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Sam Goody
My son is 15, a dancer, and a musician, so you must know that music is very important to him. He shops at your store at the Westfield Shopping Plaza here in Aurora, Illinois, and is even a member of your club. Member number XXXXXXXX. The number under the bar code is XXXXX XXXXX. That's neither here nor there. I doubt he will be using it much any more. Let me tell you why. Here's a story I heard from him today: He went into your store and found a CD that he wanted to buy. Lloyd Banks. The Hunger for More. $14.99. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, right? Well, before buying it, he decided to see if perhaps it might be less expensive at FYE. As he and a female companion were leaving the store, your inventory control alarm went off. My son and his companion stopped, walked through the force field back into the store, turned, and walked through it again, and, without setting off any further alarms, they felt free to continue on their price-shopping. Many yards away from the front of your store, they were detained by somebody "big and scary" wearing a Sam Goody shirt. They were asked to return to the store. They complied. On the way back to the store, they were informed that the employees of Sam Goody had been calling to them. My son apologized and said he didn't hear them. By the time they got to the store, they were met with a few other big scary guys and one little nerdy guy. They were asked to pass through the mysterious force field again. They did so, and, lo and behold, NOTHING HAPPENED! My son asked if he could now leave. Little nerdy guy said, "Stay there for a sec." With that, he went off to rifle through garbage cans in the mall. He went to one, and then another that was much further away than my son had the opportunity to reach. Finding nothing but, well, garbage, he returned and went behind the sales counter and busied himself with other things. My son stood there for a moment and finally asked if he was now free to leave. Little nerdy guy said, "I don't give a shit what you do." Did you read that, Sam? Let me repeat it for you: One of your managers said to a 15-year-old kid, "I don't give a shit what you do." Nice, huh? I think that's a slogan we should all adopt. "I don't give a shit what you do." I'm having my wife embroider it on a sampler as we speak. Right under a Sam Goody logo. My son pointed out that he had traversed the force field twice after it went off and showed that he had nothing on him that would set off the alarm, that there was no reason for him to then be detained while little nerdy manager guy went through mall garbage, and that further, there was no reason for him to use that type of language. Little nerdy manager guy responded, "We've had kids throw stuff in the garbage before. You're done now. Have a nice life." So, anyway, Sam, that's our experience today with your customer services. You must be really proud! I think you've developed a good business policy: Charge kids way too much for stuff they can get elsewhere for anywhere between 15% and 25% less, and then when they decide not to buy, send out the big scary guys to detain them so the Dungeons and Dragons geeks can verbally abuse them. By the way, he got the Lloyd Banks CD at FYE. It was $12.99. I have a website devoted to customer services. This letter is being posted there under the heading: "Hey kids! Sam Goody doesn't give a shit what you do!" In all fairness, I will post your reply. Sincerely Jack Schultz July 12, 2004
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