Always Be Nice!

I mean it!! Your mother was right. You definitely catch more flies with honey. Always, always, always be nice. Even when you don't have to be nice. Even when you're frankly entitled to be very not nice.

But none of that means that you should be a door mat --- you still stand up for yourself, you still assert your rights. But play nice. Someone will appreciate it. And sometimes, that someone will demonstrate their appreciation in a way that you will appreciate even more.

Here's what happened this weekend:

I went on a shopping spree with some Christmas and birthday money -- I was looking for clothing suitable for work and also checked out some household clearance stuff.

First incident: Talbots Outlet.

I love Talbots Outlet --- love, love, love it. I am able to buy good quality clothing of classic styling for prices that are usually less than I would have to pay for cheaper quality, trendier stuff at Marshalls, Kohls, etc. And now, they've started a rewards program for those of us who really don't want another credit card in our wallets. So, I had signed up for the rewards program and they gave me a little card -- the usual stuff. Well, when they went to ring me up --- the computer didn't show my card as having anyone's name and information. So the clerk (who was terrific, by the way) carefully entered all of my information again. At which point the computer refused to accept any of the information because "the card is already in use". She attempted this again with assistance from her manager (also a terrific lady). Still no go.

At this point, she phoned customer service and related the problem to them. Customer service informed her that this was a known problem and that she should just go ahead and ring up the sale anyway. Terrific Clerk clarified -- the customer will still get her points? I watched as a look of astonishment spread over her face before she repeated back to the CS rep, "so she won't get her points, but she should just call you? That's why I called you for her." Finally, she hung up the phone, having gotten no further than that. She patiently explained this to me, all the while shaking her head and muttering about how ridiculous it was that she had to tell me to do this.

I calmly thanked her for trying, laughed and suggested that customer service might possibly regret this move when I got done writing a letter and phoning, and assured both the clerk and the manager that I appreciated their efforts and in no way held them responsible.

She rang up the sale --- in the pile of items was a bracelet that I was toying with buying. I had asked her previously to check whether it was the marked price or subject to one of Talbots Outlets many percentage discounts. It was priced as marked, but the manager came over and whispered to her to take a 60% discount on it as a thank you and an apology for all of the trouble. Thank you indeed. Later, I wandered through the regular Talbots and discovered it was a current season item and was selling for more than the tagged price in Talbots regular stores. And, for the record, no way would I have even thought of paying the regular price.

Second incident: Coldwater Creek

Coldwater Creek was having a clearance sale that puts things just about in the high end of my budget. Most of their stuff is a little flashy and loud for me, but some of it is classy and well done. I thought I'd look around. I picked up a jacket that I was considering -- and continued to look around the store. A saleswoman asked if she could set up a fitting room for me --- sure (truthfully, I didn't need a fitting room at all, but I do enjoy the feeling of being catered to and taken care of like that -- so why not?) I also found a skirt that I deemed worthy of consideration and took it back to the fitting room with me. When I arrived, another customer had taken my jacket, tried it on, and claimed it as her own. The saleswoman was in a state --- she was genuinely upset that this was happening. I was not so upset --- I wasnt' all that committed to the jacket -- and the woman had probably just saved me from a marginal purchase. No problem. So I was nice. I tried on the skirt -- the sales staff continued to sputter and fume. I liked the skirt (I liked the skirt alot). I went to the sales desk to buy the skirt. I ended up with a 30% discount off of the sale price to apologize for all of the trouble and to thank me for not making a scene.

Third Incident (still the same day)
I phoned customer service at Talbots. I explained what had happened to the representative. I was fully prepared to do battle. I was ready to request the supervisor, ready to write a letter, ready for whatever. The representative was nearly speechless!! "They said to do what?", she exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding!" She then quickly took my reward number, re-entered the name and information (she had some trouble with that too, but was able to overcome it), reinstated the points from the sale earlier in the day, and then apologized for the fuss and credited my account 200 reward points for my trouble. Thank you very much.

So, mom ---- you were right. Be nice --- be very, very nice.