The new year – everybody celebrates the end of the old and the beginning of the new year today. It is the day where many of us start new hopes and new aspirations, but it is also the day where the old year definitively is over. Time to look back, time to admit with humility that some things definitively have not happened in that old year – and it is the very last chance for some quite banal daily life things that are tied to the final deadline of December 31, 2013.

I am not a good administrator of gift-vouchers, so the year-end is a potential threat for me: Oh, that voucher that I have been offered last Christmas, in what drawer have I put it.. and how long was that valid, by the way…? To my surprise I then discover that there are vouchers who are valid for one year only and that they even have a deadline long before December 31 – because the day of their purchase was earlier. The voucher from a big arts photography gallery is one of these.

Short conversation on the evening of December 28: “No, is that voucher deadline already passed? That would be bad….Do you think they will still accept it after December 10?” – “Well, I would say if not, then they are not really interested in their customers… that should not be a problem two or three weeks after the deadline. At least I would not treat my customers like that: Either you come in time or you loose your money – and thank you by the way for your generous gift, Mr. Customer. Happy to see you again next year.”

Besides that speculation and hoping, of course, driven by my bad conscience of not taking care well of my gift vouchers, I start to wonder why I did not use that voucher during the whole year, before. And I find that this time it was even with best intention and reasons: I wanted to wait until we had moved to a new appartment and then choose a picture that would fit into our new home. And I simply also did not imagine that there are vouchers of such higher value that have only one year validity.

We finally moved in November and the weeks after moving had been very busy – of course. And then next Christmas had to be prepared already. Now, suddenly the year is over and on December 28, I look at the voucher again to find that one-year deadline until December 10. I find myself being pushed to go and buy a picture quickly now – on the other hand, certainly they will not be that strict and inflexible… I start watching their pictures online, to choose one, to think about what format at what price I would like to afford one – only a small one for the 80 Euros voucher, or better a larger one for about 300 Euros? But then, even worse, two days later I hear that I should rather go now on December 31 – to seize the last opportunity, for the case that they won’t accept it any more next year. So we go there, to have a look and to check how flexible they are with the voucher. Choosing one quickly, however is not what I like, and certainly not now, today, and after a short time in that gallery shop I feel stressed and pushed – and I decide to first ask if they would still accept the voucher and if yes, how long – because after all, what I expect is that they certainly will not be so strict with one-year-voucher-deadlines.

“Yes, ok, as a courtesy and exception we would still accept it today, despite it being more than two weeks over the deadline.” – “Ah, that’s great. So I could still come back and use it later this week, too, in the new year…?” – “Ah, no I am afraid, if you still want to use it, it should be at least still in the old year”. “How long will the shop be open today?” (it is 11:50 am). “Until 1 pm”. So, definitively they take their deadline serious and put me in a situation of ‘last chance’ and ‘now or never’. After some minutes of increased stress and dissatisfaction about that situation, I turned back to the nice sales-woman and asked her: “Tell me, you would seriously just take the money and let the voucher turn invalid….seriously? Without me having purchased any picture?”. “I am really sorry, Sir, but after all, you had a full year time to use it..and the deadline is written on it.”

Seen from her business-perspective, I had a fair chance to make the promised voucher business deal with them. Of course, I understood that, seen from a business perspective. However, unfortunately,  to make a business deal was not my purpose as a customer for that gift – I wanted to find the right piece of art for me and my new appartment.

How did that little story of the collision of my voucher-weakness and their voucher-deadline-policy end? I purchased a picture in small format within the next 5 minutes, to save the money. And I was not even dissatisfied with the picture. It is nice, it is ok – but it is not the well chosen, great piece of art for my new home. And I was certainly dissatisfied with the gallery and with their voucher policy. And they certainly missed the chance that I would have bought a much bigger format, adding the multiple value of the voucher out of my own money, for a much higher purchase price. And it was a stressy experience for me. Thus the whole nice idea of making customers enjoy good art was just smashed within 10 minutes. What should have been a nice gift to let me choose a picture that I like and that I would highly appreciate in a nice corner of my home, has become a story of being forced to choose something quickly to not loose money.

While we walked home with the new picture I wondered what the company philosophy and the declared purpose of that gallery was, if they found it normal and acceptable that a customer would simply loose his money when a voucher deadline of one short year was over. I had thought that they were selling art – and not bets…But they seriously found it all ok and normal to tell us that either we buy now or they would just keep our money (and between the lines, why should they even really care about it: This is your problem Mr. Customer). Think about it: We already borrowed that money interest-free for a whole year to them and they would now just keep it all without any picture purchased or new voucher issued. Good deal for them, certainly. But is that their goal…? Should it be.a goal for an enterprise to just make money, no matter how..?

At their place I would define and live a better purpose. A purpose that makes customers love them. For example: “We make our customers find and enjoy great photography artworks for their homes”. And I would make this the guiding principle of all decisions and policies towards employees, partners and customers. Following that purpose they would have allowed me to use the voucher also later in the new year – to make sure I can choose my picture as I like, and to make sure I get one that I really like. Declaring a voucher invalid in the new year would then simply mean no art at that customer’s home and that they miss their purpose of making customers enjoy art at home.

But I have now evidence that in case of doubt, something else is more important than me (the customer) and what I need and like around art-photography. My money seems to be a good enough goal for them and only customers who choose a picture for their already spent money within one year are good enough for them. But so many companies have that goal. They all want my money. Thus, what makes this gallery special to make me spend my money just there? There is another photography gallery twohundred meters further down the road. And the internet is full of artworks that wants to be sold.

By the way, now that I have that nice art photography at home I enjoy it – and I feel that I should get more and larger ones. But I also regret that I did not immediately buy a larger format (what would have needed more time to choose it for the right spot in the appartment and to be sure the expense will be worth it for me). Normal reaction would be to turn back to that gallery again, next week. However, as they did not really show big interest in me as a long term customer and as obviously they do not understand how to help me find the right photographies (give me time, when I need it!) I will first have a look at the other galleries now. But certainly I will not give my money to anybody where I see that at the end they are even happy to have my money when I do not have a picture in exchange.

Year end is time of very last chances. Last chance for some vouchers – and some vouchers turn out to be the last chance for a shop to keep their customer for the next years.