A Late Welcome From Lord & Taylor

I was at Lord & Taylor a while back to buy a shirt. During checkout, the associate asked me if I’d like to join their email list (good job!). When I said “yes” she was able to put my information directly into the computer while ringing me up, and asked me to confirm that she’d spelled it correctly (also good).

She also informed me that it might take a while for the emails to start (less good, and weird because she already had my information electronically – it wasn’t like I filled out a paper signup).

I got my first email from them about a week and a half later…

… And A Week After That Email, I Got My Welcome Email.

Here’s a snapshot of my emails from Lord & Taylor so far:

Note the dates on the first two emails (at the bottom of the image). Lord & Taylor sent me a “regular” promotional email before I ever got a welcome email or any other initial messaging.

The Intended Welcome Email

Here’s their welcome email:

It’s a good welcome email on the whole (except for relying on an image for the main body of the email – I would have preferred more HTML text). It includes a discount, sets some expectations, and nudges me back toward the website.

It’s just… late. By the time I got it, I’d already gotten this:

What’s extra funny/wrong about this is that the discount in the first email I got (25%) was larger than the one in the welcome email (15%). This would have been perfectly fine had I gotten the welcome email first. But getting the emails in the order I did, and seeing shrinking discounts, makes me feel somewhat less welcome/special (not to mention glad I didn’t get suckered into only getting 15% off).

I’m hoping this was a simple technical glitch, but whatever it was it sure needs to be fixed.