Well, this post is self explained in the title. To give you a brief background, I've had problems with registries. The first place we registered kept discontinuing products, so we switched to Walmart. A large retailer I thought was very reliable. Until a little letter found it's way to my mailbox... THEY ARE NO LONGER OFFERING REGISTRIES!
I will post my little letter in a while (new puppy chewed the scanner cord). On the PR side, just thought I would highlight some of the things I thought were good and bad about the way they approached this.
Good:
I did receive a letter explaining that my registry would no longer be active.
Bad:
I found out prior receiving this letter that this was happening. Someone tried to purchase a gift and seen the notice on the computer.
Good:
Walmart is offering registries for events until the end of January. I think gives people with events after January enough time to switch. My wedding is in May, so this included me.
Bad:
The letter was very vague as far as why this was happening. Think of a bride as a bomb: one spark near her and she blows up. Case in point, I'm stressed out enough with managing vendors, I didn't need to waste another entire day starting a new registry. A good excuse, or any excuse at all would have softened the blow.
I give Walmart a grade C when it comes to dealing with this issue. There were definitely things they could have done better. For example, inform registrants by email prior to EVERYONE ELSE knowing first (still bitter). Snail mail is so yesterday. In addition, the letter could be more detailed. I give Walmart credit for the window of time they have provided and admit I will still shop at Walmart despite feeling a little abandoned.
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1 comment:
If 9 years of retail experience (and 3 with registry) tells me anything, it is this: you never cancel a registry after it has been created.
The smarter thing would have been to wait until all current registries had expired (or had reached their wedding date), and stop any new registries from being created. There should have been a phasing out period.
I am pretty shocked by the way they are handling this. There are some pretty significant customer services issues here.
Unless hell has frozen over, you NEVER, EVER alter a registry without consent. And you definately do not delete it.
I'm really astounded they did not offer you any sort of 'bribe' for the inconvenience. This is a sure fire way to destroy your customer basis. Especially considering those utilizing registry services are those who are either already experiencing a new family (baby registries) or those who are experiencing family expansion (wedding registries).
Way to gip yourself out of future consumers walmart!
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