Letter to Sam's Club
Uh oh.... Sam's pissed me off. Very long, but quite entertaining:
To whom it may concern:
First of all, let me say that I have never before in my life been so dissatisfied with an experience in any store before to the point where I have had to actually call or write the store to relate my experience. However, I feel the way I was treated at your Sams Club store #6387 by the Photo Lab Manager Keith warrants such action.
I have been a member of this particular club for a little over a year now, and have spent thousands of dollars in photos and photo equipment alone in this store for my business. I have made it a point to come to this store alone not only because of the value I receive, but because of the quality products I am used to obtaining. Needless to say, when I put in my 12 8x10 digital pictures for processing on August 10th, I expected no less. Unfortunately, when I picked them up on the 11th, I wasn’t that happy with them. I chose to have someone else try to print them from the same exact files, unaltered, to see if it was me or the printing. These new prints came out perfectly. I therefore decided to return the original prints I obtained to the store. This is when all hell broke loose.
I brought the prints back in the original packaging with the receipt and was told by the lady behind the counter that they do not return digital prints. (Unfortunately, I do not remember her name. She was very kind.) Of course, I ask why, and she said she would call for the manager. Enter Keith. He repeated that they do not return digital prints, and I asked again why. He said that we have the option to either print or not print the photos, and I chose to print them. Of course, I understand this whole policy. I actually worked for the photo lab at Wal-Mart store #1536 for about 6 months (My last day at this store was July 20), and store #1390 for nearly a year, and also other photo labs as well. I am actually very familiar with the whole photo lab system, procedures and policies. As I understand it, the policy is in place so that people don’t print 400 prints and then return 100 of them that they really didn’t want after all just because they didn’t want to pick and choose before hand. This is obviously wasteful for the company, as well as for the environment. As a customer, I don’t feel as if I should have to explain this to him, he knows this. To me, it seemed like he was trying to take advantage of my by assuming I was ignorant to the actual policy and photo lab technology and get out of having to return the pictures. Unfortunately for him, I know exactly what I’m talking about. I have been in the photo industry for 7 years. The reason I was returning these photos, as I explained to him, was that I was unhappy with the quality. I showed him the new prints I had received that looked appropriate to show him what they should have looked like. I told him that there was no way I could have sold to my customer the prints that Sams Club had sold me. His response? “That is not my problem. We do not return digital prints. I am especially not going to return 12 8x10’s” As if it was a huge dollar amount to return. The total return amount with tax was only $18.75. The photos I printed were photos that were 32 years old that I digitally restored on the computer. My customer approved the color from the files, so when I print them, they need to be as close to the file as possible. His response to that? “We are not a professional proof station.” Again, I understand that. But, in the past, the prints I receive are generally very close to the look of my file. This time was different. These were way off, and I again showed him how off they were. Basically, I was trying to show him that there might be some type of chemical contamination in his printer. Again, as a customer, I shouldn’t have to tell the photo lab manager what is or isn’t wrong with their system, so I didn’t say anything like that, but I kept pressing the issue that the prints from their printer did not look like my files. His response to this was that I must have done something wrong on my end, and that they just printed them. I responded that the people that printed the other pictures did the same, and those prints came out like my files. Basically, we went around in circles for a while. He told me several times that “We do not return digital prints.” And “You must have done something wrong to your files.” I told him several times that “These pictures do not look like my files. I am unhappy with the quality and service I received, I want a refund.”
Eventually, he must have realized that I wasn’t leaving, because he got huffy and said that he was going to give me the refund “just this once” and that he didn’t want me bringing my business back to his photo lab again. He then snatched the pictures up, commented that he was going to shred them, and ran off. He also kept the envelope with my name and phone number on it. I am to assume this is to warn his employees not to accept further work from me. This left the girl behind the counter alone, and she had to call for another member of management to override the return. Again, the girl behind the counter was amazingly nice, and apologized several times. What gets me the most is that this was all over an $18.75 order (17.52 before tax)!!!! I mean, come on! If I had mistakenly printed the wrong files, I wouldn’t have held the store responsible for it. I was returning a product that I was unhappy with, which is the whole point of having the return desk in the first place.
I have never been treated so poorly by a member of management before in my life. Needless to say, I will not be returning to this photo lab, but it is not because Keith requested it. I wouldn’t have returned even if he hadn’t told me not to come back. This is not the kind of service or quality I would offer to my customers. I didn’t think it is what you would want to offer to yours either, which is why I am writing you this letter. I just wanted to make you aware of the caliber of people you have working for you at the management level.
Hopefully, you will be able to resolve this issue however you see appropriate. As for me, I have found a comparable printing source to send my future business to. Thank you for your time.
To whom it may concern:
First of all, let me say that I have never before in my life been so dissatisfied with an experience in any store before to the point where I have had to actually call or write the store to relate my experience. However, I feel the way I was treated at your Sams Club store #6387 by the Photo Lab Manager Keith warrants such action.
I have been a member of this particular club for a little over a year now, and have spent thousands of dollars in photos and photo equipment alone in this store for my business. I have made it a point to come to this store alone not only because of the value I receive, but because of the quality products I am used to obtaining. Needless to say, when I put in my 12 8x10 digital pictures for processing on August 10th, I expected no less. Unfortunately, when I picked them up on the 11th, I wasn’t that happy with them. I chose to have someone else try to print them from the same exact files, unaltered, to see if it was me or the printing. These new prints came out perfectly. I therefore decided to return the original prints I obtained to the store. This is when all hell broke loose.
I brought the prints back in the original packaging with the receipt and was told by the lady behind the counter that they do not return digital prints. (Unfortunately, I do not remember her name. She was very kind.) Of course, I ask why, and she said she would call for the manager. Enter Keith. He repeated that they do not return digital prints, and I asked again why. He said that we have the option to either print or not print the photos, and I chose to print them. Of course, I understand this whole policy. I actually worked for the photo lab at Wal-Mart store #1536 for about 6 months (My last day at this store was July 20), and store #1390 for nearly a year, and also other photo labs as well. I am actually very familiar with the whole photo lab system, procedures and policies. As I understand it, the policy is in place so that people don’t print 400 prints and then return 100 of them that they really didn’t want after all just because they didn’t want to pick and choose before hand. This is obviously wasteful for the company, as well as for the environment. As a customer, I don’t feel as if I should have to explain this to him, he knows this. To me, it seemed like he was trying to take advantage of my by assuming I was ignorant to the actual policy and photo lab technology and get out of having to return the pictures. Unfortunately for him, I know exactly what I’m talking about. I have been in the photo industry for 7 years. The reason I was returning these photos, as I explained to him, was that I was unhappy with the quality. I showed him the new prints I had received that looked appropriate to show him what they should have looked like. I told him that there was no way I could have sold to my customer the prints that Sams Club had sold me. His response? “That is not my problem. We do not return digital prints. I am especially not going to return 12 8x10’s” As if it was a huge dollar amount to return. The total return amount with tax was only $18.75. The photos I printed were photos that were 32 years old that I digitally restored on the computer. My customer approved the color from the files, so when I print them, they need to be as close to the file as possible. His response to that? “We are not a professional proof station.” Again, I understand that. But, in the past, the prints I receive are generally very close to the look of my file. This time was different. These were way off, and I again showed him how off they were. Basically, I was trying to show him that there might be some type of chemical contamination in his printer. Again, as a customer, I shouldn’t have to tell the photo lab manager what is or isn’t wrong with their system, so I didn’t say anything like that, but I kept pressing the issue that the prints from their printer did not look like my files. His response to this was that I must have done something wrong on my end, and that they just printed them. I responded that the people that printed the other pictures did the same, and those prints came out like my files. Basically, we went around in circles for a while. He told me several times that “We do not return digital prints.” And “You must have done something wrong to your files.” I told him several times that “These pictures do not look like my files. I am unhappy with the quality and service I received, I want a refund.”
Eventually, he must have realized that I wasn’t leaving, because he got huffy and said that he was going to give me the refund “just this once” and that he didn’t want me bringing my business back to his photo lab again. He then snatched the pictures up, commented that he was going to shred them, and ran off. He also kept the envelope with my name and phone number on it. I am to assume this is to warn his employees not to accept further work from me. This left the girl behind the counter alone, and she had to call for another member of management to override the return. Again, the girl behind the counter was amazingly nice, and apologized several times. What gets me the most is that this was all over an $18.75 order (17.52 before tax)!!!! I mean, come on! If I had mistakenly printed the wrong files, I wouldn’t have held the store responsible for it. I was returning a product that I was unhappy with, which is the whole point of having the return desk in the first place.
I have never been treated so poorly by a member of management before in my life. Needless to say, I will not be returning to this photo lab, but it is not because Keith requested it. I wouldn’t have returned even if he hadn’t told me not to come back. This is not the kind of service or quality I would offer to my customers. I didn’t think it is what you would want to offer to yours either, which is why I am writing you this letter. I just wanted to make you aware of the caliber of people you have working for you at the management level.
Hopefully, you will be able to resolve this issue however you see appropriate. As for me, I have found a comparable printing source to send my future business to. Thank you for your time.