NTB and Customer Service

Bethany quoted a marketing stat for me once. She said that, when a person has a good experience at a business, they will tell 11 people; when a person has a bad experience at a business, they will tell 13 people.

Early last week, I was about ready to tell 13 people about NTB. But since they redeemed themselves, now I'll tell 11.

Two weeks ago, I went in to get 4 brand new tires for Bethany's soon-to-be-sold car. Cost was $500+. Not the cheapest tires in the world, but I've had good customer service experiences with NTB before, so it was worth it to me.

After coming home that day, I checked my mailbox... and found a $25-off-4-tires coupon from NTB! But... I just bought the tires that morning! So, the natural thing to do is bring the coupon and the receipt into the store and ask. On Monday, that's what I did.

So I returned to NTB and explained the situation. Come on... after getting my $500+, their crediting me back $25 should be well worth it to keep a customer. But the guy at the counter, after talking with a guy in the back, came out and said,

"Sorry, man. Nothing we can do. You should have brought the coupon in when you bought the tires."

Grr. I didn't have the coupon when I bought the tires. I got the coupon afterwards.

"Well, you must have received the coupon as a promotional thank-you after you bought these tires."

Grr. On the same day? Your marketing department definitely can't turn it around this quick. I'm on your list because, last year, I spent $500+ for tires for my other car!

"Sorry... nothing we can do. Next time, bring the coupon in when you make your purchase."

Fine. I will not talk to a manager. I will call NTB's customer service. So that evening, I had a lovely conversation with a customer service rep, explaining the situation. She understood what happened, was surprised that they would not credit me the $25, and said that she would pass my case on to upper management.

The next morning, I get a phone call from the manager of this specific NTB store. He asked me to explain the story, which I did. His response was...

"Hey man... $25 is not that much. So sure, we'll credit you. But really, people aren't able to redeem coupons after a purchase. You wouldn't be able to do this at Walmart or any other store..." (Actually... you can do this at other stores. Tons of stores do this, because it's the equivalent of just returning your item and then re-buying it with the coupon. But I didn't raise this issue with him.)

So he give me back $25, after lecturing me.

Post-post Note:

When I started this entry, I was going to write about how NTB has made it back onto my Customer Service happy list. So they credited me back $25. Even with a little bit of hassle, that was nice of them. Thank you.

BUT, after browsing around a little bit on the NTB website, I now see that there is an internet coupon for $40 off 4 tires. Wait a second. $40? Grr. They gave me a lecture for using my $25 off coupon which was mailed to me since I was a loyal customer... and here on the internet for everyone is a $40 off coupon?

Oh well. I will learn about my own sense of entitlement and how that's wrong. I will learn about giving up my rights. I will learn to scour the net for coupons before making a big purchase.