Thanks, Kelly
The thing about having a list for Christmas Crazy this year is that it has been a sober reminder that many kids dream of basic necessities. Many of the kids on the list are hoping for clothes. When I realized I had enough information to take care of that for 38 of the kids, I decided to do so. While the spirit of Christmas Crazy is to provide toys, it felt right to take care of those basic needs. To make sure it was OK with all involved, I contacted one of the people who donated a large sum of money (OMG, you guys ... the generosity is mind-blowing) and asked if I could use their donation towards clothing.
Of course he said yes.
So I armed myself with a nice little pile of Old Navy gift cards and set out. (An aside, I try to use gift cards from Giant Eagle as much as possible and then I "pay" Christmas Crazy for the fuelperks. It has added a few hundred dollars to the pile each year.) I needed to return something to the Gap Outlet, so I drove past two perfectly good Old Navy stores and went down to Tanger to seek and destroy.
When I got there, I not only realized I had forgotten the thing I needed to return to Gap (::headdesk::), I also realized I had picked a very good day to venture into Old Navy. All clearance was an additional 30% off, so I started working through the list while digging through giant piles of clearance shirts.
I thought I was pretty awesome when I found a super cute t-shirt for $5, but then I found a different one marked $0.99. I patted myself on the back and kept on digging. And digging. And digging.
An hour and a half later, I stood in the back corner of the store with my phone in one hand and a giant pile of clothes balanced precariously on a cart. I used my phone to add up the expected cost of all of the items because I hadn't kept track as I had thrown stuff into the cart. I needed to not be surprised when I checked out. About halfway through my battle with math, the store's music turned off.
WHOOPS.
Knowing that meant the store was closed and the employees were eager to get rid of everyone, I rushed to finish adding.
$280. KABOOM! I patted myself on the back about 20 times for having managed to pull together a complete outfit for 38 different kids for so little money. I'm an Old Navy clearance pro, so I knew it was going to end up being even less since clearance items are often not marked with the final price.
When I was done telling myself how fantastic I am at sniffing out a bargain, I rushed to the front of the store to check out. As I approached the counter, I started apologizing. I worked retail for about six years and I know how very bad it sucks when people won't leave the store, and it sucks even more when they show up at the register with half of the store's contents. Have that situation play out in December and I can guarantee I wished ill will on you if you happened to be the culprit when I was the one stuck ringing you out.
And by "ill will" I mean, "why are you still alive?" It's such a jerk move to show up at the register 10 minutes after the store closes with a giant pile of stuff. And there I was, being the jerk.
The thing was that the person who stood on the other side of the counter genuinely seemed to mean it when she said, "Oh, I don't mind." I figured she was just a really good liar, so I continued my groveling by telling her that the stuff was for kids at a domestic violence shelter. I figured maybe that would make her hate me less.
Rather than hate me at all, she kept on providing great service while she asked some questions. I filled her in on how you amazing people who live in my computer do this thing every year where you give to total strangers. I told her about why domestic violence agencies can't rely on the big national Christmas charities (deadlines, paperwork, red tape ... there are a lot of reasons). I don't know when to shut up, so I even told her about all of the toys that are quickly accumulating around here.
"So, do you have any coupons?" she asked.
Here's the thing -- I ALWAYS have Old Navy coupons. ALWAYS. They give them out like some people give out attitude (*cough* ::Alexis:: *cough*). However, I had left my 10% off your total purchase coupon at home. (It was with that Gap return. GAH!)
I do that a lot, so I knew there are two ways the conversation can go if you tell an Old Navy cashier that you forgot your coupon. They will either smile sympathetically as they call you names in their head or they will go ahead and honor the coupon even though you don't have it. I figured my odds were good for getting that 10% off.
"Oh, that's no problem!" the cashier said. By the way, her name was Kelly. Kelly continued to smile and be genuinely happy to help me check out. She was smiling and really seemed to mean it when she told me to stop worrying about how late it was approximately 2290438235092865 times.
I might have apologized for being a jerk a lot. I do that sometimes.
Kelly said she was going to see what she could do about the whole coupon situation as she happily rang up dozens of pairs of jeans and removed the security tags from each and every one of them. But then she paused and said, "Do you mind if I ring this up in $50 increments?"
I was paying with a pile of $50 gift cards, so I most certainly didn't mind. I told her as much as she started to take a few of the pairs of jeans off of the bill. She stopped when she got to $50 and then applied a few coupon codes.
When Kelly was finally done ringing up four separate transactions and folding and bagging 20+ pair of jeans, six dresses, a bunch of infant outfits, and 30+ shirts, the grand total of the entire trip was $180.
$180!!!
Kelly managed to take over $56 off of the total by using a coupon I didn't have. The rest of the savings came from things not being marked accurately, but still. Kelly. $56. Happily. After the store was closed.
That $56 is still going to go to Old Navy because I need to pick up underwear and socks for the entire list of kids, but MAN. I knew there were good people living in my computer, but it turns out there are good people standing on the other side of that counter at Old Navy as well.
Thanks, Kelly. You're awesomeness.
For the record, the super inexpensive clothes weren't obviously from a clearance rack. In fact, many are still on OldNavy.com and listed for much more than they are in store. This shirt, for example, ended up being $0.67. (If you are a twitter peoples, you'll know immediately why that shirt had to go in the pile). There is a whole lot of cute in that mountain of clothes -- like this outfit, which was a whopping $5. TOTAL.
Man, I love Christmas Crazy. Thanks for letting me run it each year.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Reader Comments (9)
What a great, awesome story. You and Kelly (and everyone who donated, for that matter) rock! I volunteered at a domestic violence shelter for a couple of years before I moved to the Burgh. Of all the volunteer work I have ever done, that was by the far the hardest and most heart-breaking.
And I totally get and appreciate the necessity thing. Every year I try to pick out a giving tree gift tag for an elderly person, because I figure that person probably has nothing and maybe nobody. This year I also picked out a a tag for an 11-year-old who wanted a blue or navy turtleneck. Not a toy or a game or a gift card, but a turtleneck. I ended up buying both, which I hope was okay and will make that kid extra happy.
Thanks for being so generous, thoughtful, and industrious. :-)
You are awesome! Full stop.
Every year your Christmas Crazy makes me cry. I admire your passion for making Christmas the best that it can be for so many people. Love.
Totally awesome. Totally.
God bless you! In a mighty way...
And God bless Kelly too.
Thank you - for running Christmas Crazy and sharing the goodness. Giving IS the best part - tonight is shopping night for us for some central Florida migrant farm workers' kids.....and Toys for Tots...and we always get a little (ahem) carried away.
Kelly deserves a promotion. Or at least a raise. Customer service like that is rare nowadays. I hope her management realizes what a prize they have in her.
You are amazing. Amazing.
You may have already thought of something like this, but you really should print this post out and send it to the store manager, or maybe even corporate. Kelly deserves the recognition, and Old Navy might appreciate the publicity... Heck they might even kick in!
But the main thing is Kelly deserves the recognition!