First let’s give some context.
I work for a large-ish retailer that prides itself in making the customer experience memorable and trying to build a customer for life. They preach this to new employees very hard. They also ensure that you feel proud in the work you do. Well, that’s what they tell you in training. Make a customer happy. They also tell us how important it is to secure a sale because if the customer goes elsewhere, we make no money(easy enough to understand)
Today let me tell you about Jack. Jack is a 4 year old boy who has a disability in his legs. His twin sister has the same issues and his dad is disabled as well. They had just come back from the hospital(a well known and respected hospital internationally) where jack and his sister had to give blood samples again. They mentioned in passing that they have to visit the hospital frequently.
Anyway, I found a pair of shoes for his sister that fit fine and were within their price budget however Jack wasn’t so lucky. Lee tried many styles of shoes and they just weren’t fitting him. Part of his disability is that he has abnormally thick feet. I found a pair that sort of fit him on my clearance rack that was pushing their price range but was manageable it was $50. The issue is that it was too tight for his feet. Jack told me about how happy the shoes made him and he felt like a super hero(told me that today he had to go give some super hero blood to the hospital). We didn’t have the size he needed in clearance. I found the same shoe, not clearanced, in his size and he was the happiest kid I have ever seen. He loves these shoes. However they were too expensive at $65(for those keeping track, $15 more than the clearance pair.)
Knowing how much this company likes to say it loves it’s customers, I looked at the sky info. I have been sitting in the shoes since march, my company buys them at $30 each. So there’s a very large margin on these. I make the decision to make this kids day and take $15 off. The company is still making a lot of money on the sale and $20 profit is better than no profit(they wouldn’t have been able to buy the shoes otherwise). And I was proud of this decision.
Afterwards I get pulled aside by two store managers and am “coached” about how that is unacceptable. I explained to them the situation and they didn’t care.
This company doesn’t fucking want to please it’s customers, they just say that to look good. And don’t tell your employees they can take care of the customer up to $250 dollars if you’re going to lose your shit over $15.
Anyway, I’ll be looking for a new job.