My Customer Service Experience at Jared

My husband and I have been customers of Jared Jewelers for more than 10 years and during that time we've spent close to $20,000. Now that may not be a lot in comparison to others but, nonetheless, our hard earned dollars have gone there.

Today I went to Jared to find a birthday gift for my daughter. I walked into the store. No one greeted me. Then I walked over to the jewelry repair center. I figured since I was in the store I might as well have my platinum engagement and wedding rings cleaned. An employee walked over but said nothing. I finally spoke up and said, "I know you see me standing here." She said she did but she was assisting another customer. My response to that was, "You may be helping another customer but that shouldn't stop you from greeting me." She immediately went to find someone to assist me.

A woman, identified as Amy, came over. She had just finished wiping her nose. I wasn't about to shake her hand and I didn't want to give her my rings to be cleaned. I told her what I wanted. She said she would help me. She asked me was it time for my rings to be inspected. I told her I wasn't sure. I expected her to ask for my name and go look it up in their records. She did not. As a courtesy service, Jared does an annual inspection of your jewelry to make sure the diamond is set correctly, among other things. That courtesy was not extended to me. STRIKE ONE.

I gave Amy my rings reluctantly. I thought she would give them to someone else to be cleaned while she assisted me. Instead she left and came back in less than a minute claiming she had cleaned them personally. There were definitely NOT cleaned because her hands were not clean. STRIKE TWO.

After paying for my daughter's gift, I asked to speak to the manager. Mark Swink came over. I told him I thought my good customer service experience was lacking at Jared and he should know about it. After listening to me for about three minutes, he thanked me and shook my hand but never apologized for my bad experience. I expected him to at least acknowledge my feelings. STRIKE THREE.

Now at this point of the story, it would be easy to throw out the race card and say I didn't get good customer service because I was black in a store surrounded by a sea of white customers. I don't know for sure if that was the case but I am inclined to believe that. Or perhaps it was because I left with one small bag and spent less than $200. But whatever the case, Jared has now joined Kroger on my BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE list.

So what do you think? Do whites get better customer service than blacks or are there other factors that could come into play?