’re ever in the city, you can find Mr. Maureen and I drinking our lunch at Coppola’s.

I don’t see getting to go to Vegas twice in one month , dammit, but if you get out this way again, let me know. I’ll take you to dinner.

8

I’d demand to get the engraving free. And the shipping to LA free. And a bottle of Margarita mix free.

9

Gato, bite thy tongue (especially since that has already occurred to me)!! :eek:

Avarie, I think I will write that letter. Given the mall management lady’s tone when I called to see what was up, I’m guessing that something will happen from that end, but I’m still cranky from MY end, I mean what if my flight had been out at, say, noon today (OK, well, then it would have been partially my fault for procrastinating, but work with me, here)?

10

Will do, Maureen.

I’m outta here, folks! Thanks for the advice. I’m off to pick up that damn engraving.

11

well Em,
look at it this way.
At least you know where your former co-worker is employed now.

12

Okay, Auntie Em here’s what to do: go check out the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles, fast forward to the scene at the car rental desk and memorize the Steve Martin part.

Of course you’ll have to subistute "engraved object’ for the word “car,” but otherwise I think you’ll be all set.

Yeah and now they’re trying to figure out where the bejebus she got off to.

13

I dunno auntie em, this just isn’t as satisfying as a missing co-worker. Where’s the drama? Where’s the pathos? We need suspision. Wait, maybe the person who was supposed to open the Things Remembered was ALSO abducted by the person who abducted MC? Ha! Perhaps alien pods have landed in your town? (Now we’re talking!)

14

I work in a mall in NC where TR is never open on time and is constantly being fined. They also close at lunch, which isn’t permitted. Guess the home office can afford the fines. Same people have been at the store for years.

A while back, TR brought cards to my store saying they’d “engrave any item purchased at any store in the mall for $5.” When our customers took items to TR, they were charged $5 for engraving and a $15 “service charge.” We threw away they cards they’d left and complained. Now we advise people not to go there.

15

I feel like I have to defend my whole company here! So sorry you had a bad experience, auntie em. If this had happened at my TR store, this is what would have happened: as soon as we spoke with you, we would have overnighted your gift, via Airborne, to your friend, at no charge to you. We would have apologized profusely, and since it was a carry-in item, we would probably have refunded you the carry-in fee and the engraving charges. And apologized some more. That’s not just my store, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

I was under the impression that our charges for carry-in items were standard throughout the company (800 stores), summerbreeze, but I could be wrong. Items valued at $100 or less are charged a $10 carry-in fee, plus the cost of engraving, which starts at $5, so for a simple carry-in there is a minimum total charge of $15, and we hand out referral flyers to “vendor partners” offering a 10% discount to anyone they send down to us. Engraving on items purchased from us starts at $5 for a name or date, and $3 a word for additional words or designs, with a cap of $50…you can go wild after that and we’ll never charge more than the $50. And no, our home office can’t afford the late-opening charges…I amazed that manager hasn’t been replaced.

And yes, gatopescado, some items only take about two minutes to engrave if you’re an experienced engraver with nothing else to do (like wait on other customers, engrave other stuff, answer the phone) We specialize in engraving “while you shop” —which means one hour unless it is a carry-in, or glass, or exceptionally long, or we are exceptionally busy (Christmas). Same-day engraving is our selling point. If your local store is not adhering to that without good reason (holiday season, malfunctioning engraver) then do the whole company a favor and complain…I’d give you the number for the home office, but that’s not a good idea, so check out the website www.thingsremembered.com and you’ll find customer service numbers there. We can’t fix things that are going wrong if we don’t know about them.

auntie em I’d love to know what emergency kept them from opening that day…let us know, please? And I apologize for them.

16

oh auntie em, …I may have to use this as a sig line!