Wellie's Got The Dog.....

[wellie]

Being as trusting as I am, as a person, and tending to 'think on my feet' and 'vote with my feet', I very STUPIDLY thought that the CD I bought Trousers for his birthday (BIG NO-NO, don't even GO there!) that I could take it back and exchange if he...., and yes, you're right, he didn't, so, phew! - I'd kept the receipt!

I won't insult your intelligence too much in telling you why I'm not able to get a refund, because as the nice lady told me when I telephoned prior to re-visiting the store today, the seal was broken and it would be up to the discretion of the duty manager as to whether the CD could be refunded or not.

WELL! See Wellie stamp feet in a big puddle, but say to the nice lady: "no, no, I can see your side of this too....".
Anyway, back to the very beginning of my story:

Once I'd chosen the CD in the first instance, because they didn't actually HAVE Bruce Springywotsit, I put this CD in the Al Fresco wire shopping basket, and from the limited selection of cr*p birthday cards that wouldn't raise a....... in a brothel, I failed to find a remotely suitable or funny birthday card, so just bought the CD.
Through the checkout till, and the heavy duty 'DON'T TOUCH THIS' perspex with the magnetic 'I'll chop your privates off if you tamper with this cover' kind of thing was duly removed, CD scanned, and Wellie paid for it, thinking: "Great! Just enough pennies now for his card?"

So, down to the Co-op. Cr*p cards..... and into the Crazy Occasions Party Shop..... Mmm, that's quite a funny card.... £1.99! I don't want to buy the SHOP angel....(she did laugh!) and back to the car.

Anyhow. To cut a very very long story short. Trousers didn't find either his present OR his card in the slightest bit amusing, and not even the Steak Dinner rescued the situation (even the cat hid...)

Sorry, I'm banging on a bit as usual, but my point IS:

When there's no cellophane wrapper on a CD within one of those supermarket security tamper-proof johnnies, and you want to return the item because your boyfriend plain just HATES the artist, and there isn't a cellophane wrapper seal to break, and they think you've bought the CD, copied it and returned it to get your money back..... It's not my fault there's no seal. So how the HELL can they tell me that I can't have my money refunded?

Get my drift? I wouldn't know how to copy a CD if it came up, showed me, bit me on the *rse and ran away again......
but as Trousers said this evening (when he finally saw the funny side?):
Why would you actually BUY a CD to copy from if you could just download it from t'internet anyway?

Him and me ARE on squeaking terms again by the way, so please don't feel bad?!

[kernowyon]

try to return it again in a couple of days, might be a different duty goon, that and flutter your eyelids at him (sorry not very PC, so the fluttering might not work on female goon but you never know )

[Hazel at the Hill]

Mr Tesco is so keen to be a good egg that I am stunned that you've had to samp your foot on this. Either the Customer Service Wallah was having a baaaad day, or you are losing your touch? Unlikely - nay impossible.

Write a letter - not grumpy, but 'core customer astonished at lapse of otherwise impeccable service' - I'm sure you'll have your feather's unruffled.

xx

[TonyF]

Monday morning at B&Q used to be returns day - when I was duty manager I hated it because we HAD to give people their money back, if B&Q went into the hire business they'd make a fortune with the number of people who buy tools on Friday, use them over the weekend and then return them on Monday as 'defective'. Even things like strimmers!

Not proper gardeners though, proper gardeners wouldn't be that dishonest. I blamed it all on instant gardening syndrome, must have the latest GW Friday evening thing IMMEDIATELY and if it said we have to do that this weekend, we must do it this weekend!!!

But proper gardeners, those of us here who are blessed with the patience to sit and wait for their veggies to grow, wouldn't do such a thing. Would we?

[shirlthegirl43]

What a bother Wellie. Did you point out that they had removed the cellophane at the till? I am sure you did, but in that case, they should take it back. Good luck getting the problem rectified.

Tell Trousers if he doesn't forgive you immediately, you will invite the whole vine round for lunch - and he will have to cook and wash up

[piskieinboots]

Tell Trousers that you gave him the CD for his birthday which he can listen to then save and give back to you, lovingly wrapped, for your valentines/birthday/christmasy pressie ... as a cup mat (we know how Mr T loves his cup mats *see Mr T snarl and growl) or a bird scarey (no offence Scarey)

Yaaay dosh saved all round for France Fund

Failing that, stand in front of Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Customer Service and cry

[TonyF]

And buy your CDs/DVDs in the UK before you come. I do a great trade for Amazon but some of the music you find here is very .........

French!

[piskieinboots]

or have one of us 'stay at home brits' be your music buyer/shipper - cos, if I were to take on the role I'd have to deliver personally customer service is all to me, I do 'go that extra mile'

[HeyWayne]

Take this picture of the character from the third Hellraiser film:



and tell the kind customer assistant dude/dudette that the film's character was conceived after the director of the film saw what you had done to a customer assistant dude/dudette who refused to take back your ABBA CD once.

[SarzWix]

My friend had the same problem with Asda not long ago - although the DVD she had bought wouldn't work on any DVD player in her house, they wouldn't take it back for refund or exchange, until she printed out reams of Consumer Rights information and shoved it at the manager whilst threatening to ring Trading Standards! They just generally assume that everyone is out to rip them off I think. I'd write to the manager & send a copy to head office, say how 'disappointed' you are that their customer services are so poor etc. Go through the motions of buying another, & then when they start undoing the security seal or whatever, shout "HA!" & point out to manager what they were doing is exactly the same as they did to the one you're trying to return...

[wellie]

I feel like I've just had a Hug in a Mug from you all, thank you!
Shirley, that's my point. There WAS no cellophane on the CD inside the tamper-proof bit the till operator has to remove. Evidently, some CDs do, some don't.

I shall compose a letter over the weekend, as you suggest, and go from there me thinks.

Good suggestions all round peeps, and thanks Tony for that. Piskie darling, the job's yours, and no mistake!!

[bubblewrap]

And buy your CDs/DVDs in the UK before you come. I do a great trade for Amazon but some of the music you find here is very .........

French!

Like this?
YouTube - The Hurdy-Gurdy Man @ Johnny Appleseed fest
YouTube - Hurdy Gurdy Master Class with Daniel Thonon

[Shortie]

Wellie, just a thought... before trying to exchange again, check out the other CDs (throught eh bomb proof casing that is). You may find all the ones from that artist have no plastic one them. If they're all the same, try to do the refund again and if they say "no you've opened it" show then the bomb proof encased ones to show them there was never any one there in the first place.

Not all CDs are covered in plastic. While at Uni I worked at Our Price and they more often than not came from the record companies with no plastic over them