I bought some costume jewelry the other day in a national chain store. Nothing fancy, no big deal. It was an inexpensive charm bracelet that I bought because I saw it near the checkout counter while I stood on line to pay for something else. Yes, I fell for the old marketing trap, but it was cute and it was on sale for about $6.00. I got home, happy with my purchases. I put everything away and threw away the receipt. I had no reason to keep it- I liked what I bought and was sure I was going to keep it all.
The next day I wore the bracelet and set off to face the world. I might have my high maintenance moments, but give me a $6 charm bracelet and I’m a happy gal. So there I was, going about my day with an extra bounce in my step, periodically stopping to admire my new accessory, when the heart charm fell off! For a few seconds I considered getting all symbolic- losing my heart, what can it mean?-but I decided to keep it light. Sometimes a heart charm falling off a bracelet is just a heart charm falling off a bracelet, right? And, I figured, I bought it at a national chain store- all I had to do was bring it back and they’d give me a new one. Easy!
Then I remembered that I had thrown away the receipt, but thought that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They know the merchandise, so they’ll know it was new and not broken from six months of wear and tear, and most big stores are pretty good about making sure the customer is happy. Well, not this store. I politely and apologetically explained my problem and the sales associate very snootily and rudely told me she couldn’t help me without a receipt. Too bad, my problem, she said. I know I didn’t have the receipt, but still, I expected better customer service. I asked to speak to a manager who grudgingly gave me a new one while the first sales associate kept shooting dagger eyes at me and saying “… (store) is losing money on this!”
Well, I got my bracelet replaced, so that’s good, but now I wonder how long to hold on to sales receipts. Life accumulates a lot of clutter, and getting rid of what we don’t need can help keep things neat. But then, you never know when you’ll need something, do you? Probably the best advice I can offer is to have a large envelope or small box to neatly store your receipts for about six months or a year. After that, if something is damaged, there would probably not be much you could do even with a receipt. And for what it’s worth, I leave you with a wish: May your heart charms always stay on your bracelets.
