K, so last summer, I got into this altercation with a store manager. There was swearing, yelling, threatening and all sorts of stuff I am not proud of. I had bought Jonathan a pair of Crocs, and his first walk across a parking lot, the strap broke off. So, we eat our dinner, then go back to the store to return them. Store’s closed. We are back in town Sunday, store’s closed. I wasn’t planning another trip to town soon, so I ordered a pair online. They arrived at my doorstep before I even went to town again.

My next trip in, I take the shoes and the receipt in to return them. Turns out, he had replacement little doohickeys, and could fix the strap. Well, that’s nice and all, but I had already bought another pair. Thus, the story ensues…he refused for about 20 minutes to refund my money, going so far as to tell me that ‘he is the return policy’, when I asked to see a copy of one.  Total jerk, and I was a complete bitch.  I’ve never made a scene (in public) before, and I felt so righteous in my argument with him.  Alas, when I came home to tell Jeremy ‘you will not believe what happened to me today!’, he was less than enthused.  He kicked me off my high horse, and told me I should have never done that – not as a person who professes Jesus Christ to be her freedom from such pettiness.  Hence, the letter to the editor…

From:

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Date:

August 26, 2007

Michelle Mechels

Burns

There we were, facing off over the counter, shoes surrounding us, people beginning to hear the argument. He, a not-so-kindly business owner. Me, a chick with a chip on her shoulder. The situation? A pair of broken shoes and the need for vengeance.

Lately, my most consuming pet peeve is lack of customer service. Go even further, and it seems a lot of stores have a complete disregard for the customer’s needs. (Say, for instance, the need for a pair of shoes to take you across a parking lot while staying intact.)

The shoes really have very little to do with this letter. As I was saying, it’s lack of customer service.

I have stopped shopping at a large discount store since the end of spring. Such a huge waste: All of that space, and yet no room to keep their shelves stocked.

My very favorite? Going through a drive-thru, only to find the entire restaurant is being run by 12-year-olds.

To add insult to injury, these adolescents have never experienced drinking with a straw or using a napkin. I assume that since they hand you a cup with a hole in the lid but no way to extract the liquid and pass you greasy fries without a method of clean up.

Back to my shoe guy. He didn’t want to give me my money back due to the fact the shoes had been worn, and, consequently, he had been able to fix them.

I had already bought a different pair online and thought it quite ridiculous to expect anything other than a working shoe while walking.

Long story short, he was rude, and I wasn’t happy. He had no business talking to a customer the way he did, and I had no ground to speak to him, even yelling at him, in the manner I purported.

I took all of my past year’s frustration out on this poor man-child of a business owner who was just trying to keep a profit in his pocket. And for that, sir, I am very ashamed and sorry.