And Then There Was the Slow, Painful Fall

We met some friends at Chick-fil-A today (from here on out, to be referred to as CFA). We have quite a history of meeting at CFA. In fact, it's where we met the very first time. It's become a bit of a habit. Who am I kidding? I've probably eaten about 3 times my body weight in CFA already this year....

It's nice to get out, good to not have to fix lunch, and the kids get some energy out. But it's crazy. Wrangling 4 kids under the age of 3, making sure everyone eats a substantial amount of chicken nuggets, Polynesian sauce and french fries is exhausting. Thankfully two of those kids are still in high chairs, or what I like to call "restrained". (Note: If you have more than 1 child and need to get anything accomplished, restraining one of them will result in much quicker success. Think high chairs, pack 'n plays, bouncers, etc.)

Today, I went to order the food while Courtney kept an eye on Grey, who was in his high chair, and Sam, who was supposed to be in the playground area. Supposed to be in the playground area. He bolted. Not a huge deal because he ran right up to the cash registers to find me.

I turned around from the napkin/ketchup/straw area to, "Mommy! Mommy, where are you?!"
"Right here. I'm right here buddy", I told him as he started running towards me. Towards me and the elderly lady who was between us and just so happened to pick the most inopportune time to step away from the other side of the napkin/ketchup/straw area. Just as I was reminding him to watch where he's going, Sam bumped into the lady. He didn't bump into her real hard but I guess it was mid-stride and enough to make her lose her balance because my 2 1/2 year old, gently knocked over the woman. Knocked her over as in she fell, slowly, down on the ground and dropped her purse, spilling its contents all over the floor.

I quickly knelt down, apologized and asked if she was ok. Didn't get much of a response. I looked up at Sam who looked completely freaked out and firmly told him to go back to the table. Thankfully the child chose to obey.

I asked her again if she was ok and then looked up, desparately, at the CFA employees because I didn't know what the heck to do. She wouldn't get up and I certainly couldn't lift her up on my own. Cue three huge, male employees rushing over as the cashier I'm looking at asks if we need to call 911. The lady doesn't answer so I say, "yea, I think so." I have no idea. What could it hurt? Then fallen lady pipes up and says she doesn't need an ambulance and she's fine. If you're fine, why are you still laying on the CFA floor gripping your side and grimacing?

Huge, male employees help her up and she continues to rub her side in the rib area, then her chest. All the while everyone is asking if she's ok and she keeps saying, "yes, I'll just go sit down for a little while and see." I handed her purse to her, apologized profusely and asked if I could do anything. Nope.

At this point, I figure she's probably embarrassed (like I would be) and wants all the attention off her. So, I gather my food/napkins/straws and head back to our table to recount what just went down to Courtney.

Honestly, I didn't really relax until the lady left. It was an accident, obviously and she really didn't seem to be badly hurt but I felt horrible.

What are you supposed to do in a situation like that? Seriously, what would you have done?

Hobby Lobby, Take a Lesson from Chick-fil-a and Publix

CFA and Publix are two establishments who've got customer service down. They've identified their main customer base and they cater to it. I would argue that the customer base for each of these stores is the same...moms with young kids.

Chick-fil-a's got the playground, the sticky placemats, the option to trade in your toy for ice cream.
And we've already gone over what Publix has (double shopping carts with steering wheels, free cookies and balloons, free diapers in the bathrooms, etc.).

Hobby Lobby has got a lot going for it. It's a Christian company and I feel good about spending my money there. In fact, there have been numerous times I've called it my favorite store. However, after today, I don't know that I can say that anymore.

Relive it with me...
After I finagled Grey's carseat into the much-too-small cart, which didn't leave room for me to put Sam in the top, so he had to walk, I headed in to wait, in a pretty long line, to return some paper. Imagine this, an almost two, crazy little boy in Hobby Lobby. He is NOT allowed to not be in a cart in there for good reason BUT, I didn't have much choice because I forgot the double stroller. Strike one for me.

Anyway, I'm trying to exchange some paper I bought a while ago to get some for Grey's birth announcements and Sam's birthday party invitations.
I've got my receipt. Great, right? Nope. Strike number two for me.
The cashier informs me that my receipt is over 60 days old so she can't do anything for me. She won't even do an even exchange, which is what I wanted.

By this time, I've had to pick up Sam who was running around the registers, and he has begun to squirm out of my arms to touch the credit card swiper...oh, and he's whining :).

I let the lady know this store has allowed me to do this very same thing many times before. She just stares at me.
So, I ask her if I didn't have the receipt, would I be able to get store credit...and pick up my receipt to stick back in my bag. She informs me that she has to follow store policy and that if I come back through her line, she won't be able to do anything.

Ugh!

I understand an employee needing and wanting to follow store policy. She was doing the right thing. What I don't understand is why the store policy allows someone to walk in without a receipt and get store credit for any item but they have a time limit on when you can EXCHANGE something if you come in with a receipt for it. How does that make any sense?

I know one reason all these stores are cracking down on returns, ahem Target, is because they're losing money on shoplifting. But hello, if I can get something out of Hobby Lobby, then walk back in and "return" it for store credit YOU ARE LOSING MONEY. If I buy something and a couple months later, come in to exchange it with my receipt, you are not losing money. You are breaking even and keeping one of your most frequent customers happy.

Strike number three for me was not thinking to ask to talk to a manager. Surely they would've had a different response. Don't you think?