The Ten-Dollar Corkscrew
Almost every time I visit Brooklyn, I stop by the same small wine shop and buy a bottle of wine.
It has a great selection; it’s convenient to where I stay; the prices are reasonable; and the staff is knowledgeable. I’ve always been happy with the wines they recommend.
Last week, after buying a bottle, I returned to where I was staying and realized I didn’t have a corkscrew.
After berating myself for not packing one before leaving for New York, I went back to the same store.
They had corkscrews for sale, sitting alone on the counter by the register.
They were $10.
I knew this was New York City and that prices were higher. I also understand convenience pricing. If you need something right now, you’re often willing to pay more.
But $10 seemed too much.
I complained about the cost and asked if they had anything cheaper.
They didn’t.
They suggested I check out a housewares store about a block away, which was predictably closed.
And it wasn’t even the price that bothered me.
It was what didn’t happen.
Neither of the two salespeople, one of whom had been at the register when I bought the wine, said, “Bring the bottle back, and I’d be happy to open it for you.”
Nobody reached under the counter and said, “Here, take one. On us.”
Something like that has happened to me before in a similar situation.
And that tiny gesture would have cost the store almost nothing.
Maybe the interaction would’ve been different if I had brought the bottle back and simply asked them to open it for me.
Instead, I walked two more blocks, found another wine shop, and bought a comparable corkscrew for $6.
The $4 difference wasn’t the point.
The first store could’ve turned a mildly annoying situation into a story about why I liked shopping there.
They didn’t take it.
They turned it into a transaction.
The next time I’m deciding where to buy a bottle, I’ll think twice about going there.
And that’s the strange thing about customer loyalty: sometimes you don’t lose it by doing something terrible.
Sometimes you lose a little of it by failing to do something incredibly easy.
Photo Credit:
Title: Corkscrew Display
Photographer: Jason
