Had to return a gift to the Pottery Barn today. Actually, the intent was to exchange it for something we really wanted. But we couldn't. Why? Because the gift was purchased through the Pottery Barn catalog, and Pottery Barn stores won't give credit to Pottery Barn customers who return Pottery Barn catalog gifts. Instead, the Pottery Barn store people called the Pottery Barn catalog people for us and told us that the Pottery Barn catalog people would be sending us, get this, store credit in seven to ten days.
I would like to make one of those global generalizations that cautious people normally avoid, and state without fear to the good people of Pottery Barn that this makes absolutely no sense at all to anyone who has ever been a customer anywhere in the history of civilization. If a store is savvy enough to open multiple channels for purchase, it should anticipate and even welcome exchanges across those different channels. A customer sees a brand, not a department or channel, and expects currency within that brand to be universally accepted. I was amazed to learn that the Apple was equally ignorant in this regard. My in-laws were kind enough to get me an Apple Gift Card from the Apple Retail Store near them in Emeryville, not realizing that I, who live more than 100 miles from the nearest Apple Store, could not apply this card to purchases made at the Apple Store that operates conveniently on the Internet.
Does it really surprise Apple, Pottery Barn, or any other company to realize that customers associate their brands as globally as they themselves try to sell those brands? I don't want excuses about being separate branches or departments. If you have the same logo, you should be able to deal with me as a customer.
Comments