Dear Walgreens:
Now that I am trying to take off this fat blanket I’ve put on over the years, I’m trying to be very conscious of what I put into my body. I want to take only vitamins, and NOT some odd, weirdo chemical. So I went to YOUR website to look them over, read the reviews, and compare.
When I finally found what I think will help me, I go to the store located almost in my backyard instead of having it shipped, paying that extra shipping cost, and waiting for it to arrive. Not to mention, it’s right in my backyard.
So, imagine my surprise when I get into this store, and the advertised price INSTORE does not match the ONLINE price at all! I am puzzled. Thank you, but I don’t want to pay double for what is advertised as buy one, get one FREE! The sweet lady doesn’t want to argue (neither do I) so she calls over the manager.
Mr. Manager comes and tries to argue with me that there was no way the price was buy one get one free. Tried to make it look like I was lying. So I asked him to please check.
Mr. Manager is gone for quite a little while, but I can SEE him back there in the pharmacy looking at the exact same website that I did 5 minutes prior. Looks the same there, Mr. Manager, huh? But, apparently, Mr. Manager believes that if you look at the monitor long enough, the price will magically change. But, in all my wisdom, I know what Mr. Manager is doing:
thinking of an excuse WHY exactly I cannot have that advertised price. Think hard, Mr. Manager!
So, Mr Manager walks back over to me after his long viewing of the website and he starts to tell me….
“Well…….Walgreens.com is different than the actual store……”
Oh, dear, sweet, Mr. Manager…..I am old and wise now, and I know that you are blowing smoke at me. I used to be nice. You should have known me then……you would have liked me, Mr. Manager.
“But, it does say online that it is IN STORE as well. Correct?”
Yes, Mr. Manager, you would have liked me when I was nice.
Another long stare at me before he goes back over for another long stare at the computer screen. {wiggling my fingertips at Mr. Manager} I can still see you over there, Mr. Manager! Try to think of another excuse, Mr. Manager, but I don’t think it will work.
Mr. Manager tries a different approach, “All of our advertised vitamins that are on sale this week are……” and he proceeds to throw all this information rapid-fire style at me while pointing at the flier in very grand gestures. “……..as you can plainly see, this brand of vitamin is clearly not on sale this week.”
That was very nice, Mr. Manager! I am very impressed with your Vanna White! It was quite impressive! {clap clap clap} However, if I failed to mention before, I am a mother of a teenager, a preteen and a 4 year old, trying to distract me with lots of words and gesturing isn’t going to work. But you looked OH SO CUTE trying! So my sweet reply, complete with smile on my face was:
“But didn’t the website clearly state in red letters that this particular brand is buy one get one free?”
Long stare.
Goes back to the computer screen again. I know you are thinking again, Mr. Manager. {wiggling fingertips at him}
He comes back to me with yet another attempt: “Well, if they have the same vitamin in another brand that is on sale, I will be MORE than happy to honor that brand’s B1G1 free!” Alright Mr. Manager, I will work with you here, I am a sensible lady.
So, we go to look for the same vitamin in another brand. However, I do not mention to Mr. Manager that I had already stood in front of the vitamin shelf for 10 minutes before finding this one. But, we will look……..err…….rather *I* will look because Mr. Manager leaves me to stare again at the computer screen. Nope, not another brand in this vitamin.
After this final attempt, Mr. Manager was a humble Mr. Manager. He wasn’t a bouncy Mr. Manager anymore. He was a tired Mr. Manager. (100 bonus points to who can tell me where that reference is from LOL)
“Well, I will probably get in trouble for this, you do understand that right?”
Yes, like guilting me is gonna work now. Who exactly are you going to get in trouble with? Are other managers going to come in and flog you because you honored your advertising? You do understand that at this point, I’m about to wipe this smile off my face and break my vow of no cussing.
Mr. Manager rang me up and I quickly paid and left, but let me show you what he was arguing over:
So Walgreens if this is the type of customer relations you have, you suck.
Sincerely,
The-not-so-Nice-Dana
Brooke said:
but the not so nice Dana is so…fiery!! Love this Dana.
Pam D said:
And that was the MANAGER? No wonder the clerk immediately went to him; she probably knew that he would be a total jerk if she tried to honor the deal. Walgreens would probably benefit by knowing about this attitude; it’s one thing to have to verify, but totally different to go through so many levels of rudeness before finally “giving in”. I think I might just find a few more online deals like that that also say in-store, just so you could torture him. heh.
he & Me + 3 said:
You totally got him. Sorry that the website clearly stated instore too..not just online. Busted. What a jerk. Atleast you got them. Now forward this onto walgreens.com:)
he & Me + 3 said:
I didn’t mean to call him a jerk. What a meant to say was. Not so nice Mr. Manger dude. I feel better now.
Whitley Pollet said:
OMG! That is ridiculous! Good for you though! 🙂
Julie said:
What???? That is crazy!! I love that you stayed strong!! My favorite line was..
“Yes, Mr. Manager, you would have liked me when I was nice”!! Cracked me up!
Tiffany said:
Go get ’em girl! No one should mess with a mama of a teenager! I have been known to do my fair share of arguing too. There are store employees who actually avoid my gaze now. Bring it!
The Spocks said:
You had him on that one. I am glad you stood your ground. Visiting from Foursons.
Robin said:
Wow! I am suprised, my walgreens is GREAT….Your Walgreens, well, they need a new Man.a.ger (if that is even what he was)
Dianne said:
Sure hope Walgreen s reads your blog!! Should be v*e*r*y interesting. I want to know if/when someone from Walgreen’s contacts you!!
Tracey said:
I use the same product and buy mine online at Vitacost.com … much less expensive there. I used to get mine at Walgreens, too, but they upped the price on the 5HTP 😦
Foursons said:
How in the world did I not read your letter?! I am so sorry that I missed it. You handled this much nicer than I ever would have, and my hat is off to you. I am going to try to learn by your example and see how it bodes for me next time.
Thanks for linking up and I am so sorry I somehow missed your great letter.
By the way- Rachel is saying my photos are looking grainy on my blog. They look clear on my computer but maybe not for anyone else? She said you had this problem when you started your photography blog. What did you do to fix it?
Anonymous said:
Late….but when I saw the screenshot, I saw what the Manager saw and didn’t get…it actually looks like the instore bit that’s ticked, means the item is instore, but not the *deal*. It does say clearly at the bottom right that prices may differ in store. That’s how I read it. (Sorry 😉 ) But you still got the better of him! LOL
Natalia said:
Ooops, I’m not really anonymous, I just forgot to fill in the name fields. That’s me above.
First time on your site and really enjoying it!