Customer Service

Hi,
Has 'customer service' gone the way of the dodo bird? I think it has.

Since I have returned home I have spent the last two days running around town replenishing the house stock of food and assorted items. I've been in grocery stores, BJ's, Home Depot, the bank, the post office, Kohl's, Pet Smart, a cosmetic shop, Dick's Sporting Goods..... it's been a busy couple of days. For all this shopping I have noticed two things.

1) retail establishments in this area are deader than door nails. No one is out and it's not due to bad weather. It's as warm here as Florida was last week.
2) customer service sucks.

Of the 10 or 11 places I have gone to spend money in, only 2 have bothered to treat me like they want my business. Several have just ignored my existence, I'm okay with that I can get in & out faster. Five shops have displayed some of the worst management of retail I have ever seen. It's no wonder no one wants to go to a store anymore.

The worst offender was at Dick's. I needed new swimming goggles. It's 11:30am on Tuesday and I'm one of only two people shopping in the store. When I ask where the goggles are a lazy clerk, who is not doing much of anything that I could discern, tosses his head in a general "over there" motion and says "the goggles are behind that isle". "Which isle?" I ask, there are 10 isles in the area he's nodding at. "I'm not sure, but I think they're behind the coolers" he replies. I can't see any coolers.... I walk away to find them myself. After finally locating the goggles, which have no price on them and aren't on a shelf with anything else that looks familiar, I take them to the cashier. At the check out there is the one other customer paying for her merchandise, me, and six employees standing around, including a manager. The manager is talking about his golf game, or someones golf game, I have no clue but they all seem rapt at hearing this story. I stand and wait politely, wondering if they are going to break up the party to take my money today or some time this year. No one moves. No one asks if I need help, or would like to pay for my item. No one even looks my way but I can tell they noticed my arrival at the check out line. I consider walking out and waiting to see if they notice me stealing the goggles. Probably not, and it not worth getting an arrest sheet for a pair of $25 goggles.

Just when I am about to give up the ghost and leave without goggles a girl decided that she's had enough of the golf story and goes through the motions of helping me pay. No apology for making me wait, no please or thank you, no eye contact. NADA! I tell her I was about to leave since no one was making an effort to help me and she could not have cared less. If I hadn't needed new goggles in such a bad way I wouldn't have bothered. My next move is to e-mail Dick's and let them know what poor service they are offering at this location. It's not a whole lot better in most of the other shops I frequent either.

If the economy is in such bad shape I know know it's not for lack of money. It's because they have made spending your money so painful we would rather just let it pile up under the mattress. Internet shopping is looking better and better.

xox
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