I take knitting very seriously.
It's not just the craft itself that I hold to high standards. I hold yarn stores to high standards as well. I'm continually visiting yarn stores wherever I go - I plan trips around yarn stores, even - and making note of the service and products offered. When I find a store I like, whether it's because they carry excellent stock, offer a lot of good deals, or have wonderful customer service, I plug the hell out of it. Not only do I want to see excellent knitting shops thrive, I want to see the excellent small, brick-and-mortar stores thrive.
I had an extremely bad experience - no, two extremely bad experiences - with what I had always considered to be my favorite yarn store. In short, I was treated like a thief and a liar - and above all, extremely rudely - when I was sold defective merchandise. They took issue to me mentioning the issue in my blog. They failed to note that I didn't mention the name of their store.
I hope they notice that I'm not going to, as I'm not that sort of person.
However, the next time someone asks, "What's a good yarn store to visit?" I will staunchly NOT recommend them, just as I have staunchly NOT recommended other stores where I've received less-than-pleasant customer service or encountered exhorbitantly high prices or poorly kept stock. It's only fair to drive business to those places that treat every customer with respect, regardless of the circumstance.
I understand return policies. I can see that they can't have people returning needles every single day. However, the advantage to patronizing small businesses has always been the closer link between the employees, management, and customers. If you're a regular customer, you should expect to be known. You should expect to be trusted. And you should always expect to be treated with respect. When you have a choice between losing a regular customer and losing another $4 profit on a pair of needles (profit, by the way, already taken by someone else), you choose the latter. Period. After all, an unhappy customer is far more vocal than a happy one.
I was an employee at Lands' End for about a year. Many, many people took advantage of the company's "return anything, anytime, for any reason" guarantee. People would bring in jackets they bought 10 years ago to get the zipper fixed. They'd bring in shoes that they'd worn out. But you know what? We accepted every single return, and as a result, brought in more business. The small amount of money that the company lost on these customers was more than made up for by the people those customers recommended, or those customers themselves. Lands' End is consistently rated the higest for customer service. As a result, they keep growing and growing and making more millions upon their millions.
If a shop is having a problem with theft, they should make an effort to do something about it. Rather than scolding customers who are HONEST, they should deter the customers who aren't. I've been to plenty of yarn stores where their needles are located behind the counter. After all, needles aren't something you usually need to examine (although, word of advice - examine your needles. Take them out of the package and measure them, if possible, or ask an employee to do it for you.). At least, take the needles out of the corner and put them in a high-traffic area. Let other customers help do the watching for you.
Thankfully, I received the correct needle. But a yarn store lost a regular customer and her recommendations with her.
Tipper @ 3:36 AM * link
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