the power is in our wallets

I had a bit of an interesting situation yesterday.  Before I start, full disclosure, I rarely order anything online.  I like to see and touch something before I lay down my hard-earned dollars for it.  Nonetheless, it’s covid time and we all have to make sacrifices.  

So I placed an order with a large, Canadian retailer.  Within an hour, I was outside their store picking up; very impressive.  I drive home, open my package, and it’s the wrong thing.  I checked my order, I had ordered correctly, but they had given me the wrong thing. 

Not a big deal, right?  Easy fix.  

I call them, explain what happened, and was told, “sorry, there’s nothing we can do, you have to wait until our store opens to be able to do a return”

Excuse me? 

I was then told that it was actually impossible for me to have the wrong thing, their scanners wouldn’t allow it, but even if I did have the wrong thing, it was impossible to do anything about it.  They did suggest that I just order and pay for another one, which they would seemingly be able to bring out to me, and then return the original when stores open back up.

I was floored.  

All I could think about is what would happen if I had picked up an incorrect order from one of my local stores.  It would be fixed in a minute.  

This is why I left the corporate world 20 years ago and this is why I love small businesses.  They’re quicker and smarter than these lumbering, old giants.  Small business owners face their customers every day, and deal with them on a personal level.  They take pride in a job well done, good reviews and positive feedback.  That’s one of the best parts of being a business owner.  

Unfortunately, that gets lost along the way when the joy of entrepreneurship gets taken over by the “do anything to save a buck, gotta keep the shareholders happy” mentality. 

At the end of the day, it’s the consumer who has the final say.  Our dollars are the real power, and we have to ensure that we’re getting full value from our suppliers.  

Spend Wisely.  Support Small Business.