Another Customer Service WWDisersD

[lovetoscrap]

Had an incident today that made me wonder WWDD, particularly since we have had the Subway CS thread and the Grocery store CS thread.

Shopping at the mall on a very busy day today. We went to look for an an ornament at a kiosk that specializes in ornaments, most of them they will personalize with a year and names when you purchase. DD found a few she liked as we were standing next to the only person working. She narrowed it down to one and before I could say anything the lady working there said:

Her: "Just so you know, I am not ringing anyone else up for at least an hour."

Me: "You can't ring us up?"

Her: "I am really busy and I have to get all of these done (sweeps hand over about 10 ornaments waiting to be personalized) before I can check anyone else out."

Me: "Oh! We don't need it personalized, we will just take it like it is."

Her: "Well I don't have any change in the drawer. I am out of quarters, nickles and dimes."

Me: (seeing the credit card machine next to the register) "That's okay, I am paying with a credit card." ( I also had enough change if for some reason the cc machine wasn't working)

Her: "Look, I'm busy. I am not ringing anything else up until I finish these. It will probably be an hour."

Me: no longer and now "So I am standing here and want to buy that ornament and you aren't going to sell it to me?"

Her: "Nope"

Me:

And yes, her tone was very rude.

So we walked away, as did several other people that heard the conversation. As I said, it was a busy day-- many schools and some businesses were closed due to weather. This employee was going to turn away all customers, even if they didn't want anything personalized, for at least an hour! As we went about our shopping, every time we passed there were several people browsing their ornaments. I can't even imagine how many sales she lost.

So Disers, what would you do? Not sure what all options there might be and I hate making polls. A few I have thought of are

• Nothing. They lost my business, end of story.
• Come back in an hour and bought what I wanted. Obviously she was busy.
• Contacted the owner/management of the kiosk.
• Contacted the Mall Management.
• Gone back another time and let another employee know what happened.

I will say that I did see the humor in the fact that most of those darn kiosks have the people assaulting you with vitamins and lotions and potions and "Can I ask you a question" that I avoid like the plague and here is one I wanted to purchase from and she didn't want my business!

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

I work in customer service at a pro baseball stadium, so I've heard EVERYTHING! I would recommend contacting the headquarters for whatever kiosk the store was affiliated with, or at least the manager.

I had an AWFUL experience at my local Disney Store! I don't think Disney actually owns the stores anymore but I was just in shock at the way I was treated. I e-mailed Disney and let them know that I am extremely loyal to their brand, know what they stand for, and told them that the person I dealt with is definitely not someone they want representing their company!!

I would definitely write an e-mail, letter, or just give someone a call. The salesperson's behavior was extremely inappropriate!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I would have told my younger son that she was lonely and asked him to talk to her for a while. There is no ignoring my son. And he doesn't shut up. His only off switch is "sleep mode".

 

[SaraJayne]

I would have walked away like you did and never returned.

 

[Acklander]

As we used to say in the restaurant business, it sounds like she was "in the weeds". Once you reach that point all you can do is focus on what's in front of you and hope you come out the other side alive.
If it was me, I'd have just walked away. If I happened to be walking by later and she wasn't busy, I might buy something then, but I wouldn't have gone out of my way for it.

 

[LilyWDW]

I would have walked away and vow to never buy anything there.

I can understand saying "No personalization purchases until I get this back log cleared up" because they might not have the time to personalize the ornaments they had plus any they then sell. However, I don't understand their issue with ringing up an ornament that wasn't to be personalized. It would have taken them less time to ring you up then it took them to argue with you.

 

[hambirg]

Wow! that's awful!

I think that the person that has paid to lease that kiosk and has fronted the money for all that inventory needs to know that their "salesperson", and I use that term loosely, is refusing sales. If it was me, I would be beyond mad. This is obviously a seasonal kiosk, and now is their time to sell. . .NOT when she feels like she is caught up. . NOT whenever she decides to address her coin shortage. She should have called the manager/owner as soon as she knew she was running low. And she should have taken the few minutes it would have taken to run your CC sale. Ugh!

ETA-Even if you wanted it personalized. . .she sells you the ornament anyway and asks you to bring it back at some later time when she isn't so backlogged. You may or may not do that. . .but she still made the sale.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I would contact the owner or the manager of the kiosk. I don't know how you'd find them, but it seems to me the poor girl is overwhelmed by her job and someone needs to know so they can replace her or get her help.

I'm guessing that she had x amount of time to finish the personalized ornaments and she was running short of time. NO reason to be rude and not help you, but she needed a manager's interference.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I think it's hilarious that your conversation took up more of her time than ringing up would have. Anyways, I probably would have not done anything. A temporary kiosk doesn't seem to warrant wasting time to file a complaint with anyone.

 

[krcit]

I would have told my younger son that she was lonely and asked him to talk to her for a while. There is no ignoring my son. And he doesn't shut up. His only off switch is "sleep mode".

I would've waked away and never bought anything from them ever.

 

[luvsJack]

I would find out the information I needed to make a complaint. The owner/manager of this business is losing business and needs to know why.

 

[bicker]

1. Nothing. They lost my business, end of story.
2. Come back in an hour and bought what I wanted. Obviously she was busy.
3. Contacted the owner/management of the kiosk.
4. Contacted the Mall Management.
5. Gone back another time and let another employee know what happened.

#2 is a really bad idea. It essentially leave the business with no significant consequences for their poor service. #5 is similar, if you intend to actually make the purchase then, and if you don't then it really is misdirecting the message. (For that matter, if #3 involves making the purchase later, then we're back in the "really bad idea" category.)

#4 isn't worthwhile. As long as the tenant is paying the rent, the rest doesn't matter enough to justify pursuing that avenue.

#1 is decent. However, recognize that that's just one sale that they lost, so everyone would have to start doing #1, religiously, for it to have much impact.

#3 presumably would be in concert with #1. As such, it makes #1 stronger, but not by very much. The extent to which a small percentage of consumers try to use #3 as a tactic for personal gain, going so far as to exaggerate or lie to make the feedback sound more significant than it really is, has effectively cut the legs out of such feedback. It's not completely gone as a viable approach, but the abuse of some has harmed the rest of us, in this regard.

The best approach would be to start advocating for everyone to do #1, to regain for #1 some significant power as a tactic.

Best of luck.

 

[luvsJack]

If we never complain because someone may think its for "personal gain" the problem will not improve.

How is the manager/owner to know WHY he/she is losing business? The employee isn't going to act like that in front of the owner and she certainly isn't going to admit it. He/she may just think people no longer want personalized ornaments or the economy has just affected the business.

If you are offered a free ornament or a gift card, all you have to do is refuse the thing. The may send it anyway, don't use it or send it back. Then you have made your complaint and have not gained anything from it.

If one person complains it can make the owner of a small business take notice of what is going on, if another person complains then it will back up what the first person said. If the employee doesn't change then she may in fact lose her job, but if she is not willing to change then maybe that is what should happen. Its not fair to allow her to bankrupt the business owner either.

If we want an improvment in customer service then we have to ask for it. With our wallet, yes but also with our mouth. Owners/managers are not mind readers and are not just going to assume that their employee was being rude without someone saying something.

 

[JLTraveling]

I think the biggest problem you're going to have is finding someone to take your complaint. If it's a kiosk branch of a bigger company, you may have some success. But if it's a little independent place, good luck. My ex and I were hired to manage a mall kiosk for Christmas a number of years ago, and we didn't hire employees. What we made was barely enough for us, never mind paying someone else. So there's a strong possibility that the girl you ran into IS the manager, and it might be impossible to track down the owner without getting that information from her directly.

I think I would just let it go, and never shop there again. To me, it's not worth the potential hassle.

 

[Carly_Roach]

I would have walked away and said nothing.

If the owner of the kiosk was a savvy business person, they would have had more than one person staffing a Christmas ornament mall kiosk during the busy Christmas season. One person to run sales the other to personalize. It's not rocket science.

If they're being cheap and can't figure out that low staff means fewer sales, then Darwinism reigns and they deserve to go out of business.

 

[bicker]

If we never complain because someone may think its for "personal gain" the problem will not improve.

Well, perhaps, but if true that just underscores the need for us, collectively, to have zero tolerance for abuse, exploitation and gaming the system.

Regardless, complaints are nowhere near as powerful a message as not making the purchase. And together, the complaining aspect doesn't add much to the power of a concerted, consistent effort on the part of all consumers to patronize companies based on the quality of service, not just price.

If the kiosks providing great service consistently get more business than those who don't, things could change things significantly. Similarly, as long as the kiosks get the same amount of business regardless of service, then there will be practically no incentive to invest anything extra in trying to ensure better service is available.

If you are offered a free ornament or a gift card, all you have to do is refuse the thing. The may send it anyway, don't use it or send it back. Then you have made your complaint and have not gained anything from it.

And very substantially underscored the validity of your report.

How is the manager/owner to know WHY he/she is losing business?

Hand-in-glove with what Carly_Roach said...

If they're being cheap and can't figure out that low staff means fewer sales, then Darwinism reigns and they deserve to go out of business.

If they can't make the connection between how little they're investing in providing better service and poor sales, then they don't deserve to be in business.

 

[luvsJack]

Well, perhaps, but if true that just underscores the need for us, collectively, to have zero tolerance for abuse, exploitation and gaming the system.

Regardless, complaints are nowhere near as powerful a message as not making the purchase. And together, the complaining aspect doesn't add much to the power of a concerted, consistent effort on the part of all consumers to patronize companies based on the quality of service, not just price.

If the kiosks providing great service consistently get more business than those who don't, things could change things significantly. Similarly, as long as the kiosks get the same amount of business regardless of service, then there will be practically no incentive to invest anything extra in trying to ensure better service is available.

And very substantially underscored the validity of your report.

Hand-in-glove with what Carly_Roach said...If they can't make the connection between how little they're investing in providing better service and poor sales, then they don't deserve to be in business.

Oh, I agree that the strongest statment is in not patronizing a company with bad service (we are boycotting a certain McDonald's in town for that very reason and have let the owners know exactly why). I just think that the manager needs to know why the loss of business has come about.

Maybe in the kiosk situation and because the employee may have been the manager maybe a complaint would have been stronger being made right then and there and then walking away (also pointing out that others were walking away).

Of course, she may be seasonal help that doesn't really care if she keeps the job or not. That is what amazes me, the number of people that do not seem to care if they keep their job or not. Too many people out of work for that attitude!

 

[bicker]

That is what amazes me, the number of people that do not seem to care if they keep their job or not. Too many people out of work for that attitude!

Would most people who are out of work generally do a better job, service-wise, for the wages being offered? While surely there may be some people who would do better, there are probably people who would do worse. And given how common this sort of thing is, across the entire breadth of consumer sales, this appears to be pretty consistent with the current standard.

Also remember that this employee was actually doing the personalization work, an activity requiring a specific skill beyond just working a cash register. So the challenge here is to find someone who has at least two sets of skills, (conceptually) production and sales, along with the extra capability of being able to juggle the two, going back and forth continually. We don't know how much the employee was making, but I suspect that it was an amount that would hardly motivate the best and brightest, even in today's labor market. By the same token, superior service is available from other purveyors, though the ones I have in mind almost surely charge more than the kiosks I've seen in the malls.

 

[mjkacmom]

As we used to say in the restaurant business, it sounds like she was "in the weeds". Once you reach that point all you can do is focus on what's in front of you and hope you come out the other side alive.
If it was me, I'd have just walked away. If I happened to be walking by later and she wasn't busy, I might buy something then, but I wouldn't have gone out of my way for it.

I've waitressed (and have had 5 children, 3 in diapers, under the age of 7), and I get where she was at. It's a horrible place to be, and you do what you need to do to get through it. Maybe she was supposed to have had someone there working with her, who called in. Maybe this was her first day, and she was left alone. Who knows - cut her some slack.

 

[AKL_Megs]

I've waitressed (and have had 5 children, 3 in diapers, under the age of 7), and I get where she was at. It's a horrible place to be, and you do what you need to do to get through it. Maybe she was supposed to have had someone there working with her, who called in. Maybe this was her first day, and she was left alone. Who knows - cut her some slack.

I agree. Or, maybe her boss really did tell her that once she has X number of ornaments to personalize, take a break from sales to personalize them.

Sure, YOU probably didn't want yours personalized, but I am sure many people say the same thing, and then turn around and change their mind.