Kim Navarra is a ho for Abercrombie & Fitch. And I mean that in a good way.
See, Navarra used to spend upwards of $1,000 a year at her local San Francisco A&F store, buying everything they had, and everything she wanted. But this summer she tried to order a $200 A&F gift-card online and was unceremoniously rejected.
Abercrombie & Fitch sent her a letter saying: "This order was cancelled and we will not accept future orders from you. Abercrombie & Fitch is a private label brand. To protect its intellectual property rights, suspected resale of our merchandise for personal or business profit is strictly prohibited."
Except for that first sentence, the entire letter was a cut-and-paste from the store's website.
So, they thought Kim Navarra was buying A&F merchandise and reselling it? Seriously? She was spending a lot of money, I guess, but it wasn't an exorbitant whoop whoop whoop sound the alarms and send out the dogs red alert amount of spending, was it?
Kim Navarra took her story to her local San Francisco news station ABC7, saying that she is just a loyal customer who likes the brand. "All their clothes seem to fit and last over the years. I'm not reselling them. As you can see, I have the clothes on, I wear them to work, I've worn every single pair of jeans."
Well, since the story broke on the news, and bad publicity really is just that, Abercrombie finally relented and let Navarra shop again. Perhaps they came to the realization that banning a loyal customer isn't good for business.
Then again, it isn't the first time A&F shows some hint of bad judgement. The company once fired a male model for eating a croissant at the wrong time, and then the company landed in some serious legal hot water for allegedly firing a Muslim female employee for wearing her religious headscarf.
I hope their team of lawyers and their PR firm is paid handsomely, because they must be working overtime.
I like clothes. I like nice clothes. But I'm not really trendy, and i don't like logos on my clothes. i don't shop at A&F, Banana Republic or Old Navy because most of their clothes appear emblazoned with the company logo. Now, my motto, well, one of my motto's, is: If you want me to be a walking billboard for your company, put me on the payroll.
Why should I promote A&F if I don't get a check? Why should I pay them to advertise them? I don't. But then Old Navy went and got all gay on me.
Word has it that Old Navy will be selling a line of Gay Pride T-shirts, with part of the proceeds going to the It Gets Better Project. Now, that's some advertising I can get behind; or into.
The shirts, for men, women, and babies--which will, no doubt, inflame the gay haters--will be available in some stores--hopefully my nearest branch--during Pride month, and 10% of the proceeds will go to Dan Savage's 'It Gets Better' campaign.
And Old Navy is taking steps where few major chain retailers go by selling these Pride shirts, though American Apparel did team up with the Human Rights Campaign to distribute its "Legalize Gay" shirts.
So, if you see me in an Old Navy, don't think I've become a shill for their clothing. I just might be showing off my Pride.
I'm a smartass. But I'm also extraordinarily polite. I think with being gay, and a bit shy, comes lovely manners. Now that doesn't mean the straight folks aren't polite, but, for me, being gay, and shy, instilled in me some lovely manners.
I'm a Please and Thank you guy. I say My pleasure when someone thanks me for something. I hold doors open. I let people go into buildings ahead of me. I'm nice.
Once, years back, I was picking out a birthday cake for a friend, and I was asking the Counter Girl some questions. I kept saying Please and Thanks as we talked and then she disappeared into the back to finish icing my cake. Suddenly she reappeared and asked if she could tell me something.
Of course. She said, You're just about the most polite person I've ever met. I said, Thanks. But could you just shut up and ice my damn cake.
Like I said, I'm a smartass, and nice. To a point.
Okay, so here we go: yesterday was Carlos' 67th birthday--he'll kill me for that because he's a couple of decades shy of that number, but that's what I always tell him--and as I am a procrastinator of epic proportions--though not as epic as Carlos who took three-plus years to paint the kitchen ceiling, but I digress--I went out shopping for some birthday trinkets yesterday.
The day before his Big Day. Pro.Crasti.Nation.
Now, to be fair, I had ordered him a new briefcase since his last one is falling apart at the seams, but it won't be here for a week or so. Don't worry, I already told him, because i was worried he'd find one on his own and then we'd have two, and that would just be odd. But again I digress.
So, I'm out at The Stores, doing some shopping, which I hate because I'm a get-in-get-what-you-want-and-get-out type of guy, but I was stuck perusing the shelves at every kind of store imaginable. And finally, at one store, I found something--I'll keep it a secret because he gets the gift today which is his actual birthday--he would like.
I took it to Cashier--like Karen Walker, I call people by what they do...Counter Girl, Cashier, Hustler--and Salesperson asked if I wanted to sign up for a store credit card and receive ten-percent off. I said, No, because I was paying cash and I don't like having store credit cards with their 87% interest rate. But she persisted.
You can save an additional ten-percent off every you purchase today. Oh, thanks, but that's okay. I'm getting just this, and then I'm done. But thanks.
Well, that put a sour look on her face, and she proceeded to ring me up, collect my cash, give me my change, bag the gift and rip off, and hand me, the receipt without so much as a smile or a pleasant word; hell, without so much as a word.
I took my purchase and headed for the door, and I almost made it....I turned around and went back to Cashier.
You know, I said, I'm sorry I didn't want the store credit card. I'm sorry I didn't care about an additional ten-percent off. But what I'm most sorry about is that the mere idea that I didn't want the card has ruined your day.
And I left.
Second store. Same deal. Save ten-percent and get a credit card. I declined. I got the sour apple face.
Again, I said, I apologize, but do you get some sort of commission for getting people to sign up for these cards, because you seem truly pissed off that I don't want one.
Blank stare.
See, I said, I think that next time someone declines your lovely offer, you should just smile and say, Thanks. It's called customer service for a reason. Don't take it personally.
