When I lived in New York where Tiffany was my neighbor I'd visit the store to browse or to purchase gifts for colleagues, friends, and even myself. I knew of it's famous "the-customer-is-always-right" philosophy and I believed it was expert in everything it sold.
So when I moved to Miami and the Tiffany watch I gifted myself needed a battery I headed over to Merrick Park.
It was surprising how long I had to wait for a clerk after ringing the service department bell. Pavlov must have been conducting experiments in the other room and first come, first served.
I was happy when the service clerk reared her head to ask how she could help. I told her my watch stopped, I believed it was my battery, and she placed my watch on a lush velvet tray, gave me a receipt and told me to return in an hour.
An hour!? Tiffany must have a lot of repairs in the works.
I browsed the mall for an hour. That's would have been pleasant if I didn't have a meeting to attend in an hour and a forty five minutes.
An hour passed and I arrived back at Tiffany's service department. I rang the bell for service and nothing happened. I rang again and waited. Finally on the third ring a woman with an irritated look came though the door and asked what I wanted. Explaining why I was there, I handed her the ticket I was given earlier.
Without a word, she turned around and went back inside where nobody could see her, presumably to fetch my watch which should have now been working perfectly.
I waited. And waited. And waited longer. Finally I pressed the service bell again and the woman peeked out and told me she'd be another minute.
She finally came out with the fancy tray, my watch, and some paperwork. I took my watch and put it on my wrist and hurriedly asked what I owed.
"Thirty six dollars," I was advised. I knew that was a lot for a watch battery but, after all, this was Tiffany. I was certain I now had the finest battery ever manufactured in the history of humankind and that a certified Tiffany technician performed a cursory inspection of the watch to assure there were no looming problems inside.
I handed the less-than-eager clerk my credit card, signed the chit, and walked briskly out of the store toward the parking lot [where I would pay additionally for the privilege of paying for my $36 battery]
But as I walked to my car I looked at the watch to see how much time I had to get to my meeting.
Time on the watch was fixed on the exact time it read when I brought it in. And the second hand wasn't moving.
Something went wrong with the installation of my battery by Tiffany's expert technician!
I marched back, rang the bell again, and waited for the Queen to come through the door. I explained the watch still wasn't working and asked if anybody looked at it after the battery was changed.
"If you'd like, sir, I can send it to our expert repair facility in New Jersey to determine what's wrong with the watch. We can have it repaired there".
I repeated, "Did anybody look at the after the battery was changed to assure the watch was working"?
Again, the watch was offered a trip to New Jersey.
I explained I'd lost confidence in Tiffany and had no assurance a trip to New Jersey would result in my watch working properly.
I chanted my recurring mantra, "Did anybody look after the battery was changed to assure the watch was working? Did you personally look at the watch as you brought it out to me?"
"Sir," I was told, "the battery in your watch is brand new. I can bring you the empty package to show you."
"I'm sure you can", I replied. "But I simply want to know if anybody saw the watch operating correctly after the battery was changed".
I was teeming with anger but didn't let it show. You know the old adage about attracting more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. I desperately wanted to attract some honey because I was surrounded by flies and vinegar.
The clerk offered to get the manager for me.
Another minute or two passed--and my honey appeared! An attractive, well dressed, and competent-sounding woman asked me to tell her what had happened.
I explained.
She offered my watch a trip to New Jersey at my expense and highly recommended it. "No thank you", I told the honey. I've lost confidence in Tiffany and would prefer to take the watch someplace local.
She told me she'd process a full refund and that I could keep the new battery in my watch.
"Thank you", I replied. She asked for the receipt I was given, pressed a few buttons on the register and told me she reversed the charge.
I thanked her and drove speedily to discover my meeting was postponed to next week.
The next day I took the watch to Cutler Jewelers on US 1 where I was treated informally by a husband and wife team who tested the "new" battery [it was dead] and replaced it with a new battery--for $6.00.
The watch as been working perfectly since. read more