Customer Disservice for the loss!

My readers have heard me gripe many times in the past about how the concept of customer service and customer appreciation. It is one of the sorest points of my general Ass-ish nature. Especially in large chain stores, it seems like the attitude is “We don't need to be nice to you, just go spend your money and leave us alone.” Today did nothing to dissuade me of this feeling.

So my wife got up early this morning so she could go to the major store that she calls “The Den of Inequity” in the vain hope she could find the items that she had been looking for all week. She managed to find three items that she thought would do, picked up a small container of yogurt for her snack and two other items. Keep in mind that all six items were very small and could fit in one bag. So the clerk rings up her items, hands her ONE bag and Paula leaves for work. When she gets to work, she finds that the bag only contains some of the purchased items and none of them are her snack. Apparently the cashier felt the need to split the six small items into two bags and neglected to hand her the other bag.

Now believe it or not, this is not the cause of my current rant. After all accidents happen. Maybe the cashier had just gotten to work or maybe (Since the Den is open 24 hours) were just minutes away from going home. No, my rant comes from what happens next.

We drove back out to the DOI to return the items that she had purchased that morning and complain that the cashier had shorted her the other items. When I tell the kid behind the Customer Service desk that a cashier had accidentally shorted my wife that morning, he gets all defensive and VERY confrontational. He asks, “Are you sure you wife didn't get the items? Are you certain that she just didn't notice them? Maybe she got the items and lost them.” I politely informed him that my wife didn't lose the items and then not so politely asked the punk to give me the danged refund.

Now folks keep in mind that the grand total of my wife's purchases from that morning was $11.96. Also keep in mind that the items this kid was basically accusing my wife of stealing were worth $3.00 of the sad $11.96. I had the receipt and the three items that weren't left behind. I was simply asking for a refund, not all the money in the safe. So why in hell did it take 20 minutes of arguing with this kid to get my money back?

So, finally the kid refunds my money. Already in a grumpy mood, I find my wife and we pick up some items (Since we are there) and go to check out. That is where I see essentially why my wife lost her midday snack and shows the general level of competence in the DOI. The lady rings up our purchases and as she does, she places the items in bags then rotates the little turntable to a new bag. She finished ringing up almost everything, but misses three items hiding behind the cat litter boxes.

She has already rotated the full bags around and left several empty slots on the turntable. After I point the items out to her, she rings them up and places them in an empty bag. She charges my wife's card hands her the receipt and starts checking out the next customer. She starts placing his items in the same bag as ours before I can stop her. When I point this out to her, she gives me a “looks could kill” glance, swings the turntable around and then goes back to checking out the next customer.

Now not only would we have been short some very important items (Hey premium mixed nuts are important!) if I hadn't noticed, the person behind us would have gotten OUR stuff without having to pay for it. Still the thing that honked me off was that look. She made the mistake, but she was angry with us for catching it.

Now folks, having worked those jobs I know that they are thankless jobs with crappy pay. I understand that your feet hurt, your eyes hurt and your back hurts. Mistakes happen, that is a fact of life and I am okay with that. What I am not okay is the bad attitude that so many people have. Customers pay your bills. Customers feed your families! Unless you live in a tiny town with only one store (I have BTW LOL), there are other places the customers can go. Suck it up, grin and bear it and remember that a little friendly customer service can make everything go smoother.

END OF RANT