Above and beyond...customer service at its best! Michaels craft stores

The originals in their box of doom....

I will admit it.  I am not always the most organized person.  I may forget things, lose things from time to time, but I am still a work in progress.  A short time ago, while helping a friend prepare a few of the more intricate details of her wedding, I helped with the flowers and her hair combs.  Through a series of unforeseen (comical later on) events, the first batch had a mishap.  I was headed out to the bigger town in our area so that I could pick up some other things, so I volunteered to pick up the replacement parts, along with a few other last minute items.  Just 2 weeks before the wedding, I wanted to make sure that nothing was misplaced or out of order, so as I left the store, I tied the bags shut and put them in my vehicle.  I got home, put the bags in a designated "safe" spot to protect the flowers and other delicate contents until the designated day we had planned for last minute items.

Much to my horror, that day came, and we got busy, and worked on all the other details.  Then it hit me, I had one project left.  The hair combs.  And those flowers were nowhere to be found.  I assured her they were at home, I must have taken them out of the bag (funny how the mind plays tricks on a person when stress hits!).  I had my family scouring the house, searching for them up and down, did they end up with these items?  In *that* bag with the other stuff we bought that day?  Did they fall out of the bag in the vehicle?  Three people searched under, between and behind seats to no avail.  I resolved myself to having to make the 50 mile trek back to the store to buy more of those two little $1.99 beauties that were so essential.

The next morning, I decided there was one option I hadn't thought of.  "What if...."  Maybe.  Just maybe, they never actually made it with me.  I found my receipt, and they were on there. But they were nowhere to be found.  I took the chance and called the store.  It had been almost 2 weeks, surely they were long gone.  But it was worth a phone call.  First I talked to the operator, not knowing who exactly to talk to about my predicament.  They sent me to customer service.  I explained to customer service that I could not find them anywhere but they were on my receipt, and asked if there was *ANY* chance that I may have left them there.  I was informed that items that are small that are left are returned to the shelf, but was then referred to the manager. 

I happily talked to the manager and explained my predicament.  He was very kind, very reassuring, and very understanding.  He asked if I had the item number from the receipt, and I gave them.  He asked how many I had, and asked me to hold for a moment.  He came back a few moments later and said "We have 7".  I started frantically thinking, in that short moment, "Oh, great!  What does it matter to me if you have 7, I just need the 2 I bought that I can't find, I don't care how many you have, LOL!"  And then he said "We are only supposed to have 5.  Apparently, yours got left behind.  Would you like us to ship them to you?"  We discussed the options, and now, being 3 days from the wedding, it didn't seem safe to ship them and risk them missing the deadline.  He asked for name and phone number, and we agreed I would pick them up the next day.  All for $4 worth of merchandise.  Thank you, Michaels of Grand Forks, North Dakota!  You've got some amazing customer service going on.  I now have my flowers and the bride should look great with her flowers tomorrow.  No one had to go out of their way for that small of a purchase, but they did.  And I am one happy customer.  When I went to pick them up, the gal at customer service knew exactly where to find my package, she met me with a smile.  Thank you.  All of the team who helped me in my little adventure.  I still don't know how it happened that I left my most precious part of the purchase there, but I did.  And they helped me fix my error.  Being a crafty nut, I will be back. Hopefully, never to repeat this sort of adventure!