I don’t eat cookies, except for Mallomars. I love Mallomars. They take me back to my childhood. I ceremoniusly pull off the tops and eat the cookie separately. I wait for Mallomar Week every year and then I indulge in a box (or even two)!
So when I walked into our local chain supermarket earlier today with one of my teenage sons (he also has the Mallomar excitement gene) and we were greeted with an ENORMOUS display of Mallomars, we high-fived each other and added two boxes to the shopping cart (at $1.99 a carton). And then we read the fine print. “Sale is in effect for 4 days from September 11 through September 15 (today is September 8). And my son said, “That’s deceptive advertising” just as one of the store managers walked past, and he must have heard the comment.
He politely asked if he could help and I explained the issue to him. At first he “pretended” (I’ll tell you why I chose that word in the next paragraph) not to understand until I pointed out that anyone who bought the cookies between now and September 11 would not do so at the advertised price. And not only did he agree, but he immediately removed the signs; and my son and I felt like we had all won (including the store manager for doing the right thing) and we had all done a good deed for the shoppers who would have mistakenly paid full price before the sale date.
And then we went shopping, discussing how people can, and do act with integrity and will admit their mistakes…until I realized that I had forgotten the tomatoes, which were on display next to the Mallomars, where the signs had been put right back up, as soon as we walked away.
And that, my friends, is today’s story about trust, or lack thereof. And when I finally do buy that box (or two) on Wednesday, I bet they won’t taste quite as good as in the past. The bitter taste of today’s experience may linger for a while.
Shame on all the companies that try to “put one over on their customers.” Remember, without your customers, you have no business.
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