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| | Author | Messages | |
Jason
Posts:3378
 | | 09/07/2007 11:26 PM |
 Alert | Posted By bstoneaz on 09/07/2007 11:11 PM
Jason,
DD is right, maybe you don't see customers leaving full carts of groceries in the store, but what about all the customers who don't even enter the store when they see how busy it is and how few employees there are. Or how about the customers who are already so turned off they never go back.
Ramsey's is a prime example of this. When he first opened the food sucked, the service sucked and all the employees sucked. A few months ago all that changed, but not before a vast amount of people were already so turned off they refused to return. That could have ultimately been the demise for Ramsey.
That's a good example, but eating out is optional, you can choose not to eat out. Grocery shopping isn't. Sure, you can go somewhere else, but how many will go all the way into town? How many will forgo the learned knowledge of their own store? How many will take the warmed up cold goods on the drive back (especially with 347 the way it is!) Fry's and Basha's have a mostly captive market. Sure, there are a few who will go to AJ's, but I really don't think there are that many in Maricopa that will do that instead of Fry's and Basha's for all of their grocery shopping. And I don't see them going into town for Safeway, Fry's, Basha's and Albertsons, since I get long lines at checkout every time at those locations too.
Yes, you can irritate customers so much that they don't come back, but like that study showed, it takes a great deal before customer's switch to better alternatives. | |
Joined: Jul 2005 | |
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| | Shears-in-Chandler
Posts:2
| | 09/07/2007 11:34 PM |
Alert |
Most of the time, my husband & I are STILL shocked at the lack of Customer Service we have found here in Arizona. After more than FOUR (4) years here. It should not matter one iota how much a person is paid/compensated/rewarded.....when you work with the public it's a GIVEN that
A) you greet the customer with a smile
B) you make eye contact
C) be nice
D) THANK THEM FOR THEIR PATRONAGE
My husband & I both work with the public. Yes, at times it IS difficult. But, bottom line, it is not the customers fault if you (the service provider) are having a bad day. Suck it up -- you ARE being paid (alot of $ or a little) to do whatever it is you are doing. Work ethic, work ethic!
Bstoneaz, you were absolutely right on.
BeerLeague, I too worked in the 80's when it was a recession & you were lucky to have a job...no matter what it was.
DD, why isn't money/profit margin a HUGE motivator to train employees in the art of customer service, even a little ???
And finally, Bitter & AZsouth.... do both of you really, really, REALLY not mind getting crappy service & still having to pay for it ??? I am in no way trying to attack people who are AZ natives (if you are). That is not my point. Any state in the union will have bad service somewhere, sometime. My point is this : the apathy is appalling, and it appears to be growing.
BTW, we (my husband & I) have lived in Copa since March '04....when RED was the only choice unless you wanted acreage....and we wont be moving anytime soon 
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So many heads of hair,
So little time .... | |
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| | Tempting Fait1
Posts:847
| | 09/08/2007 6:34 AM |
Alert | I think this is an example of "the fish stinking from the head down". Managment doesn't care and that attitude trickles down.
The baggers need better training and the next time I get home with a squished loaf of bread I'm returning it. I always ask for paper bags and about half the time I have to remind them 2 or 3 times, and once was called a crabby witch(with a b) by the cashier for requesting paper bags--3 times. As I was leaving Fry's yesterday I noticed someone elses bag still sitting there, it was a few ears of corn ON TOP of a hand of bananas, I was really glad they weren't my smashed bananas!! | |
The red head is BACK!! (and still mouthy)
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| | TheShermanator
Posts:277
| | 09/08/2007 6:58 AM |
Alert | WOW!
I originally am from Reading/Lancaster PA - PA Amish Dutch Country- about 60 miles outside of Philly.
In the grocery stores back home -
- No one bags your groceries - the checkout person does it and you help.
- No one asks you if you need help to your car.
No one talks to anyone else - no eye contact in the street as you are walking, everyone is so consumed with themselves, they could care less about anyone else.
Although customer service may suck every once in awhile, its a lot better that it is in other places. People do smile at you, here - they don't back East. People talk to each other here - they don't do that back East, either. I am still amazed when someone asks me if I want help out to my car.
Everyone has bad days. I understand they are customer service, and they are getting paid for it, but how many of us have had bad days at our jobs? I'm a programmer, and supposed to code all day long. There are days when I get nothing done - just a lot of spinning my wheel on several lines of code. Should I be fired for a bad day? No. Am I not doing my job if I have a bad day? No.
As for bagging my groceries - I usually help as well - it gets done faster and I can get out of there faster! | |
Formerly known as 'greytxracers'
"My greyhound is smarter than your honor student"
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| | Blue Orchid
Posts:659
| | 09/08/2007 10:01 AM |
Alert | About two weeks ago I was in Fry's with hubby. He needed to do something at the customer service desk and while waiting for I am, I was reading the papers that were posted on the front of the desk. One of them was talking about "mystery shoppers" and what was expected of the employees. The top 2 were: Great each customer with a smile and make eye contact! I guess "the Old Lady Checker" missed that one!
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| | shinyredstar
Posts:89
| | 09/08/2007 5:26 PM |
Alert | The problem with customer service is that it should, to some degree, work both ways. The customer also has some responsibility to treat the employees fairly and with consideration. Just because there's a problem that shouldn't give the customer free reign to berate the employee of the business. It's been my experience that the customers are often just as awful. I have to provide exemplary customer service at work, as well as training my employees on doing the same, but it's often difficult. I'll be working with a customer and another person will come up while we're speaking and start talking to me about whatever their issue is right while I'm in the middle of helping someone else- like that other person doesn't even exist!
But I also agree- I've never experienced such poor overall customer service as I have in Arizona. I'd like to think it makes the service in my business better as I use those experiences as examples for training. | |
As Bertrand Russell once said, "The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation." I think we can all appreciate the relevance of that now. | |
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|  | demonica
Posts:850
| | 09/09/2007 6:12 PM |
Alert | | what i wonder about is the lack of common sense. why would you think that putting 3 2 liters of soda into one flimsy plastic bag is a good idea? when i worked at a grocery store in high school, they gave us rudimentary training in bagging groceries, but most of it is just plain common sense. where did that go? | | | |
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| | shinyredstar
Posts:89
| | 09/11/2007 7:48 AM |
Alert | | Common sense isn't... all that common? | |
As Bertrand Russell once said, "The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation." I think we can all appreciate the relevance of that now. | |
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| | 06woman
Posts:356
| | 09/11/2007 11:54 AM |
Alert | I like to bag all my own things when I have enough to go through the self-checkout. I personally like my cold/frozen things together. My fragile items like eggs and bread carefully bagged and not 50 lbs of cans packed into one bag. If I have a lot though, I'd rather not do that.
I think that teenagers and young people these days have not learned respect and they have an attitude. It's evident when I walk through a mall and hear them talk loudly so that everyone around them can hear them say the "f word" because they think it makes them cool.
Everywhere that I have worked that was in a customer service role: cashier, sales associate, server, pizza delivery, fast food...I wouldn't have had a job very long if I had a rude attitude. | |
"Happiness is a journey...not a destination."
"The highest form of ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about." -
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
This is my son and a Lake Erie sunset. July 8,2007
Senior Member
Posts: 2268
Joined: May 2006 | |
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| | livinginthecopasux
Posts:944
| | 09/11/2007 12:09 PM |
Alert | | those are some pretty crappy jobs | |
BUSTED! | |
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| | pigsrule
Posts:115
| | 09/11/2007 1:09 PM |
Alert | | This is the way I look at it. You take the job the least you should do is make an effort to treat everyone with respect and kindness. I have worked in the customer service industry off and on for 12 years. And thats what it is "Customer Service"! You are always going to have rude customers or patrons that will put a damper on your day but, the next person may be fabulous so don't take it out on them. Some people just are unhappy and like to make everyone else unhappy but, that person doesn't have to be you! The customer is paying your bills and providing you with a paycheck. I agree some people that visit your store, resturant, etc are rude and treat you like crap but, you should rise above it and remember you don't know whats going on with them...Maybe nothing but, just pretend and move on! I have met some of the most amazing people through customer service jobs, so don't close your mind and think everyone is crap because one person has to be a pill! I do understand sometimes its hard but, be the better person and suck it up! I feel good customer service is key and it is also important for management to treat their employees well so they in turn will treat the customers better! Hogs and Kisses | | | |
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| | Dot
Posts:32
| | 09/11/2007 3:12 PM |
Alert | | I have to agree with TheShermator. I too am from the same area of the East Coast. And at times I am shocked when people offer to help you, or just plain say Hi. Doesn't make it right but that's the way is it there. The one thing that does bother me at the grocery store is when you come out to the parking lot only to find someone has placed there cart either right behind or up against my car. So in order for me to leave I have to put there cart away. And we wonder where our children learn to respect others. | | | |
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| | LeonPotter
Posts:653
| | 09/12/2007 7:39 AM |
Alert | | I'm not defending the cashier, but reread the OP again. I don't believe that's the "fabulous" next customer. | |
My answer WAS "NO" to Q#5 and Q#1.
Proverbs 22:7
The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender. | |
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| | caveman
Posts:1276
| | 09/12/2007 10:05 AM |
Alert | | To the op. I am that old lady checker at frys. I just learned that day that I had breast cancer and had a hard time dealing with it. They don't give us much time off at frys and my manager is not the nicest of people. I am sorry for not helping but I am dealing with some very personal issues here. | | | |
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| | demonica
Posts:850
| | 09/13/2007 9:13 PM |
Alert | | {begin heavy sarcasm} i was THRILLED to get home yesterday and find my 7 bananas had been put on top of my 3 tomatoes {end heavy sarcasm}, yeah, i guess common sense has become pretty uncommon. i usually prefer to bag my own as well, but since i have lost my basha's card, i have to go to a checker to have my phone number put in, can't do that at the self checkout. i suppose i could just fill out an application for a new card... | | | |
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| | Jerseygirl
Posts:331
| | 09/13/2007 9:57 PM |
Alert | I, too, also being from the East Coast, can not get used to how nice people are out here. We never even had baggers back east, and no one would ever ask if you needed help to your car. And if you did need help, fuggetaboutit!!! I love shopping at Frye's. I think for the most part, everyone I have encountered has been very nice. Especially, the one whom is being called 'the old lady'. She is always sweet, kind and curtious, and not old either. Some of the younger generation should learn from her. As far as their baggers go, I think they need some training there, the young kids just don't get it!
I also want to give a special THANKS to the young lady with the long dark hair who is always so nice, and helpful. She pulls off the sticker type coupons that I always forget, and bags everything herself. She's a pro at bagging!!! | |
Mobile Custom Auto Repair
"We Come To You!"
520-280-3775 | |
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| | alyssald
Posts:178
| | 09/20/2007 6:12 PM |
Alert | | Wow, I have seriously never had a problem at Fry's (okay, except for their exceptionally high prices). I have always put all my grocerie on the belt arranged in the way I want them bagged, e.g. cold food with cold food, light food like bread/chips together, eggs last so they're all by themselves and they always get bagged properly....I've never had the "Old Lady Checker" it's usually a young kid who bags the groceries and wishes me a good day/night. The only incident I've ever had at Fry's was once when the checker rang something up four times for $4.50 each time when it should've been 45 cents....she couldn't figure out how to reverse it and was just going to go on like we didn't notice...but we made her correct it and she got so frazzled and was so embarrassed that I seriously wanted to go hug her and tell her it's okay to make a mistake! I'm really not that sappy of a person, but she was genuinely upset. Anytime I've ever asked a person where something is they've personally shown me to the aisle and when I needed to get into the locked case by the pharmacy the greeter at the front door tracked down the person with keys for me...even though they were closing in like 10 minutes Oh, and what's up with everything closing by 11? No 24 hour pharmacy? Don't they know that people don't get sick during business hours...we get sick at like 3a.m.! | | | |
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| | bizybeth
Posts:569
| | 09/20/2007 6:45 PM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By caveman on 09/12/2007 10:05 AM
To the op. I am that old lady checker at frys. I just learned that day that I had breast cancer and had a hard time dealing with it. They don't give us much time off at frys and my manager is not the nicest of people. I am sorry for not helping but I am dealing with some very personal issues here.</div>
Did no one see this??? You keep on talking as if this post were never there. You cry about customer service and yet no one has offered this person a sympathetic response???
I am truly sorry for your news. It must be very difficult for you right now. I had 3 family members go through this. If you need anything, PM me. | |
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| | DIRTY BIRDIE
Posts:342
| | 09/21/2007 12:37 PM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By bizybeth on 09/20/2007 6:45 PM
<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By caveman on 09/12/2007 10:05 AM
To the op. I am that old lady checker at frys. I just learned that day that I had breast cancer and had a hard time dealing with it. They don't give us much time off at frys and my manager is not the nicest of people. I am sorry for not helping but I am dealing with some very personal issues here.</div>
Did no one see this??? You keep on talking as if this post were never there. You cry about customer service and yet no one has offered this person a sympathetic response???
I am truly sorry for your news. It must be very difficult for you right now. I had 3 family members go through this. If you need anything, PM me. </div>
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| | Ratboy
Posts:0
| | 09/21/2007 1:11 PM |
Alert | | Good luck to to you Mam, I hope you get better. | | | |
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