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Previous: People Who Shouldn’t Be in Sales by Gayle Kesten Seems like the best customer service stories come out of lousy experiences. So here's what happened to me today, followed by a burst of reason out of my 8-year-old. After lunch at the food court and a few rounds of video games, I dragged my son food shopping. He couldn't protest (much) considering he had a new Nintendo DS game to keep him occupied. I thought I'd shake up our routine and go to a new grocery store. Well, not new really, but new to us. This is about as exciting as life gets on a Tuesday in suburbia. So I filled my cart with groceries to the beat of Mario Party. Only two lines were open when I was ready to pay -- one really long line in front of us, and one almost empty line a little further down. I opted for the short line and began unloading my groceries just as the cashier was finishing with the customer ahead of me. No greeting from said cashier. Whatever. At the point when I had most of my items on the conveyer belt, I looked up and realized I was on the 10 or Less line. Dang! I immediately apologized (ad nauseum) to the cashier as well as the people standing behind me. It was an honest mistake, though I know I'd be POed if it were me waiting on line behind some dumbo who did the same thing. But nothing I could do about it now. Besides, the cashier could have pointed out I had too many items in my cart when I first got on her line. My apologies went unacknowledged -- a tad annoying. Next, I paid by credit card. The machine I swiped my card through was different than the one I'm used to, so I wasn't sure what to press. Again, no word from the cashier, who just punched in the buttons for me, then handed me a long curl of receipts, which I put in my shopping bag and turned to leave. That's when she finally spoke, telling me I needed to sign one of the receipts (all the while ringing up the next person). I looked at the tangled wad in my bag to see what needed to be signed when her long arm reached down over my shoulder and into my shopping bag for the two-inch slip of paper. Now I was annoyed. "Maybe if you had said two words to me I would have known," I murmured, loud enough for her to hear. Her answer: "Don't you even start with me." She was at least a full foot taller than me, so at that point I bit my lip. I signed my receipt, handed it to her and, out of habit, still said, "Thank you." My son's response when I told him we were never going back there: "Or we could just go on another line." If only customer service were so simple. Maybe in time I'll come around.
| Comments (12) Comments Only someone who’d never worked with the public could view her own mistakes as a reason not to ever visit a particular store again. Working the other side of the counter for awhile would be eye-opening. Larry Posted by: Larry Morse on August 5, 2008 at 11:31 AM Customer service seems to be a thing of the past. Partly because people aren’t taught how to be nice. Using good manners and being polite used to be automatic. Showing respect to others should be automatic and yet this type of service seems to be typical. One thing I might suggest is that when we come up to the counter we can say hello, how are you, thank you and smile. It isn’t about them it is about us and how we are showing up as well. Posted by: Jan Johnson on August 5, 2008 at 12:31 PM I have to say, your son is smarter than Larry. LARRY, the author was the CUSTOMER. An unfamiliar word for you? It means “I’m the one with the money” and “Do you want my money or not?” When the author apologized, the cashier could have responded politely. When the author was fumbling looking for the piece of paper to sign, the cashier could have politely said, “it’s the little one” or some such. THE CASHIER is a bozzo who should be terminated NOW before she pisses off any more MONEY SPENDING CUSTOMERS! CUSTOMERS!!! something most retail people would kill for! Posted by: Beth on August 6, 2008 at 7:02 AM I’ve heard all the excuses. Low wages allow customer abuse. Poor working conditions allow rudeness. It all comes down to the trade you made. If you are willing to take the employer’s money, you need to be willing to give your best in return. If you aren’t happy there, keep looking - but respect your trade. I also agree that being on the other side of the counter can be trying, but it is, once again, part of the job. Do it, or move on. As employers, I feel that we miss the mark by not teaching courtesy and service along with the technical skills needed to be productive on the line. If the candidate doesn’t come to us with those skills, we need to teach them if we want to maintain customer loyalty. Thanks for allowing the rant. Best of luck to us all in finding those experiences that renew our faith that customer service is NOT dead - it’s just very sick right now. Posted by: Harry on August 6, 2008 at 8:09 AM I’d be interested to know how the SVP found out as well. It’s amazing the lack of customer service that is out there. I had a bagger put my eggs at the bottom of my grocery bag and then proceed to put canned goods on top. When I said, please don’t put anything on the eggs, they are breakable she proceeded to take the eggs out and hand them to me and say, here hold them in your hand if you don’t like it. I mentioned something to the manager but nothing ever happend. Instead he said that his baggers sometimes get frustrated with all the different requests they get. I could not believe it. Posted by: Quote Catcher Credit Card Processing on August 6, 2008 at 2:34 PM My favorite cashier story, recounted to me, is: a woman checks her groceries out; the cashier is silent the entire time. Before leaving, the woman says to the cashier “You didn’t say ‘thank you’ or anything. The cashier replies “It’s on the receipt”. True story. Posted by: DaBag on August 6, 2008 at 7:54 PM Customer Service is alive and well. I have been involved in it for many years and on a daily basis I have customers seek me out to let me know how pleased they are with the service they recieve in my store. This idea that customer service is a thing of the past is not true. Don’t allow yourself to get in the bad habit of seeing what you want through grumpy glasses. Posted by: Gary Butler on August 7, 2008 at 2:26 AM When this blog originally ran, the term “food shopping” was hotlinked to the store. I’m assuming the SVP or someone else in corporate has a Google Alert set up (or something like that). I was very impressed to hear from someone at that level. I wrote about the experience to illustrate the fragility of customer service. I agree that it’s a two-way street—no customer has the right to be rude to a cashier. Posted by: Gayle Kesten on August 7, 2008 at 5:12 PM It’s sad when this has become the rule instead of the exception. However, a small chain here in Rhode Island focuses on customer service, not allowing it’s cashiers/baggers to chat with each other while customers are in line. They must also greet every customer, ask if they found everything they were looking for, thank them for coming to the store, and then wish them a good day. As the saying goes, “what we tolerate, we accept.” This small chain chooses not to tolerate poor customer service or inconsiderate employees. Posted by: Peter George on August 8, 2008 at 4:36 PM How many times have you gone to a grocery store in your life? Do you know the routine? Because, it is the same every single time. You went into the express lane because you weren’t looking. The cashier probably is not allowed to point this out to you because you will get huffy and pissy. She was just trying to ease your experience by pressing the buttons for you. I’m sure you were sputtering about how all the machines are different. What is wrong with you that you need to be walked through this? IT IS THE SAME BASIC CONCEPT AT EVERY STORE. I’m sure you had a bitchy attidute. “What’s wrong with the world?!!?” People expecting their butt to be kissed, that’s what. Just get your groceries and leave. Posted by: Sarah on August 21, 2008 at 10:49 PM Hey Sarah, I sure hope you don’t work as a grocery store clerk. You don’t deserve to even be in the public view with that nasty attitude, you spoiled little brat! And yes, they do expect their butts to be kissed, and they should get it if you want to keep those customers. If you weren’t still living with mommy and daddy you might know what it’s like to have work ethics. Posted by: Kate on September 23, 2008 at 7:25 PM |
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Copyright 1999-2008 by Attard Communications, Inc. and by the individual authors. |
Grocery Store Aggravation
What I want to know is, how did the SVP find out about the situation. The author left that part out. Did she send an email to complain or did another patron let them know or … ?
Posted by: Gayle on August 5, 2008 at 10:21 AM