My wife and I did Route 9 today, hitting a number of stores on a stretch from Rte. 520 down to Freehold Raceway Mall.
One of the stores we hit was the Christmas Tree Shop. My wife was interested in buying a small, folding hair dryer for travel, and found a Revlon unit – model RVDR5001 – at what appeared to be a very good price: $9.48.
But since we were also going to Harmon\’s, – which has the same parent company and provides 20% off coupons, she said why not buy it there; it\’s only about $2, but we\’re going there anyway. She assumed, of course, that the price in both stores would be about the same.
Well, it wasn\’t.
When we got to Harmon\’s, we found the same unit. But it was double the price, at $18.99.
That is not a typo, folks. Two stores with the same parent company, just a couple of miles apart, with one at $9.48, and the other at $18.99.
Amazed, my wife asked the manager about it. Here is the conversation as we remember it:
-My wife (holding the unit in question): “We were in the Christmas Tree Shop and saw this hairdryer there”.
-Manager: “Yeah”
-My wife: And the price there was $9.48″.
-Manager: “Yeah”.
-My wife: You\’re at $18.99. Will you honor the Christmas Tree Shop price”
-Manager (with no facial expression and in a monotone): “No, we don\’t do that” – and she walked away.
The manager was never overtly nasty. But she was overtly distant, unresponsive, and generally as cold as ice.
All she had to do was add a few words – maybe say “I\’m sorry, it\’s not our policy to honor prices from that store” and smile commiseratively – which, I would bet body parts, is what she was trained to do. And, if not that much, at least Something. Anything.
But she did none of those things. We felt as though we were dismissed like two annoying children for asking a simple, reasonable question.
In any event, this again reminds us that we should always check prices. And that we should never assume the pricing in two stores under the same parent company banner will be the same.
And, of course, never to try to deal with this manager again for anything.
==========================
UPDATE: Not that it changes anything about our treatment in Harmon\’s, but, having done some checking, it turns out that the $9.48 price for this hair dryer is spectacularly low. It\’s more than double everywhere else – even Amazon, where you can have one for $21.24.
Get to the Christmas Tree Shop fast!!!
