Bitchy and damn proud of it

As much as I love this country, I must say that customer service REALLY SUCKS here. In their continuing quest to do things the "right" way, shopkeepers end up doing some really stupid things.

A lot of the time, I just suck it up and deal with it, figuring that I'm in a different country and should deal with different ways of thinking. But once in a while I just snap, and when I do, I feel really good. Allow me to illustrate:

Last year, my mobile phone stopped working. I took it to Carphone Warehouse, and they claimed that I had gotten it wet on the inside, which really seemed rather ridiculous. When I asked what they would do, the salesperson said that he would send it out to get it fixed, and it would take about two weeks.

I lost it right there. I snapped, "No. This is my only phone, I can't go two weeks without a means of communication. You need to do something NOW." I convinced him to sell me another phone, which was better but still rather stupid. An American mobile company would have offered me a refurbished phone, or would have thought to sell me a new phone up front, knowing that two weeks is a stupidly long time to be without a phone.

Today was the second time. The bookstore Blackwell's has one of those stamp card programs where you get one stamp on your card for every £10 you spend, and after 10 stamps you get some money off your next purchase. (There are different tiers, with different money off for each one.) If there were a similar loyalty program in the States, if you spent $18, the salesperson would give you two $10 stamps, no question. (Or, at the very least, s/he would point out something cheap to bring you closer to the next level to give you that extra stamp.) This would be true of any kind of store. At Blackwell's, they're much tougher about it - you spend £18, you get one stamp.

This happened to me the other day - I had £18 worth of books, and only needed one stamp to get £7 off my next purchase. I thought it would be logical to buy the £10 book, get one stamp, and use the £7 off my second book. But NO. I only got one stamp, because the lady told me "we don't do things like that, especially with the last stamp on the card."

I sucked it up and dealt with it. But today it nearly happened again, and I lost it.

I was at the Oxford Literary Festival at Christ Church, listening to Lynne Truss give a talk. Throughout the festival, Blackwell's has tables set up so you can buy the author's books after the talk and get them signed. I had her sign my copy of Talk to the Hand (which I got last year for my birthday), and went to buy two other books of hers: A Certain Age and Eats, Shoots and Leaves. The total came to £19.98.

Let me repeat that in case you missed it: the total came to £19.98.

AND THE SALESGIRL ONLY WANTED TO GIVE ME ONE STAMP!!!!!!!

First I said politely, "Don't I get a second stamp?" She marked it and said, "We're really not supposed to do that." I snapped back, quite rudely, almost immediately: "Oh come on. It's £19.98! We're talking about 2p here!" She gave me this kind of look, and I just walked away.

My friend Chrissie couldn't believe that I would say such a thing. (I don't usually get like that in public.) But I was very proud of myself, and hope I have made a small change in the rather ridiculous Blackwell's loyalty card system.

I know that politeness counts and manners matter and all that good stuff, but in the grand scheme of things, sometimes you need to be a little pushy.