Are we using the recession as an excuse for lousy service.

[quentina]

Personally, I would not describe that as bad service. It is a company policy....you dont need to agree with it however, unless the associate wants to risk disiplinary action, she needs to adhere to the policy.

At Walmart, you can buy a 10 pack of hangers for 99 cents. I would not miss out on a coat (at a great price) that I was in need of and loved for a hanger.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[quentina]

Macy's is not missing out on a sale by the coat not being purchased. Some one else will buy the coat, on sale and maybe at a higher price )30% off next week or what ever it will be.

Corporate giants could care less about this.....they have sold so many coats at full price that they can donate whats left at the end of the season and still come out ahead.

 

[clutter]

I bought 2 dresses on sale at Macy's last week. One on sale, one not. Both came with hangers. I'm sorry, I'm with Eliza on this one. If I'm buying a coat at Macy's, I want the hanger.

 

[quentina]

Great point. Don't be fooled into thinking it's all just about coat hangers. The places we do business with need our business. As consumers we don't have many options - taking our business elsewhere is one of them. Although I probably would have bought the coat anyway, I applaud the OP for taking action when I would have just gone home and complained about it. In the end Macy's didn't get her money and that's the only thing that will work in the long run.

The manager and company obviously do not agree...she left without the coat! If it was important to the corporation, she would be wearing her new red coat as we speak.

Someone else will be wearing the OP's desired coat, at a great price and the hangar probably will not even enter the new owner's mind.

 

[DVC Sadie]

It's a HANGER for pete's sakes!! The clerk didn't berate her, or throw things, or hit her with the hanger....she didn't get a HANGER with her purchase!!

Without doing the math, if the coat was originally $425 and she was getting it for $200, that's more than 40%, and with that savings, could've bought a hanger or two.

I applaud eliza for sticking to her principals especially when it's a lot easier to just give in and buy the dang coat.

If she is anything like me, and it sounds as if she may be, then it is more important for her to go out and spend more for a coat at a store that will give her the "service" she expects/requires for a pleasant shopping experience.

 

[DVC Sadie]

What killed service in this country was the general attitude of the mass-market consumer, who now care so much more maniacally about getting a good price that they drive all motivation to provide better customer service out of the market.



I think the "acceptance" aspect of this, on the part of consumers, goes back a long way.

While the recession definitely tilts the balance toward cost-cutting, I think it is important to recognize that it just moves us from a mode whereby the trend is moving slowly in that direction to a mode whereby the trend is moving fast in that direction: The recession just changed things from slow cost-cutting versus fast cost-cutting, not service improvement versus cost-cutting.

bicker, I have to agree with you.

I remember when we had a similiar discussion on the restaurant thread in regards to the decline of service, dining options and quality of food at WDW and why it happened.

It does appear as if the trends are going to the Big Box type retailers and the mass market consumers.

 

[manning]

So, how much is a hanger??

 

[bicker]

If she is anything like me, and it sounds as if she may be, then it is more important for her to go out and spend more for a coat at a store that will give her the "service" she expects/requires for a pleasant shopping experience.

This is key. The only way to turn back the tide of cost-cutting and corresponding service compromise is to restore substantial incentives to retailers to offer better service. If a large number of consumers start paying a premium for premium service, paying enough money above and beyond than the cost of offering the premium service to make offering the premium service the best possible use of that portion of the operating budget, then we might see the trend start to slow down, and perhaps even someday reverse.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Lousy service is that after they ring up the sale, they throw your change at you and tell you to leave!!

seriously, I think they did the OP a favor.

How many hundreds of people have handled that hanger? It possibly could have an incredible amount of germs on it. Heck, we read on other threads about people wiping the handles of doors and so on with their wipes.

maybe that clerk was trying to prevent the spread of germs?

see, she is looking out for you OP!

I know that I would rather use the hangers that we have at home! (we did get some of the cedar ones for large coats and other bulker items!)

that clerk may have prevented you from getting the flu!

 

[Poppinsme]

"NO WIRE HANGERS"

 

[manning]

Common sense was not used here. The solution is simple.

Wear the new one, bag the old one.

 

[manning]

Lousy service is that after they ring up the sale, they throw your change at you and tell you to leave!!

seriously, I think they did the OP a favor.

How many hundreds of people have handled that hanger? It possibly could have an incredible amount of germs on it. Heck, we read on other threads about people wiping the handles of doors and so on with their wipes.

maybe that clerk was trying to prevent the spread of germs?

see, she is looking out for you OP!

I know that I would rather use the hangers that we have at home! (we did get some of the cedar ones for large coats and other bulker items!)

that clerk may have prevented you from getting the flu!

Or they could have sprayed it with lysol!!

 

[AKL_Megs]

"NO WIRE HANGERS"

LMAO!

I think we needed this!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

You are so absolutely right! LOL! I guess for me, it's more of, I am here at your business spending $250 on a coat. I would like SOME sort of hanger to transport my purchase home, so it is clean and fresh for the first time I choose to wear it (out into that dark, dirty world! )

For me, it isn't about the hanger, but more, them not caring that I am dropping almost the amount I would for a standard washing machine, and I can't even have a hanger to get it home with. But like I said, I would have still bought the coat...

Clean and fresh? What did she try to do, stuff it into a dirty lunch bag? I don't know...somehow, I'm picturing it folded neatly into one of those REALLY big paper bags with a handle. And voila! Clean and fresh for the first time you choose to wear it. Certainly less damaging than actually wearing the coat.

I'm sure the clerk folded it nicely and didn't just stuff it into the bag, with careful handling I would think it would of made it home safely and clean with very few wrinkles. I would rather have the $200 savings but that's just me.

I agree. But there's so much more drama to "stuffing it into a bag".

 

[LaurenLC]

Would you rather buy the coat at a good price, or pay more and get the hanger? That is really what it comes down to.

I have been a retail executive for 9 years now with one of Macys competitors. Although I may not like the policy, I defiantly understand it. Hangers cost retailers a TON of money, and it's not as if you are the only person wanting the hanger, it's most customers and that really adds up.....

As for people that mentioned Macys’ profit on that coat..... You'd be pretty surprised how little retailers make on some items. Especially seasonal items (coats, gloves, swim wear, etc.)

If you think not getting the hanger is bad, wait till closer to the holidays when retailers start rationing boxes and tissue paper….. OH THE HORROR!

 

[mjkacmom]

I applaud eliza for sticking to her principals especially when it's a lot easier to just give in and buy the dang coat.

If she is anything like me, and it sounds as if she may be, then it is more important for her to go out and spend more for a coat at a store that will give her the "service" she expects/requires for a pleasant shopping experience.

I don't think of Macy's as a high end store - I don't think any store that has frequent coupons as a high end store. Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus, I expect the hanger. I expect better customer service in smaller stores, like Ann Taylor and Talbots. But Macy's? Lord and Taylor? Not so much.

 

[eliza61]

Personally, I would not describe that as bad service. It is a company policy....you dont need to agree with it however, unless the associate wants to risk disiplinary action, she needs to adhere to the policy.

At Walmart, you can buy a 10 pack of hangers for 99 cents. I would not miss out on a coat (at a great price) that I was in need of and loved for a hanger.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh most definitely, that's why I stayed very friendly with the clerk. I have been a sales associate in department stores. Very rarely do I get mad at the clerks.

Macy's is not missing out on a sale by the coat not being purchased. Some one else will buy the coat, on sale and maybe at a higher price )30% off next week or what ever it will be.

Corporate giants could care less about this.....they have sold so many coats at full price that they can donate whats left at the end of the season and still come out ahead.

I'm definitely not under any illusions that my lousy 250 will make or break Macys but I like to think 'Big". Maybe I'm not the only one who doesn't like the trend, maybe that's why Macys as a corporation is struggling. who knows but I don't think they care about their reputation, so maybe I'm just the one little stone that causes an avalanche.

"NO WIRE HANGERS"

LOL, I loved that movie. Was Joan a pyscho path or what. Maybe I should I channeled ole Joan. so what if I would have been locked up, I would definitely have my hanger....

 

[eliza61]

Exactly! It has everything to do with the principal of the situation.

If more people stood up for the principal of things then the companies could *not* get away with it.

eliza, did you look at Nordstroms to see if they have the same coat or was it a Macy's house brand?

What would reallly tee me off about this situation (if I was in it) would be the fact that I had searched for 3 years and now because of the principal of it I would still have to search. That would be my dilemma.

Thanks DVC sadie,
I actually found a nicer one at Nordstroms by the same manufacturer and Nordstroms will ship it to my house (for free, with the hanger)...

Nordstroms has also found a new customer.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Thanks DVC sadie,
I actually found a nicer one at Nordstroms by the same manufacturer and Nordstroms will ship it to my house (for free, with the hanger)...

Nordstroms has also found a new customer.

I'm so glad that everything worked out for you! I do love Nordstroms, always have, always wil.

 

[eliza61]

needs to save money.
I find it odd it took 3 years to find a coat. I think you had a little buyers remorse and was looking for a excuse NOT to make the purchase and now you console yourself on the fact that it was Macy's fault because they wouldn't give you the hanger.

LOL, you should have seen how long it took me to find the couch for my living room.

Nope, no buyers remorse, actually I'm pretty happy I didn't accept a policy I don't agree with. Actually depends on the item. I have a few, down jackets for every day wear but I was in the market for a good quality dress coat made of wool. I started looking at furs but I'm not really into fur so I guess I shouldnt have said I "needed" the coat. Like I said that's one of the reasons (along with expecting "little" things) I do shop at a bit more expensive retail stores. Generally when I buy a coat at Nordstroms or Barneys of NY or Bloomingdales it will last a heck of a lot longer than one out of Kohl's.

I do that quite a bit. If I need a New Years eve dress, it will take me forever because I generally like things that are different so I use to literally go from Philly to NYC to DC trying to find a spectacular dress. If I just need jeans, I head to my local gap. I thank the powers to be for on line shopping now.