Nancy Singer and her sister,
who did not want to be identified, say they have
been loyal customers of Filene’s Basement for
years but recently received a letter from the
chain of stores asking them not to return. They
acknowledge they have returned many items and
occasionally complained about the service and
that they’ve had a few run-ins with store
mangers, but neither sister felt their actions
were excessive. Singer says, “The sales staff is
always telling you to go ahead and buy it, and
return it if it doesn’t fit or look
right.”
David Sherer, Vice President
of loss prevention at the Ohio based discount
chain wrote a letter to the sisters in May. He
said, “Given your history of excessive returns
and your chronic unhappiness with our services,
we have decided that this is the best way to
avoid any future problems with you and your
sister.” James McGrady, chief financial officer
for the chain admits customer bans are
“extremely rare.” He noted that the sisters had
returned an “incredible” number of items and
said sales associates were spending too much
time handling the sister’s returns and
complaints. McGrady added, “There comes a point
in time when you say enough is enough on both
sides.”
—Associated Press, July 14,
2003, Store Bans sisters for too many
returned items, Illustration by Jim L.
Wilson and Jim Sandell.
Philippians
2:14-16a NIV “Do everything without
complaining or arguing, so that you may be
blameless and pure, children of God without
fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in
which you shine like stars in the universe as
you hold out the word of life….”
COMPLAINING
Have you ever noticed how
some people will complain about anything? Daniel
Vargas of Los Angeles, California was waiting in
line to check out of a beachfront hotel when he
overheard a conversation between the manager and
a disgruntled guest. The guest's complaint? "The
surf was too loud."
—Reader's Digest, June 2004,
p. 201. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
James
5:9 (HCSB) "Brothers, do not complain
about one another, so that you will not be
judged. Look, the judge stands at the
door!"
COMPLAINTS
Ron Zaleski is one of 500+
people who will hike the Appalachian Trail this
year, but is the only one who is doing it
barefoot. The Appalachian Trail runs from Maine
to Georgia and is a rite of passage for hikers
because of its challenging terrain. Zaleski says
that "other hikers tend to stop complaining
about the weight of their equipment or sore feet
when they see him."
Deuteronomy
28:47 (NASB77) "Because you did not serve
the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for
the abundance of all things;
COMPLAINING
In a video presentation,
Dr. Hanna Fry, author of the “The Mathematics of
Love,” said research suggests that being free to
complain might actually create a healthier
marriage relationship. Fry says couples who end
up doing best really low negativity threshold.
They tend to speak up when things bother them,
rather than waiting for small things to spin out
of control. Fry looked at the work of marriage
researchers John Gottman and James Murray and
found that her conclusions agreed with a
mathematic formula that they devised describing
marital success. Simply put, Fry says
complaining gives couples a chance to fix
problems as they arise instead of keeping calm
and enduring quiet frustrations.— Jim L. Wilson
and Jim Sandell
Complaining just might be the
secret to a happy relationship, By Ree Hines,
http://www.today.com/health/complaining-could-be-secret-happy-relationship-t24516,
Accessed
June 4, 2015.
Ephesians 4:26 (HCSB) (26) Be
angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down
on your anger,
COMPLAINING
Paul only gave a two star TripAdvisor review
for his stay at the four-star Beech Hill Hotel,
which overlooks Lake Windermere in Cumbria, UK.
He wasn’t happy. As it turns out, his room
didn’t have the view he thought it should have.
Fair enough. Vacationers staying at a nice
lakeside hotel want a room with a view when they
pay for it. However, he wanted the view around
the clock. He arrived at 8:00 PM and couldn’t
see the lake because it was “total darkness”
outside.
Now before you discount him as a complainer, he
did offer two suggestions for how the hotel
could fix the problem—they could move the “Hotel
closer to the lake,” or they could put up flood
lights to illuminate the lake.—Jim L. Wilson
Complaints aren’t necessarily bad things,
especially if they are accompanied by reasonable
suggestions for improvements of things that can
change.
Ephesians 4:29 (HCSB) “No foul language is to
come from your mouth, but only what is good for
building up someone in need, so that it gives
grace to those who hear. “
COMPLAINING
A Pennsylvania Turnpike worker
decided that being brutally honest was the
best way to end his 35-year career with the
state. The worker was asked to fill out an
exit survey and email it back to the human
resources department. After completing the
survey, the employee hit the “replay all”
button and sent his comments to more than
2,000 colleagues. The man, Michael Stuban,
tell a local newspaper that the agency asked
for honesty and he delivered. He said he made
it clear that he liked his job but thought the
turnpike commission was run by people who were
“out of touch.” Stuban said he made the
decision to retire early because of a growing
tide of low morale. He added his regrets that
agency officials did not seem eager to
investigate his complaints.–Jim L. Wilson and
Jim Sandell
Philippians 2:14 (CSB)“Do
everything without grumbling and arguing,”
COMPLAINING
When
Asheville, North Carolina police responded to
complaint about a giant slip-and-slide, they
did not do what everyone expected. Usually,
when the police arrive at a party, it means
the party is over. The officers responding to
the complaint about a giant waterslide
blocking the road discovered that the there
was no problem. Instead of shutting down the
slide, the officers asked if they could ride
too.One
of the officers, Carrie Lee said in a video
she posted that she and her partner did not
find any problem. She added, “So the first
thing I said, I said I’m not here to break up
your fun.”A video taken by a cell phone shows the
officers enjoying the waterslide with
residents. —Jim L. Wilson & Jim Sandell.
Cops
get complaint about slip-and-slide, end up
going on it, by Paul LeBlanc,
Psalm 142:2
(CSB) I pour out my complaint before
him; I reveal my trouble to him.”
COMPLAINING
Resident
of
the Dutch village of Jelsum said the idea of
using a rumble strips in the
highway to sound out the anthem of the
Friesland region sounded like a good
idea at first, but it quickly became an
annoyance. As a novelty, authorities
had strips placed in the road, so that when
a vehicle drove over it at 40 miles
per hour, it would play an anthem
representing the distinct language and
culture of that region of the Netherlands.
Over time, residents complained the
noise was loud and traveled very well, and
the musical road created a “never-ending
cacophony” that kept them awake at night.
One resident said often the cars
tried to cross the lines as quickly as
possible and all they heard was the
anthem played at high speed all night. After
numerous complaints, local
authorities agreed to remove the strips and
silence the road.—Jim L. Wilson and
Jim Sandell
