Unfortunately, that letter their COO sent you, while timely in it’s issuance, just sounded like a form letter to me, but can’t say I blame you for waiting a bit just to see if they were genuinely sincere.

I don’t fight it much when I encounter it nowadays, in the end letting them know by taking my business elsewhere if I’ve addressed the situation appropriately, and not received either any follow-up or satisfaction.

Example: One of my local supermarkets has a posted policy whereby if they scan an item for a price higher than what’s posted on the shelf, you get the first example of the item for free, plus a $5 coupon if the item is under $10. My local branch never complies with this policy. They always come up with some wild story of why this particular item doesn’t qualify to be free or feign ignorance of the posted policy, and simply correct the price when I point out scanning errors.

None of the complaints I’ve made to the store manager or the corporate office in the past year has resulted in either the promised follow-ups or the policy being enforced.

Result: I’ve simply given up. I now only buy highly discounted items on sale in the weekly ad at this store, and give my high-margin business to the store across the street.

The smartest thing a manager can do is to train his/her staff with the knowledge of what is expected plus the tools to do their job the right way. In service-oriented businesses, staff should be empowered and instilled with excellent service recovery tools and attitudes. Blowing off your customers never builds brand loyalty or repeat business.

Let the mediocre businesses eventually fail is my new attitude.