The Breakup
*Updated–see bottom of post!*
Surfas and I broke up today. It was a wonderful love affair while it lasted, but sadly, it’s over.
You see, Thursday after work I spent $15 on three bottles of sprinkles. 
I arrived home twenty minutes later and opened the bottles, eager to see their out-of-bottle colors, only to find one of the bottles was missing its foil seal. I immediately called the store and was told that food purchases are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. I explained the seal was missing and was then told the store was closing in ten minutes, and to call back the following day and speak to either Tina or Colleen.
This morning I called once again, explained the story, and was transferred to Tina’s voicemail. I left her a message around 9:15 a.m.
By 2:00, I still hadn’t heard back from anyone. Since I plan on using the sprinkles tomorrow afternoon, I wanted to get the okay to exchange them on the phone so I wouldn’t have to worry about driving out there and being told yet again that food products are non-exchangeable. So, I called again and spoke to Colleen, the other manager. Colleen suggested that perhaps when I twisted open the bottle, the foil seal came off. I told her that was not the case–there was no seal there, period. She took my phone number and said she would call me back. I haven’t heard back from her as of yet.
My question is–why won’t they let me exchange the open bottle with the missing seal for a bottle with a seal? I’m not asking to return them; I’m asking to exchange them–I’m not going to use an open bottle. And in case you were wondering, it’s not about the money, it’s a matter of principle. It’s a $5 bottle of sprinkles for god’s sake. Whatever happened to customer service? Are they just greedy? And would they really like to lose a customer over a $5 bottle of sprinkles?
As of right now, they have. I’ll be going to Gloria’s or Sur La Table from now on.
Update: Saturday afternoon, I still had not heard back from Colleen so I left a message for Frank, the store manager. Frank called me back Saturday evening, apologized profusely, and refunded my money over the phone. He then asked if I was a caterer–I told him no, but I did recently start a baking business. He told me the next time I come in, I should ask for him, and that I will receive a discount from now on.
