1 /5 Melissa H.: I went to Fred Meyer Jewelers to get a watch battery changed. The watch was a gift from my sister that I had never worn, so it looked like new although it was several years old, which is why it needed a fresh battery before I could start wearing it.
First I was told that it would be about 15 minutes for them to change it in-house. I went to do my grocery shopping and came back---they still werent done. The woman helping, who was nice, said we needed to wait for her manager to try to do it. So I waited.
And waited.
He was more interested in trying to convince someone to buy a ring there even after that man expressed his desire to check out other options elsewhere. The whole time, I was being ignored by the manager.
But I can be patient.
After he finished trying to push a hard sell on that otherocustomer, he still blew me off. He was too busy with going over paperwork and double checking rings to be resized to attend to my business properly. He couldnt even be bothered to make eye contact or smile. Instead, he told me he had tried to get the back off "a watch" but was unable to. He could not say whether or not it was the watch I had brought in. I had to wait for him to address his other business (papers and rings, not other customers physically in the shop) before he could spare the time to tell me whether or not he had looked at *my watch* and tried to remove the back. And the manager also never took the time to communicate to the woman working under him so she could tell me if he had looked at it or not.
Keep in mind, this has gone way past the 15 minutes originally quoted.
Finally, the manager could spare a few seconds to come over and say he had tried to take off the watch back but couldnt. He said there was nothing more he could do and that he "didnt want to scratch it" trying to force it off. I had to ask for what my options were--he didnt suggest them first. He curtly told me that they could send it out for more than I had already paid and that it would take 2 weeks to have it done. I honestly wouldnt have minded waiting longer or paying more, but my time and my business, and myself for that matter, were already treated like they didnt matter to that manager. So I asked for a refund from the woman. She was very sweet and apologetic while processing it, and she seemed visibly upset by how he had treated me.
Obviously, that manager knows nothing about customer lifetime value. I am a woman in my early 30s who does buy jewelry. Im never going to shop there again. My husband, who bought his wedding band there, is never shopping there again. And my parents, who have spent thousands of dollars there over the years--since my mom loves jewelry---will also not be shopping there again. Why? Because I was not treated as a valued customer when I came in for a small business transaction.
To make matters worse, I took out my watch when I got home to discovered that it had in fact been scratched badly. It was in perfect condition when I came in. They wasted my time, they couldnt perform the service properly, the manager was incredibly rude, AND they damaged my property without admitting to it (and I suspect I know which one did it).
Who does that?
I have added a picture of my watch with the scratches caused by Fred Meyer Jewelers to the photos so you can try to see for yourself what they did. Think twice before you deal with them. And if you do do business with them, I hope you have a more pleasant experience than I did.
