I consider myself a semi-loyal customer of Macy’s. I say that because I love to shop there, but only when they have crazy sales going on, or happen to be the only place nearby that has what I’m looking for. I’ve always had decent customer service, never terrible, and for the most part I can walk in and find enough stuff to not go anywhere else.
Last night I had one of my most successful trips to Macy’s, but left more disappointed than ever. I left my house stating “I’m on a mission to find shoes”, because I’ve spent all summer looking for a pair of cute black sandals, comfortable enough for work. I never buy things full price, so I had been searching in all the cheaper shoe stores, unsuccessfully. I finally decided to try everywhere, giving in to my clearance mind-set. I wasn’t planning on buying anything more than shoes, but saw “50%-70% OFF” signs everywhere, so I started strolling through the clothes. Two fitting room sessions and a pile on my arm later, I made my way to the shoes.
When I arrived in the shoes department, there were three ladies, being crazy, with boxes and shoes scattered all around them. The saleperson was nowhere in sight. I found three pairs of shoes I wanted to try on, and patiently waited for some help. And waited. And waited. And waited. The salesman had returned, bringing with him a stack of coupons for the women. They started raving about his service, and how wonderful he was, and how much they were falling in love with him. They asked him to contact his manager, so he called, and she came running over to rave with them. I stood there with three shoes in my hand for 10 minutes, while the salesman and his manager proclaimed that this particular Macy’s is #1 in the country!! And that they have the best customer service in America! Soon, the women were filling out a comment form on the register, to send Corporate their story of this wonderful salesman. Not once, during this whole charade, did either the salesman, or his manager even glimpse in my direction. Did they really both need to stand there with these ladies? I doubt it. I’m sure once the manager met the women initially, they didn’t need two people to finish ringing them up.
When I was finally noticed standing there awkwardly, the manager told me to take the display shoe, and quickly walked away again. I went to the register to check out and have him ring everything up, only to be taken to a different register, because suddenly this one doesn’t take debit cards. Right. So we mosey over to the makeup department, and re-ring all my items (mind you I had A LOT of stuff in my hand). It occurred to me that I was planning to pay cash for everything, BUT assumed that if I opened a credit card, I would get another percentage off. So I waited for him to offer, but he didn’t. So I asked him about it and suddenly he thought he was the best employee ever again, even though he had nothing to do with my opening the account. When all was said and done, I was in the store a whole hour after I initially entered the shoe department, when it only took me about 5 minutes to actually choose which shoes I wanted to buy.
So there’s the truth behind the #1 Macy’s in America. It’s a load of crap. The only reason I left still happy is because at the bottom of my receipt was an “Amount You Saved” line, which was comprised of the original price of everything, minus their sales discount, minus my credit discount. I saved $183!! There’s no way I can be disappointed in that!
<3
