Monday, July 6th, 2009...10:45 pm
Can You Hear Me Now?
Earlier today, I had a disappointing experience when I visited my local grocery store to do the weekly shopping. From the funky ammonia-based-cleaner-combined-with-freshly-roasted-whole-chicken smell that assaults my senses when entering the front door, to the shabby but well-lit aisles that are always fully-stocked, I love my neighborhood discount supermarket. Everything was going according to plan (including me “sticking it to the man” by not buying anything that wasn’t on special), when I finished up and went to stand in the checkout line. There was only one lane open, and I immediately sympathized with the cashier as I was fifth in line and two people had walked up behind me. I looked around to see if there might be anyone to assist the poor girl and saw the manager standing not twelve feet away, unconcerned.
After only two minutes or so, another cashier, who was very obviously annoyed by the fact that she was pulled from whatever she was doing to help her coworker, opened the next lane and called me over with a “ma’am? MA’AM! I AM OPEN!” I pushed my cart over to her line and started loading items onto the conveyor belt. The angry, young cashier, with a nametag that said “Nicole”, mumbled something in my direction and I made an effort, “Hi. How are you this morning?” She mumbled again and I swear she told me to “hold on”, but then realized she wasn’t talking to me. The girl was wearing a headset and talking on her cell phone! It wasn’t even a Bluetooth, but the kind with a cord that hangs down and, while the earpiece was tucked up in her hair, the mic was swinging back and forth with every item she scanned. She continued the conversation she was having (about her plans for the evening) and I looked around, frantically, sure that I was being Punk’d. I looked over at the manager, still standing behind the customer service counter, but he appeared caught up in the paperwork he was doing. I looked at my fellow shoppers, but they seemed barely coherent. I looked her right in the face while she did her thing, but she was unfazed. I took note of her name and left, seething.
My first inclination, natch, was to tweet about it. Some people who replied seemed to think maybe I was referring to someone that I was helping at my own job. Some others seemed to find this acceptable, considering the establishment. This logic doesn’t hold water with me. It’s like those people who go to McDonald’s, get crummy service, and justify it by saying “It’s McDonald’s, what do you expect?” What I EXPECT is that, just like me, every day, these people are being paid to fake politeness toward their customers. If not politeness, at least not all-out rudeness. I handed two day’s worth of pay to a girl who didn’t hang up the phone to take it from me. My dad, the king of retail customer service, taught me that anyone giving you their hard-earned money deserves a sincere “please” and “thank you” at the very least.
So, what to do? Since the store manager was within earshot of the whole exchange, I figured he was useless. Therefore, I decided to try my luck with the customer service 800#. The boy at the other end took a report and then said it would be handled. Since he didn’t take any of my contact info, I guess I’ll never know. In my head, though, we had a serious talk with Nicole. We coached her on what is appropriate behavior while on the floor. We told her that a customer taking time to call corporate is a serious matter and we need to do everything we can to prevent it from happening again. We made Nicole a better employee. What we didn’t do, is allow this to slide, effectively reinforcing the behavior and ensuring that he carries it with her to her next job and, I suspect, many after.
Is it realistic to expect at least mediocre customer service wherever I choose to spend my money? I think so. Then again, I’ve made a career out of mediocre customer service.
16 Comments
July 7th, 2009 at 1:08 am
I take comfort in karma. I look at it this way: her life must really suck for her to feel this way and not care about treating others like that. Too bad for her.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:59 am
On the contrary, her life is probably pretty okay. In my mind she’s a college student funded by her parents who only needs to work to pay for cute skirts, makeup, and liquor. And probably not even liquor as she probably flirts her way inebriation without much effort. I bet she lives her life one party at a time, and if she can do this without having to care about anything else, hooray for her.
I like Food Lion. It’s chill and uncrowded (usually). And they have minicarts! It’s nice having an option between a tiny basket that can’t hold six yogurts comfortably and a tank with near-endless storage. If I filled one of those to the brim I could eat for three months. D:
July 7th, 2009 at 6:56 am
I had a similar experience once – at a FoodKitty, too! It’s amazing how being ignored and being treated like your money isn’t appreciated can turn you off to becoming a regular customer. Since then, I only visit a FoodTiger when I absolutely have to, either out of convenience or because I need to pick up some beer real quick.
July 7th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Infuriating. I had something sort of similar happen at Ukrops and I seethed about it for days. I didn’t call, though I really should have. You don’t expect the same level of service at Food Dog but you do expect the cashier to at least give you her attention, however grudgingly. I think it might be a generational thing. I didn’t grow up with cellphones so it’s unspeakably rude to me, but kids seem to think it’s normal.
Twitter: homesliceva
July 7th, 2009 at 8:49 am
The Food Poodle, as I call it not-so-lovingly, is a veritable mecca of shitty service. The one near my house is full of barely coherent people who look like the last time they saw hot water and soap was, oh, about 2 weeks ago. still i go there. why? it’s convenient. unfortunately i’ve gotten so used to the scrambled egg mouth responses and lack of basic manners it doesn’t even phase me. i’m glad you called corporate. maybe someone, somewhere, will wake up.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Love the “sticking it to the man” plan! It makes the checkout clerks smile when I pay 50 bucks for groceries and my “savings” are also 50
July 7th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Our Food Dog ain’t bad, and it’s just a block away.. one can literally walk over in ones “jammies” at 7:00AM and get milk and aigs. They also have an outstanding produce department (better and cheaper than Ukrops) and a wide selection of Mexican stuff, including dried frijoles peruano or mayacobo..
July 7th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Every time I go in the damn FL near me (which, btw, is a pretty nice store) they never have more than ONE checkout line open, no matter how many people are standing in it. Grrr. Makes me want to stuff one of those cute little blue mini-carts in the trunk of my car along with my groceries (like one of my co-workers did a couple of years ago. When we expressed shock and disbelief, her response was “Oh, I’ll take it back when I’m done with it.” Two years later…)
July 7th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Nope, I woulda gone and talked to the manager right there and then. I don’t expect cashiers to smile and be happy, but I damned well expect for them to pay attention to me. If I have to pretend to be nice to stupid people all day then they can too. It’s part of the job.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Par for the course at ole Food Cheetah!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am
See, I thought you were talking about a FL, but then you mentioned a customer service counter. None of the FLs near me even HAVE a customer service counter, which says a lot. If we’ve ever needed service, we had to stake out an area between the phone and the back room door, and catch somebody going to either one. Of course, they come real quick if you start messing with the phone…
Service is the only thing worth paying for.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
We just moved from New Mexico, Navajo country. The Navajos are quiet, say little, and appear largely expressionless. After about a year of living there I found out that they thought I was rude to walk up to them, look them in the eyes, smile and say “hello” cheerfully. So I spent another 2 years quietly accepting that the people I was interacting with frequently in stores weren’t purposely being rude, it was just their culture. Well, and they hated me because I was white and my ancestors slaughtered their ancestors and all that (I even got to see some anti-white-people protesting while I was there. Very interesting.).
When we moved back to Texas and the first cashier who helped me gave me a big toothy smile and drawled, “Howya doin’ today, hon?” I nearly fell over in relief. To understand Navajo culture was one thing; to be back where I actually related to people was something else. Yay for over-friendly Texas cashiers!
July 11th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I work on a checkout i hate it. dont get me wrong im polite and everything just i am sick of the same conversation have you been busy nice day prices are too high when do you finish …… u get the idea it makes me sad to know this is what i will be doing for the rest of my life i do anything to be smart or have good grades to get somewhere in life but i dont i realised this today and nearly started crying on the till it was awfull right in the middle of a sale i realised i will be here forever life is pointless i hate tesco and i hate me more.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
i guess i’m in the minority here, but
the FL in Bon Air is fan-frickin’-tabulous.
there is one cashier in particular who greets everyone that comes through the door. she’s always polite, always seems happy to see you, & treats you with kindness.
July 13th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I had the exact same experience at a 7-11 in Carytown and got identical responses – yes, I understand that these businesses don’t hire MENSA candidates. Does this make it any less outrageous? Not one bit.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:43 am
I went to Food Lion last night. They didn’t card me for the Sam Adams I had even though I look ~17. Sounds like a perfectly awesome place to me.
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