Lorraine M.
Yelp
I read about Sur La Table having a big sale on Le Creuset deep dutch ovens, an item that I've had on my wish list for years. The website's listed sales price was within our budget, so my partner purchased one online (in the color sea salt) to pick up in the store. Several hours passed and I asked if he ever received an email notifying us that the item was ready for pick up. He said no, but that he received emails from Sur La Table, including an offer to get $15 off his "next purchase", implying he actually made a purchase. He also checked his credit card activity and saw a $1 charge, followed by a $1 refund from SLT. I thought it was odd that he never got a confirmation about the purchase, so I called the store and they said they had no orders under his name. They gave the number to customer service, which I called the next day and was told that they did not have any order under his name. I asked about the "next purchase" email and the $1 charge/credit, and they explained that something went wrong for the transaction to start but not get completed, though they couldn't explain exactly what happened. I called the store back to ask if they had the deep dutch oven in stock so that I could buy it in store. The person I spoke to, Barbara, remembered talking to me the day before. She asked me for the SKU (which I read directly from the website I pulled up on my phone) and was told that that SKU didn't bring up any item in their store computer. She asked me for the name of the item I wanted and when I told her, she said that their system did not show that it was on sale. Meanwhile, I was looking right at the store's website on my phone and the sales price was in effect. I figured between the incomplete transaction, wrong SKU, and store computers not matching what customers see, SLT was dealing with some technical issues, so I offered to come to the store and show Barbara what I saw on my phone and perhaps troubleshoot. She told me that it was fine to come in, but that she may not be able to get me what I was hoping for -- the sea salt deep dutch oven at a sales price as her system was not showing any promotion. (I very much respect Barbara for managing my expectations; she did this with grace and professionalism.) I came into the store and Barbara greeted me at the entrance, somehow guessing that I was the one who she had just spoken to. She brought me over to a store computer and I showed her the SLT website from my phone and the item I was interested in, which even as I refreshed the page in front of her, still had a sales price. She looked up the SKU and showed me the error message that resulted on the store computer. I also showed her a screenshot of my partner's credit card statement which showed the two $1 transactions, and she didn't understand why the sale didn't go through. She also told me that the dutch oven on sale pictured on the website (in red) was out of stock. I explained that at the time my partner made the purchase the day before, sea salt was available, but she told me it wasn't on sale. I was bummed. Barbara showed me similar dutch ovens of a different brand. I was considering purchasing one, but told Barbara that the Le Crueset was my dream pot that I have never been able to afford, so I'd just wait until there was another sale. Ever the professional, Barbara offered to take my contact information so that she could notify me when that specific item I wanted was on sale. I really appreciated that gesture and I told her I would just take a look at the dutch ovens (on display) before I left the store. There I was, staring at the Le Crueset display, at my dream pot in sea salt. I made one last ditch effort to purchase it and went back to Barbara to ask if I could buy the store display for a discounted price. She apologetically told me that they don't sell display items (bummer!) and I went back to the display just to get a last look before leaving the store. Then Barbara came over to me and asked me what color I wanted (of course I told her sea salt), told me that she had spoken to someone about the string of technical errors I experienced, then said she could offer me the dutch oven at the sales price. I was so in shock that I had to ask Barbara to repeat herself! I was so surprised, but more so happy. Not just because I was getting the item I've wanted for years, but because Barbara listened to me and believed me when I described the technical issues I experienced. The real kicker to this story? When Barbara rang up my purchase, the sea salt dutch oven was on sale!!! So the internal computers were showing something different than the internal point of sale computers. Technical issues galore! I have to say that I felt incredibly validated (I believe I screamed out "I'm not crazy!") and Barbara was able to confirm the many glitches they had in their system. Though she apologized, I told her she didn't have to. I thanked her and her team for listening and for making it right.