To the editor:

A recent experience at a national chain store in Lawrence and Weaver’s Department Store confirmed why local retailers deserve our business.

On Jan. 3, when I tried to exchange a coat at the chain store for merchandise of equal value, a store manager in effect accused me of trying to cheat the store. I had paid full price for the coat, but the store will only give credit for the price of merchandise at the time of its return. In the case of my coat, the price had dropped $30.

Without my lost receipt, I couldn’t prove what I paid for the coat. The manager, who a clerk said had the discretion to make exception to the rule, stood firmly by the policy. She said she suspected that I had bought the coat on sale and now was trying to get more for it than I paid. I assured her that I would never do that. She was unmoved. In the end, I took my punishment. The manager didn’t trust me. That felt terrible, worse even than having to sacrifice my $30.

My next stop was Weaver’s, where I had to make another return. When I discovered I had brought the wrong receipt, the clerk happily offered to refund the purchase, “not just give me store credit” on the credit card I had used to buy the gift. She treated me graciously.

The well-known national chain store’s shopping bags sport the slogan, “Shopping is FUN again.” And indeed it is, at stores like Weaver’s, which value customers instead of abusing them.

Carol Holstead,

Lawrence