DSW Shoewarehouses has a rewards program. After you spend a certain amount, you receive a coupon in the mail for a discount on your next purchase. We received a $10 off coupon in the mail, so I headed down to DSW. I am bad at buying shoes and there were three pairs between which I couldn't decide. I bought all three to take home where some females could offer an opinion. I showed them the shoes and they instantly knew which ones to take back. So I did, only to find out that by returning the shoes, I lose the discount. Even though I was keeping some of the total purchase, the discount could not be applied to just the part I was keeping. The employees blamed this on "it," meaning the cash register. "It" took the discount evenly spread between all three pairs. "It" won't apply a discount to other portions of the purchase. Maybe they were telling the truth and there was nothing in their power to fix it, in which case that is a poor corporate decision to not empower their employees. Those rewards dollars were dollars that I felt I had earned by my continued patronage. I followed all the guidelines for returns, I didn't wear the shoes and returned them promptly. The worst part about this is that DSW will actually miss out on future business as a result. I'm not saying that I'm boycotting, but there were many times that I would go to DSW simply to rack up points. Now that I know they are quite stingy and sneaky in the distribution of those rewards, I'll be less inclined to choose them a different store. It's amazing because I feel like that I was my money they took. Not their discount to apply however they'd like. Those were my points and my rewards. I will be sending a link of this to their corporate offices.

Labels: dsw, marketing