Complaint Review: Nu Tan - Rockwall Texas

Nu Tan is a well respected tanning salon that has been serving the Rockwall area for 15 years now. We have many distinguished members who have tanned with us for this entire period and are proud to add to our membership every day. We advertise many specials in many different ways to bring in new clients, but there is only so much space on an ad so "some restrictions apply" is included on every one to save space. This practice is used all over the world in advertising and has been for years. We can only assume that this customer hasn't yet grasped this concept. We treat all new guests the same as we have for the last 15 years. These are potential long term members, if not from the first day, they may be down the road. We regularly have customers return who used a coupon or special with the very same restrictions as the one used by this customer, who join as long term members. We are very thorough when explaining our policies and procedures with our customers, but this particular customer refused to listed to anything we had to say. She didn't even give us a chance to explain the restrictions, and asked no questions about what they might be. Had she asked any questions they would have been answered directly and completely. She was more interested in not hearing a "sales presentation" to which in her own words, she wouldn't have listened to anyway and would have been a waste of her time. Nu Tan spends large amounts of money to advertise these specials from which we hope to gain new customers for the future. Nu Tan often loses money on these giveaway specials and all we ask for in return is a chance to win your business. It seems that this customer came in with no intention of giving us this chance, and that is her perrogative, but she also afforded us no opportunity to explain our policies and procedures in the process. We simply cant print all of our policies on an advertisement with such limited space available. Had this customer carefully read the information posted clearly in our lobby and on our personal information card that she filled out, she would have noticed that Nu Tan requires each tanner to have their own eyeware. It is not necessary that they purchase them from us, as many customers already have their own pair, but it is our requirement for sanitary purposes. This policy is clearly posted on our lobby wall on a 10 inch by 36 inch black sign with 3 inch all capital white lettering. I can assure you that it is very much in plain sight directly above a 2 foot by 3 foot black sign with 1.5 inch white lettering explaining how our specials ie. (coupons, advertisements, road signs, flyers and banners) work. On our information card which was filled out and signed by this customer, is clearly stated, "Nu Tan reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. Nu Tan offers no refunds or cancellations under any circumstances. Nu Tan is not responsible for lost or stolen articles." These statements are underlined on the card for better visibility. Again, this customer chose not to pay attention to the information she was filling out. As for how this customer feels she was treated, again, all customers and potential customers at our business are treated the same. I most certainly did not "slam" a credit card on the counter in frustration. We sign up many new customers every day and some sign up the first day, others a week later, some a month later, even others a year later, but all are treated with the possibility that they will eventually join as members. When this customer returned for the second day I was at the front counter, but was very involved in paperwork. She signed in and was greeted by my 2 employees who asked her to be seated and we would get her in as quickly as possible. All of our 20 minute beds were full upon her arrival as she came in at the busiest time of day in the busiest time of year for all tanning salons (5pm on a weekday in March). Yes a bed opened up as she waited, but we had several appointments booked and could not afford to give her that bed at that time. Doing this would have forced a member with an appointment to wait. All appointments are given 5 minute "grace" period by which to arrive. If they fail to do so we will then put in a stand by customer. This is exactly what we did for this customer. At 5:05pm we still had an availabe bed an she was assigned to it. Had she given us a chance to go over everything on her initial visit we would have been able to explain that there are busy times that she may choose to avoid if she decided to use her special at this time of year. We weren't given this opportunity. As this customer waited in the lobby she polled several customers about this business but was unable to find anyone who wasn't already a member. We at Nu Tan treated her without malice and she was not refused any services, but we cannot seem to accomodate her "treat me like a VIP when I refuse to listen" attitude. Someone in customer service should know better than to act in such a way. Here is a direct quote pulled from a complaint email this customer ssent to Valpak who handled this advertisement, I will gladly post the entire email if requested, " If I would have let him tell me his whole sales pitch for a membership and pretended that I was interested this would not have occurred." In answer you are correct, because we could have informed you of all of our policies and procedures and potentially have answered any question you may have had. This customer makes it a point to tell you that I already had her money and wasn't interested in anything else. Ask yourself this question. Is $15 going to sustain this company in these economic times? Nu Tan is interested in customers who give us a chance to keep them as members whether now or in the future. So no her $15 dollars isn't important at all. It was her potential to become a member that we were interested in, and due to that interest she was treated in the same manner that we treat all of our potential members.