Shopping should be SO MUCH easier ...

Labor Day weekend is a big weekend at retail -- our mailbox proves it. It's been overflowing for days with BIG SALE! flyers from retailers hoping we'll get off the couch, come in, and max out our credit cards. Which is exactly what Georganne would like to do at an Ann Taylor store if she could find someone who knows about the chain's recently advertised merchandise.

It's frustrating when shoppers visit stores, money in hand, looking for advertised items and can't find them. And it's even more frustrating when sales associates haven't been schooled on "What's happening in the store this week." But as frustrating as that can be, it generally has a happy ending: after a search, the merchandise is located, the customer makes a purchase, and goes on her merry way.

Not so this week at Ann Taylor.

Georganne tore a pull-out Ann Taylor ad, plus two "20 percent off of your entire purchase coupons -- one for you and one for a friend" out of a magazine. She shops at Ann Taylor a lot, and she liked several of the items in the catalog, so she stopped in her favorite store. Here's where the anticipated shopping spree takes a turn for the worse.

The associates had not seen the catalog, nor was the product featured available in that particular store. George left her catalog with an associate and asked her to please call when the items arrived, then she drove to another Ann Taylor store in a larger market. Same thing: no one had seen the catalog, and the store didn't have to product.

Georganne went on-line, going through the website page by page. No dice. Then she called 1-800-DIAL ANN to ask about the catalog. The associate tried hard to help, but she had not seen the catalog either. She asked her manager, an on-site product specialist, and Lord knows who else, before she told George she needed to contact THE MEDIA DEPARTMENT, who would get back to her within 24 hours, after which she promised to call Georganne right away. We applaud and appreciate this associate's dedication and effort to help her customers, but we're apalled that the retailer would make its customers, and its own people, jump through so many hoops. Unlike Georganne, most customers would never give the retailer this many chances.

This month MarketWatch.com reported on big changes at Ann Taylor, including the appointment of Christine Beauchamp as the chain's new president. From MarketWatch.com:

"The announcement is the latest move at the operator of the Ann Taylor and Loft chains, which has been immersed in a painstaking overhaul that's included store closures, sweeping job cuts and a tweaking of top management, including the crucial chief financial officer and chief marketing officer roles. It also jettisoned a new concept targeting the 'modern boomer' in the wake of weak results and high restructuring costs.”

The report goes on to say, “New blood might do the Ann Taylor concept some good, and it's not a minute too soon.”

We're thinking inter-office memos might be a good idea, too.

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August 30 Good News/Bad News Update:

The bad news: It's been two days now and I haven't heard from the 1-800 DIAL ANN associate, but perhaps the MEDIA DEPARTMENT hasn't called her back yet.

I also wrote to the AT customer service department on 8/28 asking about the product. I quickly received an answer with a request for item numbers. I promptly responded, telling the CSR that I did not have item numbers to give her. I have not heard more from the CSR.

The good news is that at least one of the items is now on anntaylor.com so I can place my order. And I could save every associate who tried to help me a whole lot of time if I could get a message to Ann Taylor's MEDIA DEPARTMENT ...