Saturday, March 28, 2015

Are We Becoming Eco-Jerks?

I have four living first cousins, but the only one I have any contact with is in prison.  He has been there for years and will probably be there for the rest of his life.  While I don't condone his reason for being there, he is still family, and he has contact with very few people on the outside, including most of our family.  He is also the only one of my cousins who corresponds with my mom on a regular basis, so he is definitely in my good books there. 

Recently, we discovered a mutual interest in Norse myths and history, and I remembered reading a book while I was in grad school that I thought he might enjoy.  Since he hasn't read it, I ordered a copy from a book store through Alibris.com.  Per prison regulations, I notified the seller that the book HAD to have a receipt/packing slip enclosed or they would not accept it.  They responded that they do not provide those because they are an 'eco-friendly' business, and if I wanted one I should print one out myself.  I replied and explained (again) that it HAD to be enclosed by the book store due to federal prison regulations, and that if they could not accommodate my request would they please cancel my order.  And they actually did cancel the order. The second book store I contacted also refused to include a packing slip; they didn't give a reason, but I assume it's the same.  I'm waiting now for a reply from Bookstore Number Three.

While I definitely do renew, reuse, and recycle whenever possible, including bringing my own bags to stores so they can 'save a plastic tree', I don't understand a mindset that is quite as rigid as these bookstores' owners apparently are.  I find it hard to believe that they would rather cancel an order and lose a customer than print a single piece of paper to comply with a federal regulation.

Am I wrong here?  Must we be so obsessed with doing what we consider to be "the right thing" that we can make absolutely NO exceptions?  I want to be eco-friendly, but I don't want to become an eco-jerk. 

15 comments:

  1. You are not wrong. We haven't entirely converted over to eco-friendly ways, some businesses have and props to them for that, but it shouldn't mean turning a customer away when it's something as simple as printing off a receipt. You aren't asking them to move mountains! Customer care is first and foremost, every business owner should know that.

    If these book stores are unaccommodating to print off a receipt I can only imagine they're also unaccommodating for other things as well - hell, I'm surprised they even cancelled your order! At least now you know which book stores to avoid lol.

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    1. Thanks for the validation! I know that we've moved away from "The customer is always right" (and rightly so), but there's no need to be so Draconian about policies that aren't actually laws written in stone. And yes, I did appreciate the fact that they DID cancel my order as I requested, otherwise I would have complained to Alibris. What's sad is that the second store is one I've purchased from before and had very good luck with; now I'm considering boycotting them as well as the first one.

      I'm still waiting to hear from the third bookstore -- they're supposed to respond to e-mails within two business days, but perhaps they don't consider Saturday to be a business day, even though I'm sure they're open. If they don't respond by Wednesday, I will consider them a "no" as well.

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  2. MY work is a LEED certified building. We have compost, we recycle a lot and we have very little waste. We have sensors so if there is no movement, the lights go off! The cleaning company we hired to clean the office at night uses eco friendly products BUT we do print anything our customer asks. It is sad that they are losing business over a packing slip. I also want to point out, if they were so eco friendly, what are they doing selling books? Those killed how many trees to produce? LOL

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    1. Heheheh, GMTA! That last thought DID occur to me the other night! It would be one thing if they only sold used books ("reuse"), but they also sell new ones, so that cancels out the brownie points.

      And good for your company, I like the sound of all that eco-friendliness!

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  3. That is ridiculous, surely they could just print one off for you seeing as it is a special case? Perhaps you can get it through The Book Depository online, they have always sent slips with mine, if they are the piece of paper I am thinking of.

    Could it be so hard for them to have an option to get the packing slip or not get it?

    I care a lot about the environment but you can recycle and do many other things.

    I worked at one of the first stores in Australia to phase in the paying for plastic bags thing to try and encourage people not to use plastic bags, but if a customer was buying a lot of expensive books, we would throw one in for free so as not to be jerks.

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    1. You'd think they could, but they obviously choose not to. I've never heard of The Book Depository; I'll have to check them out, thanks very much! And I think that store you worked in was very nice to do that, it shows they DO care about their customers as well as the environment.

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    2. I've used the Book Depository a few times via Amazon marketplace and they've been good. And yes, jerks!

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  4. So they prefer to loose a customer before adding a slip? That is very customer unfriendly. I don't think it help the environment to deny a customers request.

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    1. No, I don't imagine the world will come to a horrifying end if they print a single piece of paper now and then. But obviously they are paranoid, so I will leave them to it.

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  5. It's ridiculous and you're not wrong at all. You're not asking for a receipt just because... you have a valid reason. Why can't we all be more human to one another? Even if it were against their store *policy*, I would think being customer-service friendly would be more important. Sorry you had to experience this :(

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    1. Thanks! Unfortunately, being human to each other seems to me to be just a bit much for some people.

      I'm seriously considering contacting the ACLU about it and seeing what they have to say. (For those of you outside the U.S., that is the American Civil Liberties Union, a group that helps people fight for their legal rights if they have been denied them for some reason.) While prisoners obviously are not entitled to ALL the rights and privileges of this country while they are incarcerated, this may still be considered discrimination.

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  6. I try to be as eco-friendly as I can--and I always have. But there are times when we simply must make exceptions to such policies. In the case you mention here, the book store went too far. Sometimes people get a little too one sided and don't see the potential harm they are causing by being so extreme.

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    1. Thanks. Unfortunately, they will probably only see it if they go out of business because they've alienated too many potential customers. And maybe not even then.

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