Growing up in Phoenix, Zia Record Exchange has for a long time been one of my go-to record stores to give my business to. With a large selection and multiple locations, they were an easy choice of where to spend my money. Unfortunately, Zia will no longer be on my list of record shops I frequent because they continually try to cheat their customers.
Yesterday, I purchased three vinyl albums that cost me just shy of $100. Being a recurring customer, I had a feedback coupon to receive 20% off a single item which I presented to the cashier. Unfortunately, I noticed on my receipt that I only received a $5 off despite one of my albums costing $55. I walked back into the store and asked the cashier why I didn't receive the full 20% off and was informed that the fine-print says that the maximum discount applied can be only be up to $10 so she took the discount off a cheaper album since 20% off $55 is $11. I replied that the discount should have just been the max of $10 then and not the $5 I had received from the cheaper album. The cashier seemed confused with my logical response so I nicely asked to talk to a manager which ended up being a huge mistake and waste of my time.
The manager's explanation for not receiving the full $10 was because in his words, he was "not good at math" so he could not figure out the amount I was supposed to get and that they are phasing out the discount cards in favor of a new feedback system so this won't be a problem in the future. Neither of those explanations justify why I didn't receive the correct amount so I left with the realization that I am an unappreciated customer.
I hate the fact that a disagreement over $5 would lead me to part ways with a local business, but this was just another negative experience of many I have had with Zia in recent years. If I was just wanting to be cheap, I could purchase albums for less online but I prefer to support local businesses. It looks like more appreciative shops like Stinkweeds, Revolver and Eastside Records will now get even more of my business from this day forward.