Big Cheese
Nick Coleman tries his hands at business reporting, in re the sale of Daytons Marshall Fields:
Are we celebrating this news? Or are we waving goodbye, bidding farewell to an era when Minnesota was self-sufficient and blessed with homegrown companies and local owners?
We're still not over Dayton's.
Sorry, Nick. I'm just a "Big Cheese", a heartless Republican, but I've never shopped at Dayton's, Marshall Fields, or anyplace in their whole chain up-market from Target. "We" will get over it just fine.
I don't really need to fisk Nick on this one - Captain Ed did a great job of it, actually - but it's hard to resist.
Did you know Minnesotans are morons?
"It'll always be Dayton's to me," she said. "A lot of people feel that way. I wish they would change it back. It's confusing to shop here, now. They seem to be trying to offer way too many designer names here. It's not a Minnesota store anymore. It used to be simple, and classy.
"That's what Dayton's used to be."
Simple, and classy.
Without so many confusing "brands" and "things".
Minnesota doesn't often get praised so elegantly, but yes, that was Dayton's, and that was us, once upon a time.
Foreshadowing Alert! - Coleman is blaming Republicans for harshing his shopping mellow!
This part, however, is revelatory:
I have had a Dayton's/Marshall Field's credit card for 30 years. There were times I owed more than I made in a month. And times I was a month or two late with my payments. But "Dayton's" always waited patiently for me. Until last month.
Last month, I was late with a $32 payment, in part because my wife was unsuccessful in returning a jacket I had purchased. It still had the tags attached, but she would have had to undergo DNA testing to be allowed to return it for me. She gave up.
The next week, every night, I got a phone call during dinnertime demanding my $32.
The metaphorical genesis of a liberal:
- Can't control his credit cards.
- Pleads victimization when the consequences catch up with him. DNA testing? Aren't we being a tad dramatic, Nick? (And by the way - so what if Laura couldn't return the jacket? Nick couldn't mail the check anyway?)
- Whines about the oppressive "big cheeses" interrupting his dinner when they want their money.
Read the whole thing.
Or don't.
Posted by Mitch at
June 11, 2004 09:45 AM
“I have had a Dayton's/Marshall Field's credit card for 30 years. There were times I owed more than I made in a month. And times I was a month or two late with my payments. But "Dayton's" always waited patiently for me. Until last month.”
When was this? I used to work in the Target Corporation’s (formerly the Dayton-Hudson Corporation when I was there) collection department and I remember calling people when they were less than 30 days past due. We didn’t assess late fees at that point (although they had to pay interest for carrying a balance) and we were generally polite about it (DHOC does soft collections until you’re really past due) but I never remember intentionally letting someone go by for a month or two without at least giving them a phone call.
Some people understandably may have been upset about this. However when you consider that (a) many people move and forget to update their address (not all mail gets returned to sender or forwarded on to the new address) and (b) the system automatically reports late payments beyond a certain time (IIRC it was 60 days) to the credit bureau, we probably saved quite a few people a lot more hassle by helping them keep their credit clean than having to (shudder) answer a phone call.
“Last month, I was late with a $32 payment, in part because my wife was unsuccessful in returning a jacket I had purchased. It still had the tags attached, but she would have had to undergo DNA testing to be allowed to return it for me. She gave up.”
Um no, so long as her name was on the card as a co-borrower and she had the receipt, she should had been able to return it at the guest services center. Of course even if she had returned the item, unless the only thing on the card was the jacket, s/he would still be required to make at least the minimum payment on the card for carrying a balance.
Posted by: PJZ at June 11, 2004 04:52 PM