I don’t know how things are in Amsterdam, but here in the U.S. “brick and mortar” stores are struggling to compete against the online stores. They absolutely cannot compete in price, but can win over customers with good, personal customer service. People are watching their wallets more than ever, but if we can have a pleasant face-to-face experience, and leave with merchandise in hand, we’re willing to shop at our local stores to support our local economy. Take out the pleasant experience, and the local stores lose.

If a retailer has good reason to believe that someone is trying to pull something over on them, then sure, they should give them a polite brush-off. If, however, there’s even a slight chance that the customer is just caught in a bad situation, the retailer needs to bend over backwards to make sure that the customer is satisfied, receipt or not. In my particular case, exchanging two books that were obviously brand-new, without a wrinkle or bend, for two books that are the same price, the retailer should exchange them without any hassle. Instead, they got me angry enough that I won’t be going back. This may seem petty, but why support a store that makes you feel this way?

No point pointing fingers on others for your own mistakes…