Where has CUSTOMER SERVICE gone?

Seems like every day lately I'm disappointed by a clerk's attitude, or the way a store is taken care of.

Take for example my latest trip to Lowe's (I won't even get into all of my previous trips - it would take a few days worth of writing - the one by me really is horrible - even the other Lowe's in the area admit that it sucks).

I walked in the back entrance and sitting at the register was an older gentleman. He was staring at me the entire time I was walking in - not saying a word. I waited and waited to maybe be greeted, until finally I said, "How are you today?" He answered with a mumbled, "Hello." I headed over toward the plumbing supplies to find that maybe 1 out of 10 items were in the correct spot. Can't they hire someone to just spend a few hours and straighten this stuff out? I usually end up doing it myself in an effort to find whatever I'm looking for.

Oh ya - and it never fails. The ONE thing I'm looking for? - they're out of.

Anyway, I'm headed out of the store and decide to do a little experiment. I wanted to see if the clerk would say anything at all when I checked out. We went through the ENTIRE transaction without a single word. Not a "Did you find everything OK?" or even a "Thank you" when I was walking out the door.

WTF!!!!

I find myself thanking clerks at the register rather than having them thank me! Is it me, or shouldn't they be thanking me first for shopping there? I'll say thanks, and they'll say, "uh huh." Excuse me? I certainly have a choice of where to shop - ACKNOWLEDGE THAT!


OK, keep in mind, this doesn't happen everywhere and doesn't happen all the time at certain places - more so at some than others though.

What's going on here? Is it my old age?

Nope, not your old age.

Retail, as opposed to specialty retail, (and even some of that has gotten scary!) is forced to hire the lowest level of employee to afford operations. Because of the deep discounts they offer due to the incredibly competitive market, they skimp on the employees.

They end up with people unfit for public sector jobs, people who are not people people, so to speak. Thus the surly sales reps and cashiers.

Unfortunately, too many don't operate with YOUR business principles!!

The group of people who do well at retail at the wage they can afford to pay, young, energetic people, unfortunately don't have enough experience to do much more than push the buttons at the cash register, and the management doesn't trust them to get that right most of the time. They end up being gofers, who don't know the difference between 220v and 110v, between a pipe wrench and strap wrench. (There are exceptions, of course!)

Sicne they don't know the difference, they don't see their stock is low or out and go order more. (Unfortunately, the vaunted "just in time" computer generated restocking systems can't cope very well with the ebb and surge of retail sales!)

The biggest frustration is that they can't just be nice and pleasant and say, "I'm sorry, we don't/can't help you today!"

I've switched to Home Depot for most of my purchases because they seem to be just one pay scale up from Lowes and attract a slightly more helpful group, at least in out area.

Bill

Yes

Yes

We have just the opposite problem where I work. Well, not totally. All our Customer Service is in India, so nobody can understand them.

Tech support is a different story. A lot of agents in India again, but overall we're so dang good that people call back to have us fix problems we can't, and then whine and complain that they have to call somebody else "Dell isn't as nice as you guys, I like talking to you guys, etc."

I was just reading an article in the computer magazine "Smart Computing" (which is actually the only PC related mag I find interesting anymore), that was all talking about how tech support and customer service in the computer industry has taken a dive. They went very in depth on it finding which company was the best, worse and mediocre. Gave each company several ways(email, chat and phone) to solve 3 different problems. Talked alot about how many companys are moving their support to India due to costs in the states. Somehow, Dell got a decent grade, but all the time that I had a Dell, I never was satisfied by their support and was more happy with what I solved than them. They graded 29 companys on 5 different scales; Overall Grade, Accessibility, Knowledge, Support Time, and Solution. Decent article.
Cameron

my fav grocery store is and always has been publix.why ya ask?well there so polite. its like light and day between them and other stores..i think some other stores train there employes to be unknowladble and rude.im a very loyal custermer to places that dont suck

Raggie, I actually work at a grocery store as a checker right now and our managers get unhappy with us if we do anything wrong. Once a month, we have whats called a Mystery Shopper. They go through the entire transaction, grading it all. We are supposed to ask all the questions and everything. If we dont, and we dont get a 100%, we must take a stupid computer test that 'teaches' us all about customer service. They also grade the other workers of the store (Grocery Dept, Meat, Deli, Produce) and same goes for them. And since I have worked there, I have seriously realized what real customer service is and I get unhappy when I get treated like crap somwhere else, specially another grocery store.
Cameron

I agree that the economics of competition have drastically affected retail. I grew up in retail - my father was a merchant and I worked retail management for the 1st half of my life. No way would I go back into it now.

In an operation where there is good customer service and you encounter an occasional problem, I would agree that it would be beneficial to report it to the manager. But in the situation that Chris described, the manager IS the problem. The tone of a retail operation is a direct reflection of the management.

Every business that I frequent that has outstanding customer service has an active manager involved with customers and employees on the sales floor. They know what their employees are doing and they're there to help both staff and customers. That's what a MANAGER does.

It's not a customer's job to report to the store's management what their 300 employees are or are not doing. Unfortunately, another downside of the competitive retail market is the loss of the true retail manager to administrative or operational managers, and it shows.

what i hate more is some employes are just stupid. most places i go to i know more then the employe.

I love when store employees ask you if they can help you with anything, but they can't explain anything to you and don't know what they are talking about.

Yeah, I love going into Best Buy's computer dept. Some kid will come up and ask, "can I help you with anything?" I laugh to myself. Too many times have I asked for something, only to have to give the kid a lesson in computers.

Another peeve of mine is some fast food drive thrus when you have a somewhat large order. I hate it when you pay at one window (not a problem), go up to the second window and someone hands you one bag, doesn't say 1 word. Not thank you. Not here you go. I say "is this everything?" The person just gives a look like, duh, yeah.

Sometimes you just have to visit one store and pick out one clerk you like and reserve your business for them and that clerk, if you can.

I have developed a relationship with one clerk at a Safeway grocery story nearby. I always go to her, she knows me and helps me unlike the others. On occasions when possible she has closed down for a few minutes to personally help me find something. Once when I asked about a particular Ice Cream she closed down and went with me to the ice cream aisle and showed me all the one's she had tried, which she liked and why.

I wrote the main office to let them know how I appreciated her level of personal customer service she offers to me and others.

One thing you can do is when you find a gem, write a note to the company!

GregR

Customer service is gone,
One of the major reasons I make most purchases off the internet is I can gleen information before I purchase. The sheer amount of information available concerning products and technology available is mind boggling.
Go to flashlightlens.com and learn more than you need to know about lens. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif Ordered 2 of your heat hardened 52.1mm lens today, I can survive with 97.5% light transmitance.
Lowes blows when it comes down to customer service, luckily I case the joint to get what I need.

I have a Lowe's story as well.

I was with my friend and we bought a few items. At the register the guy working there didn't even make eye contact with us, scanned the items, and stood there looking forward towards the cash register waiting for my friend to swipe his card. When it failed he stuck out his hand while still looking forward and sighed. My friend signed on the kiosk and he handed or should I say threw him the reciept while still looking at the register. My friend didn't say anything until after we left, I would sure say something about it if it happened to me.

I now go to Home Depot, I see a lot of people from high school there, including a very cute girl I was sprung on. Way better service than Lowe's.

Another place where customer service or just plain manners is lacking is at my gym (Bally Total Fitness). They are your best friends when you are signing up, afterwards they don't know you're there. I am there 5 days a week, and some people that work on the front desk don't even make eye contact when I walk in. I use to say ''hows it going'' for a while, until I realized some people were just brought up differently. Now I walk in, scan my card, and I am on my way.

Personally, I like that stores are hiring morons. They don't have to pay them as much, so my prices are lower.

As many have pointed out, you can do all your product research on the internet for free - why pay more for an "expert" at a retail store when you could just ask around here and get better answers than even the "experts" can give you?

I needed a new camcorder, and I didn't know much about them, so I considered going to a local camera store, but instead, I did some research on the internet, found the perfect camcorder, and saved $300 over what the camera store would have charged me.

It's almost accepted as common wisdom that Wal-Mart is an evil entity, putting moms and pops all out of business all over the country. The more I think about it, though, the more I think this is really a good thing, not a bad one. Retail is an economic black hole. There's no direct creation or innovation there. It's all overhead. Ultimately, the only innovation possible in retail is minimization of that overhead, which Wal-Mart has nearly perfected.

The first argument against Wal-Mart (or any other big-box retailer) is that they remove money from local economies by shipping profits to the home office. Guess what - tons of profits are already being extracted from your community and shipped off every time you buy a product produced elsewhere. Wal-Mart does a double favor to the local economy by first minimizing the cut the manufacturer can take by applying price pressure, then minimizes their own cut as well.

Another arguement against nationwide chain retailers (eg Best Buy more than Wal-Mart) is that they hire cheap labor instead of the experts that most local stores have. Again, another needless overhead markup in most cases. You don't need an expert to sell you a VCR. Why would anyone advocate paying more for stuff like this? High-end stuff where expert advice really is needed always starts off in the local shops, and only slowly filters to the big boxes as the general public becomes more aware of it. If you need expert advice, be prepared to pay for it, but don't advocate it for everyone.

Retail can't build your economy. You can't export it. Its effects are primarily negative. Just follow the path of least resistance, and work to make retail as unobtrusive as possible.

Please believe me when I say customer service as a whole, just plain sux.

HOWEVER, that being said, I must say that in my younger years I worked retail. So did my wife. My first job was a stockboy and all around general sales help at K-Mart. I always treated people nice and was friendly to all. But, it never fails. When you work retail you are a punching bag for any and everybody who is having a bad day or just feels like being an a-hole. You gotta take crap from people who know you have to take it.
But yea, customer service sux.

Hey AlphaTea, I think you have at least part of it right. Retail stores are competing with big-box pricing and so they cut back on wages and benefits and give their employees little to no respect. And if you think clerks can be rude, you ain't seen nothing compared to an obnoxious customer who thinks his miserable $3.49 purchase makes him heir to the Peacock Throne. Try to deal with that all day.

I kind of look at it from the other side. These clerks have such crummy jobs that it is my responsiblity as a customer to bring a little cheer into their lives.

But the point is still valid. With pricing pressures from the internet, dollar-a-day foreign workers and big-box merchants, not many retailers can afford top-dollar service.

I really do think it boils down to management sometimes. There's actually another Lowes a little South of here. I knew a guy who knew a guy (you know...) who worked there and said that everyone at that store knew the management at the one by me sucked. I like the Home Depot a lot, but the Lowes is about a mile away - vs 4 or 5 for the HD.

Funny thing is - when I walk around in Home Depot, all the clerks will actually go out of their way to great me - when I'm just walking around!

Maybe stores get in a situation where they actually have all the business they need, so they stop caring? If my Lowes started feeling the hurt, would things change?

They say that one advantage of buying from a bricks 'n' mortar store is the higher level of personal service they offer, compared to the internet. Well, I can't say I've seen much evidence of that recently.

We've been trying to buy a new FM tuner, amplifier and CD player this week. We visted four or five local hi-fi shops on Thursday, none of them had any of the items we liked in stock (even though they were all on display). One of them said there would be a delivery on Friday, so we went back today (Saturday), only to find that nothing we liked had been delivered.

Our fruitless search took about four hours in total, cost us petrol/parking and left us feeling disappointed and a little bewildered.

None of the shops we visited made any attempt to go through possible alternatives with us, none of them made any offer or effort to telephone a distributor or order anything for us, none of them seemed concerned at the prospect of losing a £500-600 sale, none of them even said "sorry".

I managed to fix our old tuner/amp and it works as good as new. I'll be buying the CD player online and have already identified four promising suppliers. It took me well under 30 minutes to find them and will probably take even less time to order something.

So, it's a big, fat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif to the High Street. And they wonder why they're having trouble competing with the internet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Lowe's gets what is pays for. A big company like that and it's easy for lazy employees to fall through the cracks.

Go to Ace Hardware, they employ retired tradesmen that want to be there. I can't walk two feet in that store wihthout somebody greeting me and asking if they can be of help.

Besides, Ace always hires a hot young high school chick to run the register. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif