Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson wrote:

> Now that I think about it, if the situations were reversed I'm sure
> she'd be pestering me non-stop to phone up the company. We'll be going
> into Osaka this weekend, so either singly or together I'll go to the
> shop to complain.

Phone 'em first - that always works a treat. I don't know how good your
Japanese is, but in my experience if you can arrive with the name of someone
you've talked to on the phone that really smoothes things over.

Is your wife's mother of the older generation that had to struggle (my
mother-in-law is), or a child of the bubble generation? If the latter, your
wife my have been brought up in a less hard-headed way. My wife grew up in
the bubble, but basically her family has always been very hard-headed, and
it didn't take much for me to get her to revert to type!

I think, in the clothes industry in particular, stores are actually
*grateful* when customers report shoddy workmanship. Japan being what it is,
there are probably a dozen people who *don't* say anything for every one
that does, but don't believe that dozen just forgive and forget. In my
experience (I keep saying that - it's just to provoke Eric, in the hope that
he'll spring some objective "truth" on me!) Japanese people don't generally
forgive and don't generally forget. They're more likely to make a point of
never going to that store again, and what's more they'll warn their friends
off. The store loses out hands down.

So the people who complain are like gold dust. The store will do what it can
to keep your custom, to make sure you don't bad-mouth them to others and,
above all, to pitch into the manufacturers and tell them they won't continue
ordering from them unless they raise their standards.

I'd be most surprised if you don't get your money back.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com