***NOTE*** An exciting update to this unfortunate but 100% true posting, Wet Noses has a new owner! Christina Baer. Christina has contacted me in regards to the incident described below and she has fixed the problem! I finally, after two years, have received the merchandise!
What do you think of people who put their pets, usually a dog, purse-size at most, and yappy at best, in t-shirts? Do your thoughts change when said t-shirt happens to have some sort of slogan on it?
And, I have given some thought lately to the notion of using the Internet as a tool in which to expose bad things, like, rude people, a restaurant that does not have soap or hot water in the bathrooms, a neighbor who repeatedly does not pick up their dog's poop, and store owners who are just, well ... bad business-people and not nice.
Awhile back, like, Mother's Day (May 2006), I was window-shopping and actual-shopping on St.Amands in Sarasota. In a pet boutique call Wet Noses, I decided I had to buy this shirt.
For my cat.
The store Wet Noses is located at 472 John Ringling Boluevard on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, Florida.
Ya'll know I like to use my blawg for good, not for evil. Ya'll also know I like to speak out for what is right and what I believe to be good and equal in this world. It leaves me pondering the following: if I have a bad experience with a retail outlet, should I write a letter of complaint to them or should I write my letter to them, and then post it on my blawg so that when people do a google search for Wet Noses Sarasota, they find this entry, detailing, ad nauseaum my three month endeavor to get a damn dog t-shirt mailed to me that I had ALREADY PAID FOR IN MAY.
I documented my calls and the friendly-ness of each sales person. After much personal debate, I think it best that I not write directly to the store, but rather, recall this story on the Internet. I found that each employee totally agreed with me and thought the store owner had misguided me and wasn't being as helpful as she could have been in this situation. I don't want to cause any harm to the cheerful and pleasant employees of Wet Noses: Unique Gifts for Pets and the people who love them store. I do, however, desire to tell the owner, a woman named Kim McLeod, that her store did me a real disservice and damaged her business in our transaction.
I believe that business' owe their customers an honest product at an honest price. In a capitalistic economy we all gotta make a buck ... I get that. However, it can be done with all parties being satisfied.
Ms. McLeod has no idea who I am. I could be a very very wealthy woman with ties to an extensive network of pet-owning and pet-loving Jews in and around greater Sarasota. I could also be a relative of someone in greater Sarasota who adores pets of all kinds and is a damn sucker for a pet store full of cute and overpriced pet-items that OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO HAVE! She should have been more honest about when she planned to order this product. And, she should have told me she would be on vacation for a month before she planned on ordering it. When I called her, she should have appologized, not told me about her vacation. She should have apologized and offered me the product AND a refund.
No more I say! No more! Wet Noses is banned from my shopping list until I get a personal apology and my product, free of charge. I have serious doubts that Ms. McLeod will ever concede to this arrangement, as it struck me that she didn't seem to care very much about her customers (well, duh!) or, her employees, for that matter, as they were left to clean up her messes while she frolicked in the Bahamas for a month and a half or even her business for that matter. Aside from my kvetch here, I find that sad. It is a cute store. Too bad it isn't better maintained.
It all began on a sunny day in May, the weekend of Mother's Day, to be exact. I was visiting my MIL (mother in law, to be). We set out for a grand day as ladies lunching and shopping in St. Armands.
I adore St. Armands! The Cuban restuarant is especially fabulous. Oh! So is the cafe at Tommy Bahama, fyi.
I specifically planned to visit Wet Noses. I had been in the store during a previous trip to Sarasota in June of 2005. Let it stand on record that I was a returning customer.
My MIL was also a returning customer that day as she was in search of a specific type of dog bed that BJ wouldn't be able to shred. Now, I think it is well known in the dog world that an unshreddable bed isn't necessarily a cheap bed. No? This here establishes clear intent to spend cash money in this store and Ms. McLeod's stupidity.
I found an item, a dog shirt, intended for my cat, and I asked if they had it in a larger size. I was told they only had extra small but would be placing an order soon and they would be happy to mail it to me back in Maryland. So, I paid $24.95 for the damn dog shirt and $4.00 for shipping. I left the store very happy that in a few days, possibly a week, I would be able to dress Gromit up in an adorable shirt for Marc to coo and oooh and ahhh over.
This first receipt is dated 5/12/06 with an invoice number of 119152 and the clerk who helped me was Kim McLeod, the owner of the store.
I got back home and before I knew it, two weeks had gone by and I was really hoping to have the shirt for Gromit to wear at a party we were having. I called Wet Noses and was told that Kim was on vacation in the Bahamas for a month. A MONTH. And, that she was only one who could order and there was nothing they could do. The employee I spoke with on this day was very helpful, very sorry that I was dissapointed, and not too happy that Kim would mislead a customer. I was told that she would be returning at the end of June and I should call then. I did. I called again and was told that Kim wasn't available but that someone else named Heather could help me. When she was scheduled to work, three days later. So, a day went by, a few days went by. I forgot to call.
Another call was placed, by me .. and I DO HAVE cell phone records if necessary to prove to ya'll that I made those damn calls as much as I say I did. I spoke with Teegan. Teegan was great - bubbly, friendly, loved that I bought a dog shirt for my cat. Yada. Yada. Ya. Da.
On my next call, I spoke with Susan. Susan USED to manage the store, but has since moved on to other things, but still works in the store on occasion. She totally understood my position but wasn't able to help. By now, it is late July.
I called again on August 2nd. It had been almost THREE MONTHS. THREE.MONTHS. Now this here is some good customer-retaining business, ain't it? Damn. I talked with Heather. Finally! Heather had the power to help me. She was able to refund my money, although she said the shirt would be ordered at some point and they would still be happy to send it to me, I requested that my money be refunded immediately. Heather was MORE than understanding. I was even apologizing to her at the end because I KNOW what it is like to work for someone who says things and doesn't follow through on them and leaves the employees to deal with the fallout.
Heather mailed me my refund receipt on August 3rd. On August 17th she sent me a letter telling me the shirts were in-stock and she would be happy to send me one now. However, I sort of feel like I deserve the damn thing for free. I haven't called back.
So, here is what I'm thinking ... this Kim lady totally has her head in the sand when it comes to running a business. Does she think that she can be rude and screw over people like me because her business is in such a high tourism spot that she doesn't need repeat customers? AHEM! I can write something about her business practices on this handy dandy Internety-thang here and possibly change that for her.
On one of my calls to them in early July, I did speak with Kim herself. She said she would check some paperwork and get back to me. She never did. Other store associates would call me back within hours of me leaving messages for them. My name and address and order request hung in the store next to the cash register for three months. When I would call, I'd say Hi, this is Stacy, er, um, I had a problem ... and, OH! look at the paper on the wall, see my name?
Kim McLeod doesn't deserve to own a business or work with people or even own pets. Her attitude and behavior toward for me as a customer was absolutely intolerable and unacceptable. The store is cute I tell ya. Alas! Beware the poor management. The clerks are fabulous - steer clear of the manager though, she possibly failed Business Management 101.
CLICK HERE FOR AN UPDATE (A HAPPY ENDING) TO THIS STORY: Wet Noses has a new owner and has sent me this shirt. Read all about it !
