Boos and Bouquets to S.B. Centre

.First experiences are always lasting, right?

Well, this one I'll tell not only to you but to my grandchildren. On Wednesday, April 14, I visited S.B. Centre in Mandeville where I purchased two blouses. I remember the cashier saying to me that I would have to rinse one of the blouses (the white one), because it was soiled at the back. Anyway, I went home with the blouses and, unfortunately, even though both were made by the same company and were the same size, the soiled one could not fit. Due to the company's policy, I decided to return the blouse the following Monday and have it exchanged.

At the store, I showed the blouse to the same cashier who had dealt with me the prior Wednesday. I told her it could not fit, I purchased it soiled and would like to have it exchanged. After some deliberation, she gave me the go-ahead to get a new blouse from the store. After selecting and fitting a new blouse, I returned to the cashier. To my surprise, she changed her mind. According to her, I had soiled the blouse even more, pointing to a one- inch dark mark on the inside of the blouse. She said as a result of that, she could no longer take the blouse and said, "When unno a try on white blouse, unno must make sure say unno body clean and unno hair, to." I was dumbstruck by her response.

Eventually, I asked to speak with the manager. Her response was that he was not in at the moment and she didn't know when he would return. After waiting a while, I headed up to the shoe department where I asked another worker where I might be able to find the manager. He directed me to his office, where I told him the same story. Surprisingly, no questions asked, the gentleman took the blouse, called the cashier and told her she should help me out and sent me to go get a new blouse.

I would give boos to the cashier; she seriously needs to do some retooling to 'improve' her customer-service skills, and bouquets to the store manager; his calm and sensible response may just take me back to his store.

- S.R.

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Boos and Bouquet

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