I should have gone all “Pretty Woman” on them
Sometimes the best posts come to me during a simple conversation with some friends. Last weekend, my husband and I were at the mall when we ran into Shelby and her husband, who are some very good friends of ours. We sat outside the Dairy Queen at Jordan Creek Town Center and chatted for an hour or so.
Shelby and I began discussing the purity ring my daughter got. After telling her about the experience we had, I decided it would make a good blog post. Because I am very insistent on receiving good service at places I give my business to, I decided to share our experience with all of you.
When my daughter first mentioned wanting to go look at rings, she said she had researched them online and knew exactly which jewelry stores at the mall carried them: Zales, Greenberg’s, Helzberg’s and Rogers.
Our first stop was to Helzberg’s where there were NO customers, and three employees working. My daughter walked in, looked in the cases for 2 minutes and no one ever asked if they could help her. When I walked into the store to check on her, they immediately approached me and asked if I they could help me find something, and my response was to point to my daughter and say, “No thank you, I am with HER.”
My daughter asked the employee (who had food stuck in her teeth–YUCK) if they sold purity rings.
Employee: No, we don’t have those.
Daughter: OK, well, I saw them on your website.
Employee: *sigh* Well, when you looked at them, did they say “Online only”? If it does, we don’t have them here.
(Yes, she really did SIGH at my child.)
Daughter: I don’t remember it saying that.
Employee: Well, when you go home, look at the website again and if you can remember to, write down the item number. Because it’s probably something you can only get online.
Daughter: Um, OK.
Oh yes, this really happened.
Seriously, they work for the jewelry store! They couldn’t look up their own damn website and see what she was talking about? Do they not have any of those fancy newfangled computer doo-hicky things in there? Not only would the employee not go to any lengths to help her, she also wasn’t even going to suggest seeing if they had something similar to it in the store. Her suggestion was to “go home and look at the website.”
Walking out of there disappointed, I told my daughter we’d head to Greenberg’s. That was where husband and I had bought my wedding ring, and hopefully they’d be able to help her. Again, my daughter walked into the store several steps ahead of me, and again, she waited for someone to ask her if she needed anything. There were two customers in the store and four employees, so like the other store, NOT BUSY. Once again, not being approached by anyone, she went up to one of the employees who was just standing around. Upon asking about a purity ring she had seen online, the employee responded:
“Um, no. We don’t have those here.”
End of discussion, apparently. Because the employee immediately dismissed talking to her, looked over to me standing at the other end of the jewelry case, and said “Is there something I can help you find?”
Again, I responded with “No thank you. I am with HER” while pointing at my daughter.
By this point, I was getting plenty upset, to put it mildly. We began walking to the other side of the mall, where the last two jewelry stores were.
The next jewelry store to be put to the test was Zales. Again, another store that had NO customers in it the weekend before Valentine’s Day. (Are we seeing a trend here?) There were a couple employees working, but after waiting for them to finish their conversation with each other, we again were told they didn’t sell purity rings, in the store OR on their website.
Really? Then they must not be familiar with their own website. Because it’s FULL OF THEM. <==Seriously, go take a gander.
Finally, our last stop was Rogers. I had never even heard of Rogers Jewelers before, let alone bought anything there. They had a few customers in there, and four employees working. When my daughter walked in, she was immediately greeted.
Immediately.
My husband and I stood outside the jewelry store to see how things went down, because I was getting to the point where I wanted to scrap the whole shopping expedition, except that the reason we were there was very important to my daughter.
Within seconds, an employee came over to her and asked if they could help her. Here’s how the conversation went down:
Daughter: I am looking for a purity ring. I have seen them online but wanted to find some in the store I could actually look at and try on.
Employee: Well, we don’t have anything in the store specifically called a “purity ring” but we have this entire section here that people have purchased as promise rings or purity rings. What’s more important is that you find a ring you like, and YOU decide what the reason is you are wearing it for.
*Me (thinking): Score one for Roger’s Jewelers.*
Daughter: OK, that sounds good.
They asked my daughter to sit down in one of their comfy chairs, and they proceeded to treat her like a queen. When another employee was done waiting on a customer, even he came over to help. She had two employees waiting on her, making her feel very special. They showed her ring after ring, and I swear they spent a good 30 minutes with her, as she debated which ring she liked best. What originally started out as a $50-$60 purchase turned into a ring on sale for $199. A customer in the store donated her $50 coupon to my daughter, which brought the price down to $149. Honestly, it was a lot more than I was initially planning on spending, but she picked it out, was happy with it, and the customer service was STELLAR.
While I was sitting with my daughter looking at rings, my husband mentioned looking at rings for ME since our 10-year anniversary is coming up. The employee helping my daughter (whom we later discovered was the store manager) motioned for yet another employee to go over and start helping my husband.
Bottom line, to keep this long story from getting any longer, not only did Rogers Jewelers make a sale to my daughter, but their excellent customer service prompted my husband to buy my ring there, as well. And it was NOT a cheap ring. We were NOT treated as if we were a bother, and my daughter was NOT made to feel stupid or insignificant.
The other stores failed to realize that my daughter was wanting to buy something very important to her, and whether the store carried the ring she was looking for or not, they could have offered to show her something similar or CHECKED THEIR DARN WEBSITE! (That one still bothers me!) Not a single one of them even asked her what the ring looked like that she was referring to. They saw a 14-year old girl come into their store, figured the sale would be small, and decided they weren’t wasting their time on her.
Amount we originally planned on spending that day? $50-$60
Total amount of money we actually spent that day at Rogers? $3,889.11
The experience my daughter had in that jewelry store? PRICELESS.
It reminded me of that scene in “Pretty Woman” where Julia Roberts’ character Vivian walks back into that chic Rodeo Drive store full of snotty women that refused to help her only a day before:
Shop assistant: Hello, can I help you?
Vivian: I was in here yesterday, you wouldn’t wait on me?
Shop assistant: Oh.
Vivian: You people work on commission, right?
Shop assistant: Yes.
Vivian:Big mistake. Big. HUGE. Well, I have to go shopping now!!!
Note:Obviously, I wasn’t compensated to write this post. The opinions are mine, and the experiences are mine. However, if you are ever in the Des Moines, Iowa area and are looking to shop for jewelry, stop in to Rogers’ Jewelers at Jordan Creek before going anywhere else. We had a great experience there.
Tags: daughter, greenbergs, helzbergs, jewelry, purity ring, rogers, zales
24 Comments
Links to this Post
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Sincerely Jenni — February 19, 2010 @ 12:02 PM
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Elbow Friend News — February 19, 2010 @ 2:27 PM
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Sincerely Jenni — February 23, 2010 @ 7:51 PM
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iatraveler — February 24, 2010 @ 2:42 PM
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iatraveler — February 24, 2010 @ 8:21 PM
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Lessing-Flynn — February 24, 2010 @ 8:40 PM
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iatraveler — February 24, 2010 @ 8:43 PM
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Rockstar Jenny — February 24, 2010 @ 8:59 PM
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Sincerely Jenni — February 24, 2010 @ 11:24 PM
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By Courtenay
Twitter: IASoupMama
, February 19, 2010 @ 8:31 AM
Wow! Good to know that! I have family in that area, so I’ll be sure to pass your story along. And congrats to both of you on your new rings!
Courtenay´s last blog ..Handled with Love
By Suzicate, February 19, 2010 @ 2:02 PM
Customer service really is everything wouldn’t you say?! Glad your daughter found what she wanted and wow, you really got a bonus!
By AmyLK, February 19, 2010 @ 3:11 PM
So glad you were able to finally get good service. I have walked out of places because of bad service. Their loss.
AmyLK´s last blog ..DeLurking Day Update and Other Silly Stuff
By brainella, February 20, 2010 @ 8:27 AM
A little effort goes a LONG way — a lot of effort is sincerely appreciated. It’s amazing that, in this economy, people are willing to be so lazy and uninterested in their jobs. I’m glad your daughter got the treatment she deserved! You too.
brainella´s last blog ..Friday Fragments
By Stan, February 20, 2010 @ 4:04 PM
I’ve never even heard of Rogers either, but it’s funny how it’s usually the little guy store that has the best customer service. The other places spend all that money on these fancy tv and radio spots that make it come across like they’re the nicest people you would ever want to meet then you get in there and they’re actually jerks.
By Tumbleweed, February 21, 2010 @ 1:14 PM
You should seriously consider reworking this post into a letter and send it to all of the stores involved. It would take no time at all, and I find that complaints that leave a paper trail (even an electronic “paper trail”
get much more attention Also, tell the other stores that you are considering extending an invitation to Rogers to hang a copy in their store or publish it on their website, or whatever. Just a suggestion, but I would get pleasure from sticking it to them a little, even if they never respond.
Tumbleweed´s last blog ..My Husband Is A Lovely Sugar Doll– And Now, So Am I
By maerae, February 23, 2010 @ 8:20 PM
Oh, you should have. I wish I could have been there to push you to it.
By Jody, February 24, 2010 @ 10:24 AM
This is a great story and should be sent to every store involved. I was actually going to contact Greenburg Jewelers about Moms Nite Out, but now I am totally going to call Rodgers. Exceptional service creates relationships.
Jody´s last blog ..A Couple Thoughts on Niche Blogging from Blissdom
By Jody, February 24, 2010 @ 10:35 AM
Little followup- I called Rogers Jewelers and spoke with the manager. They will be taking part in Moms Nite Out on May 6 and have some great ideas to help make it an amazing event. (Be sure to register as soon as the info hits Iowa Geek- you don’t want to miss it!)
Jody´s last blog ..A Couple Thoughts on Niche Blogging from Blissdom
By Jenni, February 24, 2010 @ 11:01 AM
AWESOME! Thanks so much for calling them!
By RockStarJenny, February 24, 2010 @ 2:56 PM
YEAH baby.
Rock on.
I got goosebumps reading the part about how you guys were treated at Rogers!
LOVE stories like this!
RockStarJenny´s last blog ..go fish!
By Deb, February 24, 2010 @ 3:08 PM
Valuable lesson – and I think you need to print this out and mail it to the other stores (since they don’tlook at computers). Great customer service story.
By Sara Broers, February 24, 2010 @ 3:12 PM
Customer service seems to be over rated these days! Every single person that works in sales should read this! Nice post~ Oh, and you gotta love what you got out of the deal? Enjoy, my friend!
Sara Broers´s last blog ..My 3rd Wordless Wednesday Post!
By Jenn miller, February 26, 2010 @ 10:44 AM
Im the wife of Art Miller ( the manager of Rogers Jewelry) Thank you for sharing your story. They take great pride in caring for their customers and its wonderful to see the positive things taken notice! Thank you again!
By Jenn Miller, March 19, 2010 @ 12:11 PM
Rogers is having a HUGE sale that just started. Its called March Madness. Didnt know if you or anyone that you know have heard about it.