Lesson: Going to an "R Us" chain is always a bad idea.
To warn you: this is a rant. Proceed at your own peril.
So many people are boycotting the Chic-Fil-A chain, but I think the real evil in chains (outside the obvious monster, Wal-Mart) is the 'R Us stores. Babies R Us and Toys R Us. I've complained about them as long as I've had to shop there having kids, it's always a horrible experience for me! From registering at Babies R Us with a woman who criticized my list as being too short, to attempting to return repeat gifts (a testament to their "wonderful" registry system), to trying to pick up a gift and being given a huge hassle about getting it into our car (a crib) and Toys R Us seems to be following suite in their horrible customer service. The experience I had today was one that just put me over the edge to say: never again!!
We'd decided it was time to get Van his own bike. He'd been borrowing a friend's for a while but he needed his own. Just a 12" model, but one he could learn to ride without training wheels on. We looked around at a few bike shops in Boulder and even at a Play It Again Sports - nothing in our price and size range. So we call it: the last resort is the toy store, Toys R Us.
We found a perfect bike - Buzz Lightyear! He loves it. He rode it around the aisles, and we said, "Okay!" When I took the ticket up to the register, the man checking me out, Nirmal (I'm not even kidding), checked his stock and informed me they didn't have any left in the store, only the floor model. I said, "We'll take it." The manager then walked back to retrieve it for us, and I asked Nirmal if there was any way to knock off a few bucks for it being the floor model. He smiled and said, "No, unfortunately. And actually we need to charge you and extra $10 for it being fully assembled." WHAT?!! I informed him that was unacceptable, that I was willing to pay for the bike, but not EXTRA for the one that kids had been riding around the store. The manager was now back with the back and Nirmal reluctantly asked her what she could do. She said there was nothing they could do, "...the $10 fee goes to our assemblers." Assemblers. You mean the guys who take 10min out of their shift to do work they're supposed to?! Are you hiring midgets off the street to come in to do this specific job?
I argued, politely I might add, that if this were a brand new bike, outta the box, I would gladly pay them to assemble it... however it is not. After a bit more back and forth about the assemblers and their plight, I decided it wasn't worth it! Forget it. I'll get it online and assemble the damn thing myself! ("myself" really being Josh)
At this point the man in line behind me with a very pregnant wife (to whom I'd been apologizing for taking so long, but they understood and agreed it was ridiculous) pipes up to the manager, "You're really going to lose a $100 sale over $10?" Apparently this was what she needed to hear because she punched a few buttons in Nirmal's computer and viola! No assembly fee. Wonder of wonders!
The last little bit of this story that grinds my gears is that I walked out feeling like I'd gotten some kind of deal... when really I just paid full price for the bike!
In the end Van has the bike he wants and we came in on budget for it. But Toys R Us is a store that should be fun to go in! Babies R Us should be a stress-less shopping experience. There is no reason for customer service at BOTH these places to be so backwards!
So many people are boycotting the Chic-Fil-A chain, but I think the real evil in chains (outside the obvious monster, Wal-Mart) is the 'R Us stores. Babies R Us and Toys R Us. I've complained about them as long as I've had to shop there having kids, it's always a horrible experience for me! From registering at Babies R Us with a woman who criticized my list as being too short, to attempting to return repeat gifts (a testament to their "wonderful" registry system), to trying to pick up a gift and being given a huge hassle about getting it into our car (a crib) and Toys R Us seems to be following suite in their horrible customer service. The experience I had today was one that just put me over the edge to say: never again!!
We'd decided it was time to get Van his own bike. He'd been borrowing a friend's for a while but he needed his own. Just a 12" model, but one he could learn to ride without training wheels on. We looked around at a few bike shops in Boulder and even at a Play It Again Sports - nothing in our price and size range. So we call it: the last resort is the toy store, Toys R Us.
We found a perfect bike - Buzz Lightyear! He loves it. He rode it around the aisles, and we said, "Okay!" When I took the ticket up to the register, the man checking me out, Nirmal (I'm not even kidding), checked his stock and informed me they didn't have any left in the store, only the floor model. I said, "We'll take it." The manager then walked back to retrieve it for us, and I asked Nirmal if there was any way to knock off a few bucks for it being the floor model. He smiled and said, "No, unfortunately. And actually we need to charge you and extra $10 for it being fully assembled." WHAT?!! I informed him that was unacceptable, that I was willing to pay for the bike, but not EXTRA for the one that kids had been riding around the store. The manager was now back with the back and Nirmal reluctantly asked her what she could do. She said there was nothing they could do, "...the $10 fee goes to our assemblers." Assemblers. You mean the guys who take 10min out of their shift to do work they're supposed to?! Are you hiring midgets off the street to come in to do this specific job?
I argued, politely I might add, that if this were a brand new bike, outta the box, I would gladly pay them to assemble it... however it is not. After a bit more back and forth about the assemblers and their plight, I decided it wasn't worth it! Forget it. I'll get it online and assemble the damn thing myself! ("myself" really being Josh)
At this point the man in line behind me with a very pregnant wife (to whom I'd been apologizing for taking so long, but they understood and agreed it was ridiculous) pipes up to the manager, "You're really going to lose a $100 sale over $10?" Apparently this was what she needed to hear because she punched a few buttons in Nirmal's computer and viola! No assembly fee. Wonder of wonders!
The last little bit of this story that grinds my gears is that I walked out feeling like I'd gotten some kind of deal... when really I just paid full price for the bike!
In the end Van has the bike he wants and we came in on budget for it. But Toys R Us is a store that should be fun to go in! Babies R Us should be a stress-less shopping experience. There is no reason for customer service at BOTH these places to be so backwards!
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