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Bull crap someone will help me. I stopped in the Cingular store in Grapevine of Hwy 114 at lunch today to try and exchange or return AoD's cell phone clip-holder thingee. This piece of fishstick thing broke about a week after he got the first one. Tried it again to see if it was any better the second time and it broke the second day he had it. This is the guy who takes really good care of his things. I asked him how he broke it and he didn't drop it or hit it with a bowling ball (he broke one like this before). It just broke when he put his phone in it.

So, I go in the store to trade it in or return it flat out and I had the most hateful manager to deal with today. Didn't have my receipt and the store manager is basically accusing me of tearing it up and then expecting to return it, their policy isn't to return broken stuff because it isn't a manufacturer defect, etc. etc. He was really being a dick. I told him, listen, if you went to Target and bought a shirt and put it on and after the first washing it got a big hole it, you'd take it back and expect them to replace it because it was poorly made and you didn't do anything to damage it. He wouldn't even respond when I said that. Just kept saying, AoD obviously was too rough with it and broke it. Finally, I said just give it back to me. This was after about five minutes of arguing with the guy. He essentially shoves it back at me. I asked for his name and he asks me why. Because I want to call and complain to your district manager, that's why. So, he gives me his card.

I go eat lunch, read the local paper (saw where Pickle's old soccer coach is being investigated by the FBI for some of the fraud stuff going on with the Dallas City Council) and calm down a bit.

Call the store to get the regional manager's name and number. Guess who answers the phone? Yep, the asshole. I'm thinking great. Ask for the name and number and he asks me why I need it and I told him that I was just in there and wanted to complain about the quality of service I received. He said "are you the lady who tried to return the phone holster?" Yep, I tell him. He gives me the guy's name and number and says "I already told him about the event." I'm thinking great, the regional manager is going to think I'm some stealing bitch and be a dick to me, too. Well, much to my surprise, he wasn't. He listened to me, never interrupted and said I"m so glad you called and told me about this because the store manager handled the situation inappropriately and this gives me the opportunity to coach him on how he should have handled this. He got all lawyery on you and was someone hoping you'd admit that, yeah, you did break it by handling it roughly and, he said, that is not the way to maintain a faithful customer and I explained that to him. He shouldn't have been argumentative and treated you that way. He said, he explained it to me exactly as you have, so I know what he did and explained to him why he handled it in the wrong fashion.

Now, I didn't get the thing exchanged, which was my goal, but I did get some satisfaction that the asshole was told he was wrong. Would have been better had he apologized to me when I called, but I've talked to HR people who said that it is worse to admit it when you do something wrong. Better to just leave it alone, so maybe that is what he was told to do. Don't know. Don't care. Dude was a dick and hopefully he got his ass chewed for being a dick.

Needless to say, I get to go back and try to exchange the stupid holster again. I may make AoD do it this time. This stuff gets old. Tartar saucing piece of fishstick holster.