Yesterday I was in a Home Depot picking up a few things for projects around the Bend house when I had a customer service experience that would NOT be part of the training regimen of any company. It could have been part of the new book “How to collect unemployment without even trying hard”, or “Quick methods for getting on the public dole”.
I had found everything I needed by myself except a quart of paint. For this I needed help. The gentleman behind the paint counter was working on a mixture for another customer and as she wandered off to get a few items he made no effort to acknowledge me standing patiently a few feet from him. Then he started a conversation with another employee about 30 feet away concerning an issue about who was going to cover his lunch period. This went on for several minutes during which time the other customer returned to the counter awaiting her can of paint, which by now was in the shaker being mixed. Still no acknowledgement of customers at the counter while the lunch discussion continued.
One would think that when the paint mixer machine finished its business and stopped making noise that the counter employee would put aside his gastronomical concerns and at least finish the one transaction he had started, but nooooooo. Instead he began wandering slowly out from behind the counter, away from his customers, toward the other employee, who by this time was suggesting that he take his lunch a little early because it was unlikely that he was going to get coverage for lunch at the normal time. By now the employees were a good 50 feet away, but their conversation was clearly audible because the store had few customers. It was beginning to dawn on me that this award winning employee was intending to just leave us standing at the counter. The lady next to me gave me a quizzical look, as though I might help her understand what had transpired while she grazed her way around the paint section acquiring more things for her project, sans paint.
At about this moment the employee picked up speed in his move away from us and, yes, he was going to go away and eat at this very moment, and I had already heard that no one was available to cover his counter. The exit was hastened and then completed. Not another employee in sight. My adjacent and bewildered co-customer looked at me again as though saying WTF (?), to which I replied, “Customer service is dead”, and I left.
As I have grown older I have found more often that this is a nearly typical encounter when I am trying my best to give money to big retailers. To compensate for this trend, I try first to give my money to small operators who appreciate my business and try to be helpful. It is sad, really, that environments in retail exist where this is permissible, or at least tolerated through neglect. As long as there is a paycheck at the end of the day for the uncaring employee then this sort of thing will continue and, heaven forbid, perhaps become more prevalent. Yikes!
I had found everything I needed by myself except a quart of paint. For this I needed help. The gentleman behind the paint counter was working on a mixture for another customer and as she wandered off to get a few items he made no effort to acknowledge me standing patiently a few feet from him. Then he started a conversation with another employee about 30 feet away concerning an issue about who was going to cover his lunch period. This went on for several minutes during which time the other customer returned to the counter awaiting her can of paint, which by now was in the shaker being mixed. Still no acknowledgement of customers at the counter while the lunch discussion continued.
One would think that when the paint mixer machine finished its business and stopped making noise that the counter employee would put aside his gastronomical concerns and at least finish the one transaction he had started, but nooooooo. Instead he began wandering slowly out from behind the counter, away from his customers, toward the other employee, who by this time was suggesting that he take his lunch a little early because it was unlikely that he was going to get coverage for lunch at the normal time. By now the employees were a good 50 feet away, but their conversation was clearly audible because the store had few customers. It was beginning to dawn on me that this award winning employee was intending to just leave us standing at the counter. The lady next to me gave me a quizzical look, as though I might help her understand what had transpired while she grazed her way around the paint section acquiring more things for her project, sans paint.
At about this moment the employee picked up speed in his move away from us and, yes, he was going to go away and eat at this very moment, and I had already heard that no one was available to cover his counter. The exit was hastened and then completed. Not another employee in sight. My adjacent and bewildered co-customer looked at me again as though saying WTF (?), to which I replied, “Customer service is dead”, and I left.
As I have grown older I have found more often that this is a nearly typical encounter when I am trying my best to give money to big retailers. To compensate for this trend, I try first to give my money to small operators who appreciate my business and try to be helpful. It is sad, really, that environments in retail exist where this is permissible, or at least tolerated through neglect. As long as there is a paycheck at the end of the day for the uncaring employee then this sort of thing will continue and, heaven forbid, perhaps become more prevalent. Yikes!
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