Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The dying art of customer service

I went into a store today to get a couple small accessory things for my crossbow. I walked all the way through the store front to back and no one greeted me. I wandered around in their archery dept. for 10 minutes not finding what I needed. No one employed there ever came near me. I walked over to the gun dept. and it was empty, although two associates were coming out from the rear area. I asked them if they could help me in the archery dept. The man who was apparently assigned to cover that area came over several minutes later. I asked him for arrow pullers and a cloth case for my crossbow. Didn't have either one. So it took me 15 minutes of no service to find out they didn't have what I needed. This in the biggest shop in the area.

I don't even mind so much that they didn't have it. What bugged me was it took 15 minutes for them to even realize I existed.

This seems to be a common thread at many retailers. I understand better why guys go to the LGS fully knowing they might pay a little more, but also know they'll be greeted warmly when they get there, and their needs will be met.

I had some repairs being done to my car so I lined up a rental expecting that because I was using a local body shop not one in the city I'd have to play logistical games getting my car dropped and the rental picked up at the office.

I called Enterprise and the college girl who answered the phone asked if I'd like to be picked up. I said sure and she asked the location then put me on hold to check.

Remember I'm not expecting to be picked up.

I sit on hold for a few minutes listening to their recoding telling me over and over how "Enterprise picks you up" and "loves to go the extra mile" so I am thinking "cool I will get a ride!"

A kid comes on and says sorry they can't pick me up, and I said that's funny I just sat on hold for a few minutes hearing how you go the extra mile and pick me up yada yada yada. Check again cuz yer recoding said you would. He checks, and again the hold tells me how they'll do it, and again he comes back and says he can't.

I said they need to change to muzak cuz I didn't expect to get picked up but after hearing their hold recoding I'm pissed that they're not picking me up.

Not that he cares.

The last time I was in Best Buy they had a sale going on and two registers open with 25 people waiting while four employees chatted with each other.

I asked if they wanted our money, or were they happy enough to see us stand in line and wonder why they'd come to work.

I'm glad I'm not an employer with the current labor force.

Not in all circumstances, but how you're treated depends on how you're dressed. When I go into a store wearing jeans and a plain blue shirt I might as well be invisible, but dress up and I get immediate attention.

If you want to shop without being bothered by store workers then wear plain work clothes, but if you want attention wear a suit or dress like you're going gulfing (sunglasses tipped up on top of your head gets extra points).

a by product of our education system....

kids of today grow up thinking the world is all about them.... so they can't be bothered taking care of a customer...

business accountants are also to blame....

they pay their employees the least amount of money possible... so ya buy the cheapest, ya get the cheapest..

one would think they would have learned by now that doesn't work out real well..... or they expect the general public and customers to just put up with it....


year ago, worked customer service during Christmas ( when I was single post divorce)... for a company that was subcontracting customer service for Readers Digest....

They had all of these old people calling in because they had ordered a "book" and it turned out to be a VCR Tape... their complaint was they couldn't figure out how to open the 'book'....

When they were told it wasn't a book they'd want to return it..... and all of these young 20 something bimbos that worked there would argue with these senior citizens, stating they ordered it, so they are stuck with it and if they are too stupid to know what a VCR tape is, then that is their problem....

And they were calling this customer service.... I use to tell these bimbos that these were seniors like their grandparents and why were they arguing with these customers any.... it wasn't even their money, so what was the problem...

we were instructed not to argue with these people, just process the return for them to send it back and get a credit or their money... yet still these bimbos and the few Beavis and Butthead guys in their would still argue with these seniors....

I'd ask them why did they argue with these people? their usual answer was "they are old people and old people suck"...

yeah the term 'customer service' is pretty much a joke punchline at best anymore.

i went to walmart and with 15 registers they had 2 open. the store manager was standing back near the back of the line i was in. i asked why they have all those registers if they were not going to use them. he said they were a little short handed . i said well why don't you do it to get the lines moving. he said'oh,'i dont do that' i then unloaded the items in my cart right in the floor and told him that i dont shop here anymore.

Just my thoughts on the subject:

A customer should not have to wait at all for assistance, if it is desired.

The customer should be allowed to browse and compare as long as they like without being bothered, with assistance being readily available if it is desired.

The minute...no, the very second that the customer is done shopping and wants to pay for their goods the business should do everything in their power to allow the customer to pay and be on their way with the least delay possible. Excess wait time to pay feels about the same as sitting in a traffic jam caused by a broken traffic light.

Making a customer wait unnecessarily to pay and be done is disrespectful and poor business, in my opinion.

Complicated check-out procedures, problems entering SKU's into the computer, waiting for manager assistance at the register for stupid reasons, even waiting for the chip-card reader to cycle through its process are all anti-customer service problems that a smart business should address.

Having enough cash registers and enough employees should go without saying.

I get irked when I am in a hurry and I jump into a store to get one or two items and get delayed trying to pay. Sometime it is two minutes to find the items and reach the register line, and then ten more minutes before I am walking out of the store.

Which brings up one more "irk". Some stores let the employees have all the nearest parking spots. I was at a big-box store recently, twenty minutes before opening. There were no customers present besides me and another guy. We watched employee after employee arrive, park up front, and walk into the store straightening their uniforms. By the time the store opened the front third of the lot was filled with employee cars, except for the handicap spots.

When inside I found an assistant manager and asked about the parking situation. He said nobody had ever said anything about it before. Good grief...

I own my own company. We supply building stone, concrete products, masonry and landscape supplies. Occasionally, I'll take some time to check out my competition. One time I was out on a spying expedition and went to a couple of places where I spent an hour or more in competitors stone yards and not one single person asked me if I needed any help. Guys rode by me many times on forklifts and never stopped. I learned something that day.

I went back and told my guys about it and made a steadfast rule that they are never to go past a customer without asking them if they need help. If they're busy, simply tell the customer that you'll be right back after you finish loading the customer you're with. In many cases, the customer is just looking, but it sends the message that you care. In other cases, by the time you're free, another co-worker has them covered.

I have signs up in the office that say:
RULE#1
Help the Customer
If we don't, our competition will.

I just love to call a business at 9:30 on Monday morning only to get a recording that tell me to call back during their regular business hour of 9 am to 5pm.

Well I ain't calling back.

Sounds like a Dunhams store....

I manage a small office and it's f'ing ridiculus. You're not allowed to manage anymore because everyone is offended and/or has a chitty attitude.

Two of my employees are wonderful, one does a very good job but has a pissy attitude and another one does a crap job and is offended by most anything constructive you say.

I've been dealing with paper work the last six months to get rid of the one and the other one has a few months to loose the attitude or she'll be gone. Only saving grace on that one is she's still on probation.



In regards to store employees I was just visiting with another forum member last night and we were speaking by the lack of help a person gets. I hate to be bugged, but at least acknowledge me. Few months ago I was in Scheels in Rochester, MN. Was in quickly the day before and went back to potentially buy two rifles I thought I might need. Hardly anyone in the store and I couldn't get helped. Walked out, same thing has happened a few other times there.

Was in HOM furniture a couple weeks ago, I was one of I believe two people in the store. Half a dozen employees and not one person asked me if I needed help.

Know one gives a chit anymore.

Couple of years ago I chatted up the manager at a Walmart, talked to him about why they had 19 checkout lines and only two open, he replied he didn't have enough people. So, I asked, why not hire some more. He let me know right away that he would be delighted to hire some more if he could find applicants who could pass the drug test.

I believe it depends on the business and the effectiveness and attitude of the manager. I went to Best Buy yesterday to investigate a new router. Was approached almost immediately by a young lady who spent the next 10 minutes diagnosing my problem and demonstrating solutions. Most big box store have worse attitudes and service.

The standard in retail was set long ago by F.W. Woolworth. Every customer must be greeted w/in 15 seconds or 15 feet from the entrance.

I think many businesses have learned that customer service can give an advantage in a very competitive world. The difficulty is motivating, training and compensating employees to achieve goals.


mike r

We do everything, find food, bag groceries, select fasteners, check out, weigh produce, get cash at atm, check book at library, pay for and pump fuel, seat ourselves, trouble shoot Fios...and you want service.

Funny, true story:

I was on a long returns line at Home Depot. I was watching the clerk's every move. When it was my turn he walked away. I was livid. So, I picked up the scanner and successfully returned the item for credit to my credit card. The register is clerk proof and was easy. The clerk came back and I handed him the item stating it was his. He asked if I wanted to return it. I said no I returned it already. He turned to the nearby store manager and told him what I did. The manager said that was a no no. I said I saw the abandoned register with a light on and thought it was self service like everything else in the store. He smiled and offered me a job.

This is a good point, but they should still provide good service. Reminds me of the guy that used to run the little fishing camp we went to up in Canada. He needed a new bulldozer. He went to a couple dealerships and ended up buying one. With a garbage bag full of cash. Knowing Jean, I'm sure he went in wearing the same pair of jeans he'd had on for several days, looking like little more than a jackpine savage. As the old saying goes, never judge a book by it's cover.

It wasn't, and the thread's not about any one chain. It's about customer service and the lack there of.

An example of some good customer service comes to mind. Every get a sub at a Jimmy John's sub shop? We have quite a few of them up here in the Twin Cities. Every time I go in there, literally the second you are inside their door, you are greeted, and the associate has a smile on their face. I will return to a place like that because not only the product, but the service are very good.

Once I was standing in a grocery line in a store that had just installed self-checkout registers. A little tootsie assistant manager came by and told me to try the self check. When I declined, she says, "oh it's easy", like I was afraid to try it because I thought it would be difficult. Then she grabs my cart and drags it over to the selfcheck and starts unloading it. Unfortunately, she couldn't get it work, and had to call for backup.

Ordinarily, I would've taken her head off for grabbing the cart out of my hands, but it was so comical, I let it go.

The opposite, equally annoying side of customer service is when you can't make a sharp turn in the store without snapping some sales associates nose off in your azz.

Good customer service is so rare that you remember when you actually receive it.

Very common for me to walk out of restaurants these days.

After I eat.




Travis