Date:         Sat, 7 Sep 2002 23:53:24 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bus Depot Rant
In-Reply-To:  <fe.1d7d96cd.2aaba729@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> In a message dated 9/7/02 2:15:38 PM, vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM writes:
>
> << This simple step will get any problem solved promptly, courteously, and
> with my apologies.  Ranting won't. >>
>
> In this case it seems to have worked rather effectively.


Yes, and a hand grenade can effectively exterminate a flea.  But this does
not make it an appropriate method of killing fleas.

Actually, we rarely (perhaps even never) actually lose a store credit, as we
keep a record of all of your purchases, credits, backorders, etc. under your
own unique customer file. This is a lot better than most retail stores,
which issue you a non-replaceable credit slip or gift card, and if you lose
it you're out the money.  With us your credit stays on file under your name
until you use it, so even if you lose track of the receipt number, email,
etc., we should have it on your file.  Using the same software, we can also
quickly pull up a receipt for your prior purchases, even years later, and
even if you've long since lost your receipt.  This is the kind of thing a
Circuit City or a CompUSA does so you can order duplicate receipts etc. on
big ticket purchases. But it's not something that your local auto parts
store probably does. We've been using this software for about two years now,
and it works great.  (Okay, it did crash once and lost a few older receipt
records, but no store credits as they were backed up.)

In a case where a credit, prior purchase, etc doesn't come up, it's almost
certainly because you've ended up with two different customer accounts.
Each afternoon, we run a custom-written utility that matches the name and
address on each new web order against those already on file, to link your
new order to all of your previous ones so everything will be in one place.
It's pretty good, but it's not foolproof.  If you place a new order and
enter your info slightly differently from the last one (i.e. you use Jim
instead of James, or a different address), the software doesn't find a match
so it creates a new customer account for you.  Then you have purchases (or
credits) under two different accounts. This means the clerk must look for a
second account if he can't find the credit or purchase under the first
account he finds.  In that event case you can save a bit of hassle by
referencing the invoice number of the original purchase (or saving the email
if the credit was offered that way).  But even in such a case, the record
will almost certainly be found, once the clerk checks and discovers that Jim
Smith of 123 E. 3rd St. is also on file as James Smith of 123 East Third
Street.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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Toll-Free for Orders by Part #    1-866-BUS-DEPOT