The complainant is actually not our customer.  This lady never entered the store or dealt with any of our employees personally, she only began calling after the transaction was complete.  Her son came into the store on Monday, May 13 with his prom date and they spent almost 45 minutes with one of our sales associates selecting a vest and tie to rent.  The young man signed the rental agreement, an agreement that clearly states that there are no refunds, and then he paid for the rental.  

On Wednesday, May 17, the young man and his date came in and stated that he had found something else to wear and would like a refund.  Our manager explained that we had already processed the order, that it was actually ready for pickup and that he could not offer a refund.  When he was given the vest, the customer noticed one tiny water spot.  Our manager apologized and said he could probably get the spot out or he would be happy to get him a replacement vest.  The prom was not until Saturday.  The customers left the store.

About 5 minutes later, the girl called to ask when the vest would be ready.  The vest was ready. The customer and his date both examined the vest closely, thought they saw another tiny spot that our manager could not see but he treated it as well. They both examined the vest closely, were both satisfied and took the vest home.  Again, the manager offered multiple times to bring another vest in but they declined.  He even offered to let them choose a different style or color (this normally involves an extra charge as it is like a new order) but again, they declined. 

The mother then began to call asking for a refund and the policy was explained to her.  She stated that there were now 2 stains on the vest and that her son had seen a different vest that he wanted to purchase.  Our manager was upset that the young man was unhappy so he immediately called the young man directly to offer to try remedy the situation.  The customer clearly stated that there were no stains on the vest, that he did not want another vest and that he was fine with the whole transaction.  

Our manager called the mother right back to confirm that the son was satisfied and she hung up on him.   She called our main office on Thursday, May 16 and I spent over 20 minutes on the phone offering profuse apologies for the vest having ever had a spot, and offering to replace the vest with any vest we have.  I offered to deliver it to the mall or to any of our stores that might be more convenient.  I told her that we have any number of vest styles and colors and that I felt sure we could match any dress she brought in.  She did not want another vest and wanted only a refund.  

I told her that the company president was in a meeting and that I would have him call her back but that it probably would not be that afternoon.  She said it was fine if he called her the next day or even next week.  He did not get a chance to return her call on Friday as it was an extremely busy day with prom and graduation tuxes but the company president did call her and explained that we had fulfilled our part of the bargain, that her son was happy with the transaction and that we could not offer a refund. 

It is difficult to discuss an agreement with someone other than the customer, especially when our customer stated that he was completely satisfied.  I work in the customer service department of our wholesale division and we, as a company, strive very hard to give the very best customer service and highest quality product to every customer.  In this situation, our customer told us that he was satisfied and that he did not want a replacement vest.  

To put this in perspective, we had almost 500 complete tuxedo orders (not just vest and ties) that went out of that location the same weekend and only had 1 issue that was corrected immediately.  The vest and tie rental was only $48 and we have spent far more than that in time and trouble because of the numerous phone calls from the customer’s mother. 

It would probably have been easier to refund the money but it would undermine the employees who followed the policy, treated the customer with the utmost care and bent over backwards to satisfy him. At this point, the customer has not returned the vest that was due back on Monday.  When we called to ask for the vest to be returned, the Mother said she was waiting for the company to do the right thing.  We honored the contract that the young man signed and now our vest and tie are late and may never come back.