Retail magic... or how I've got to grow my patience {a lot}

[busykngt]

For you retail managers out there (if any such be reading this), when a guy is standing there (at the check out counter) with merchandise in his hand, it may mean he actually wants to give you money - you know, the stuff that pays your salary and let's you put food on the table for your hungry kids (or pay the child support or whatever...).

CABELA's last Friday: Waited for ten minutes while the Cabela's employee behind the counter "visited" with some guy and his wife about fishing (and this was at the ammo/knife counter). Finally, a young Cabela's employee came out and I tackled him into waiting on me. I admit, the wife was looking good in her short-shorts but still....you've got a customer waiting to pay! The young guy was on the ball even though he had to put the ammo and Dry Box combo together for me - they didn't have it 'pre-staged' like they usually do. So what should have been a quick, five minutes in-and-out, turned into a 30 minute ordeal! [Maybe it's their plan...hoping I'll look around and buy more "stuff"??]
--
CTD - now let's move on to Cheaper Than Dirt the following day (yesterday, Saturday). I went to the McKinney store looking for rings (SCP-607) which, BTW, they never have - I think they just keep the empty slot there "for looks" - for that and the SCP-608's - both empty...always. So then, I can't leave the store empty handed after driving that distance so I pick up six boxes of Brown Bear 9m Ammo and head to the check out counter. hnoes: And I'm waiting in line behind ONE guy and the CTD employee checking him out appeared to be about half way thru the process - so I'm smug; I'm thinking: I'm next and outta here! {...you know guys & shopping, right?} Wrong! In walks a guy and brings the check out process to a complete halt by asking the CTD employee, "What kind of scope should I get for such-&-such a gun?" And...get this now... ready?.... the check out guy TAKES THE BAIT!!! He begins to explain, "it really depends on what you want to do...blah, blah, blah" - and so it began. After a bit, I did my own "interruption" and asked the check out guy, "is there anyone else around that can check us out?" A girl steps up and says, "I can" and so I went to her / checked out / and departed. [The poor guy in front of me was still there when I left]. Again, ammo in my hand; credit card at the ready and I'm being held up by a guy who just walks in off the street and apparently doesn't know diddly about scopes [not really faulting him about that...just the technique he used to learn about them]. Please somebody teach me that serenity prayer they use...

 

[Vaquero]

You have the patience of Job. I'da left 'em hanging with thier merchandise in the floor.

 

[Dawico]

More than once I have discovered that my time is more important than the items in my cart. I understand that the employees have to be customer service reps also, but the customer with cash in hand at the register has to have some priority. I just need one minute of your time, that guy needs 20 minutes.

 

[prometheus]

Easy solution to that, shop online... youre more likely to find the rings youre looking for, they are less likely to be out of stock on most items, save some money on gas, and their check out process is always there patiently waiting on you, youre sure to find some "internet only" deals, and with todays shipping speeds, the stuff will most likely be waiting at the house for you after work the next day...

 

[Acesn8's]

The employee should have either directed him to the right department or called fer a customer service rep.
The chit chat should have ceased once you got to checkout line and focused on you the customer.
That type of behavior should be reported to management .

 

[busykngt]

prometheus, good thoughts but not always that easy. I do shop on line but nowadays, it has become a balancing act between sales taxes and shipping costs and product availability. Not all of these Internet "store fronts" actually stock their merchandise - the last four mail orders I've made (to different companies), have had items the seller was out of stock & had to be "back ordered" - AND no indication of that, on their website. For instance, the shipping costs and "handling" charge from CTD were actually more than the price of the scope rings! And when their [CTD] retail store is out, their warehouse is out too - I asked one of the CTD sales guys if they really ever had these rings available? He assured me they did BUT even they had to back order them from their distributor.
--
And for the other guys' comments: They never knew just how close I came to putting down the merchandise and walking out. (And I like the idea of putting it on the floor - I had only thought of putting it on the counter - the floor is better!).
--
The funny thing to me was, when I interrupted "their" conversation about the various considerations of rifle scope selection, they both looked at me with an expression of, "how rude?"

 

[tmd11111]

You have to remember, the cashier is just another minimal wage employee. He could care less if you make a purchase or not, after all it's not his money.

 

[Rum Runner]

Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode:

Best thing you can do is write a letter/email describing your issues as politely as possible to the store manager and CC everyone higher in the food chain including the CEO, CFO, Board members, etc.

At the very least, you will probably get a nice apology. You may get a nice discount on a future purchase. I find it very effective.

 

[Mic]

That sucks. But hopefully at Cabela's you took the time to enjoy the wife in short shorts. I personally might have told the young kid - "Don't sweat it. I'll wait on that guy." Nothing better than enjoying the beauty of a woman!

 

[zembonez]

Crappy service from retail idiot employees has driven me to do almost all of my business online. If I can't pick it up and take it to a cashier, I simply will not buy it in a retail store. Finding a person with a brain behind a counter has just become too difficult.

I know there are some good people working in retail stores... I just never seem to be the guy that gets waited on by them.

 

[indpendnt]

Yep - This about sums up my experince with Cabela's and CTD - but my experience with Cabela's was so bad I'm on a permenent boycot... There are just too many other places that I can spend my time and money, at better prices for the EXACT SAME PRODUCTS by the same mfg. and vendors.

Best thing you can do is write a letter/email describing your issues as politely as possible to the store manager and CC everyone higher in the food chain including the CEO, CFO, Board members, etc.
At the very least, you will probably get a nice apology. You may get a nice discount on a future purchase. I find it very effective.

Didn't work when I wrote Cabela's - started with a nice 'concerned customer letter' but in the end, after several polite, business like exchanges, the best appology they offered was an attitude of 'we have enough customers so we don't really need your business anyway' and "perhaps you would like to shop our on-line store", (so we can take you for some more of your hard earned time and money). I finished with an, "I'm sorry but I'm simply not intrested in doing business with your company any more. Please do not contact me again" letter, and that was that.

 

[hangtree]

Wow that's pretty bad. What gets me seems to happen mostly at auto parts stores. I wait my turn in line and just as I finally reach the counter, the phone rings and the clerk behind the counter handles the phone call like it's priority and leaves me standing there.
Hey, who was first? Geesh!!

 

[Glockster69]

... the phone rings and the clerk behind the counter handles the phone call like it's priority and leaves me standing there.
Hey, who was first? Geesh!!

It's not who was first but who's standing there, money in hand, that should be priority. Yea, that phone thing pisses me off too.

 

[armycook]

Some very good points made here....I won't ever go back to Frys'....30 checkout lanes....four of them open...three managers watching 15 people try to navigate the lanes...a guy on a ladder directing people to the "next available" check out line....then I get a foreigner with a towel on her head training on her first day....time to walk away before mouth overtakes brain.

 

[jgalvanatx]

Please somebody teach me that serenity prayer they use...

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

I'm not a big fan of Niebuhrs as he was a raving progressive, but had he listened to his own words he may have been better off for it. I do like this snippet of the prayer and I often find myself reciting it when I encounter ordeals like yours. I really get peeved at poor customer service and lack of common sense in general. Also, patience is a virtue with which I struggle.

 

[Texasjack]

I was in the "10 Items or Less" line at WalMart yesterday. I was the ONLY one with less than 20 items. I asked the clerk, "Doesn't it amaze you how many people are unable to count to 10?" She say, "I know, but the managers won't let us say anything."

People are idiots. And people who talk on the cell phone while they are ordering or paying for stuff should have that phone inserted where only a proctologist can remove it.

Retail sales jobs suck under the best of circumstances, and I can testify on that. But kids today don't get taught how to do those jobs effectively. Nobody wants any hurt feelings. They wander around and bump into each other and the managers (who are 2 years older) don't know how to make things better. It is frustrating.

 

[The Lox]

The only thing that drives me crazy is when an employee is helping you and some other rando idiot comes up and starts asking them questions. Whenever someone does that to me I look them straight in the face and tell them that they can speak with the employee when he is done helping me, and that I waited my turn and didn't disrespect other customers. Most of the time people just stand there with a blank stare and don't say shit...

 

[Winger Ed.]

Very true.
They don't even know where money comes actually from, or how a business actually works.
From a competive standpoint-----
Each and every day I collapse to me knees, and praise God that my compeditors have thought they were getting a bargain by hiring monkeys like that.
Thier mindset is: "If I pay 'workers' $4 a hour instead of $15 or $20 a hour,,,,
I'll be able to keep all this extra money after I dodge all the taxes I can.....
It never occurs to them that if you reward workers with peanuts---
the only thing that will ever work for ya is monkeys & elephants.

Back around the first few weeks of 1981...........
My Dad and I grew a business from 'nothing' to over $1,000,000 in sales/year at a average profit of 35%.
The first 3-5 years were pretty slim,,,,, then it got better.
In well under 20 years, we'd grown to just over a million $ a year in (gross)sales.
We did it totally on taking our competitor's customers away from them with (better) customer service.

 

[Winger Ed.]

We all do whatever is most important to us at any given time.

If a auto parts store employee feels its more important to chat on the phone instead of ringing up
stuff at the 'register, and tucking money into the drawer....... That's fine.

I wish all my friends had competitors like that.
I've also dumped a armload of stuff off onto the counter, and walked out for that reason too.

Then again, I have to add, "Sorry buddy..... I can't share your pain or anger",
because, I've (also) made my fortune from them; illeterate, un-educated, poorly raised, so-and-sos too.

 

[Texas1911]

Very true.
They don't even know where money comes actually from, or how a business actually works.
From a competive standpoint-----
Each and every day I collapse to me knees, and praise God that my compeditors have thought they were getting a bargain by hiring monkeys like that.
Thier mindset is: "If I pay 'workers' $4 a hour instead of $15 or $20 a hour,,,,
I'll be able to keep all this extra money after I dodge all the taxes I can.....
It never occurs to them that if you reward workers with peanuts---
the only thing that will ever work for ya is monkeys & elephants.

Back around the first few weeks of 1981...........
My Dad and I grew a business from 'nothing' to over $1,000,000 in sales/year at a average profit of 35%.
The first 3-5 years were pretty slim,,,,, then it got better.
In well under 20 years, we'd grown to just over a million $ a year in (gross)sales.
We did it totally on taking our competitor's customers away from them with (better) customer service.

Yep, business is not rocket surgery. It's simple, you give the people what they want.

People want good prices, good service, and informed decisions. If you won't pay an extra $5 / hr. for someone that will facilitate that then you deserve to lose (yes, lose) out on the additional revenue that person will bring.