Adventure in Chapters

Chapters Gift Card

For Christmas I received about four Chapters gift cards. Mainly thanks to my wife telling everyone that she was just getting me a Chapters gift card, so that I could chose my own presents. And in all fairness my procrastination in not coming up with a list of things I wanted for Christmas.

Boxing Day I walked past the store, as I do everyday, to discover it open before work. Usually I start work at 9am and they don't open till  9:30am. I walked in and the staff were busily putting up signs for the stores Boxing day sales. Huge 30% Off Hardcovers signs were going up everywhere.

In the magazine department I found a photography magazine that I wanted. A British publication collecting articles from past issues, and some new ones, cost is $34, but worth it with 200+ pages.

I walked up to the front counter to ask Chantel, whom I've dealt with a few times, if the store wasn't doing anything special for Boxing Day? Remember that there are Huge 30% off banners everywhere. Without blinking she looks up and starts to say, "Well, there's thirty-percent off all hardcovers and..." I stopped her, because I was kidding, and told her I had actually seen the signs. Her manager was walking behind her and just laughed, saying "Its too early in the morning for us to get your jokes."

I proceeded to quiz her about a Sci-Fi book that I was looking for called Fuzzy Nation. She found the name of the author, but because the book is due for a mass-market edition in the spring, Chapters as a whole is sold out of the hardcovers, no saving for me. A few more inquiries and her giving me the scoop on a hardcover Steampunk novel that I may still pick-up, I headed back to the counter to pay for my magazine.

Lisa helped me out with the multiple gift cards by combining them all into one. That saved my wallet some grief. I paid for my magazine and headed for work.

On my way out I saw Vanessa, the store manager. Stopped her and complemented her excellent staff. Every time I'm in the store I get great helpful and insightful service. She appreciated the complement, as she said it was rare to hear, and as a manager all you ever seem to get are the complaints. Having been a Retail Sales Manager for 13 years myself, I knew what she meant.

Upon opening my bag at work to look through the magazine, I discovered I had the wrong mag. I had grabbed the Photoshop Elements magazine. That does me no good what-so-ever, I don't have that program and the tips in it don't translate well to Photoshop CS3.

The store I work at generally closes at 6pm, but things were slow for the later part of the day so, we managed to get pre-shut-down procedures done early and fast. The boss wanted to go home too, so we were able to leave about five minutes to six. I headed straight to Chapters to exchange my magazine, only to discover that they closed at 6pm for the evening. Elizabeth, who was manning the door asked me if knew exactly what I wanted, to which I replied "I know exactly where the magazine is that I want to exchange, I grabbed the wrong one this morning. " As there was a bit of a line still at the till she let me in. I ran for the magazine section, got the right one, and entered the line. The girl that served me double checked with Elizabeth about the return, just because they don't normally do refunds on Magazines, but she aloud it.

The next morning I was happy to have a new Photoshop magazine with tips on layers and masks, but (you knew there had to be a but) I was missing my umbrella. On a rainy December day and I've left my brolly in Chapters. Their store wasn't open before I had to be at work on Tuesday. So, once I got to my work I called the store, and talked to Melissa, but when she went upstairs there was no sign of my umbrella. Fortunately I left my name and number and five minutes later she called back to say they had it. On my way home I picked it up and went home under a clear and starry sky.

That was my Christmas adventure at Chapters Books.