Monday, July 17, 2006

Well, that was embarrassing

So my Mary Kay lady said she was having a huge sale on July 17, her birthday, and the first three callers would get 35% off. At first I was like, well, that's not really in my budget, but as I kept thinking about it I realized that I should take advantage of the deal while I can. In her email it said she'd take orders until midnight on her birthday, and the earlier people called the more of a discount they'd get. She said if we called late to leave a message.

So I figured, well, I'll call at 12:01 a.m. on July 17. That's fair, right?

:>

Expecting to get a cell phone's voicemail, I was understandably shocked to hear a tired male voice answer.

"Um, may I speak to B please?"

"Who is this?"

"Heather Meadows, one of her Mary Kay customers."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the man said with a slightly exasperated chuckle, "Can you call back?"

"Um, yeah," I said, feeling stupid. "Could I leave a message? She said there was a big sale today, so I wanted to get in on it early."

"Yeah. Oh," I heard him say.

"Um, it'd be a pretty big message since it's an order. Do you think you could turn your ringer off so I could leave my order on your answering machine? I'm really sorry about this, I thought I'd get a recording."

He was surprisingly amenable to the idea--"Okay, I'll try to turn the ringer off"--and I told him I'd call back in five minutes.

Which I did.

But I feel like a bitch :>

It's not my fault, though, is it? That was a reasonable assumption, right?

Regardless, I did apologize to her husband several times...

(And I saved $27.30, assuming I get the 35% discount...

(Do the ends justify the means?

(And hey, the old me would have been totally petrified by having a live person answer, and probably would have hung up without saying anything...but instead I managed not only to maintain my composure, but to get what I wanted...that counts for something, right? ^^;;)

8 comments:

Miklos said...

I'm not sure about ends justifying means, but anyone who says they're giving a discount for the earliest callers should expect people to call early.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm, I don't know how fair I would think that is.. :-/

12:01am early is WAAAAAY different from 6:00am early; I wouldn't just automatically ass-u-me that the Mary Kay lady would have her cell phone tailored to the way you think she should have it, just because she's having a sale, which in her mind, probably was starting the "next day" ("early" am/when people wake up for the day) compared to the time you called.
However, I can see how you might think it would be alright to call at 12:01am the morning of her birthday, seeing as she said she'd take calls until midnight 24 hours later. Also, she offers a service, and should expect "early" callers for her promotions, especially when they're rewarded, but she probably hadn't expected SO early; she'll know for next time, now. ;)

And on a side note, I personally won't use Mary Kay, even though I have some free items waiting on me, for helping a Mary Kay seller out; I personally don't find the products worth the hassle.

**The above are all just MY personal opinions, though, so have fun with your products when you get them!! :D**

Heather Meadows said...

Miklos- だろう?

Brooke- Well, you're a fussbudget.

Think I can blame this on movie theaters and their 12:01 premieres?

I wrote an email to B to apologize :>

Bear in mind, if this was a woman twice my age, I would feel even more ridiculous (and hell, I probably wouldn't have called at midnight), but she's only two years older than me. Somehow that makes me think she should be more "hip" to 12:01 being the beginning of the next day.

:>

Jered said...

What a good little consumer you've been programmed to be! Not like I can talk, I've got around 200 bucks tied up in videogames that don't even have official release dates yet. We're all doomed. Doomed.

Heather Meadows said...

*pounces, as much as a 5'3" person can pounce on a 6'+ person*

Jer-Jer!

Anonymous said...

As an Avon lady, I think I would be very happy with that. It would make me feel like my product was hot. I'd be bragging to my fam.

Heather Meadows said...

Cool :)

Heather Meadows said...

Sad fact which renders my punctuality pointless: Despite the crazy low prices, I was the only one to place an order during the sale.