How lazy can people be??

[cheese]

At the moment in our store, we are preparing to have a brand new pharmacy fitted. So a couple of the aisles are cleared, at the moment they are not sure where this stock is going so they have left a lot out the back or just run it down. There are big signs down these aisles explaining what is happening, but our customers are NOT happy.

I would be able to understand this; yes it must be extremely annoying when we have so much out of stock, but..the aisles they have cleared are the health and beauty aisles (so just shampoo,makeup, those sort of things), and guess what shop is next door..an huge Boots store. They have a much wider range of health and beauty products than we do (thats all they sell..) and they are cheaper, too. But try telling this to any of the customers and they give you a look like you just insulted their mother.. "WHAT? I have to WALK NEXT DOOR and go and queue TWICE? How DARE you inconveience me! I want to speak to a manager!" By the time they've complained to a manager, they could've queued in Boots several times over

Also, Boots already has a pharmacy, so its worrying that my shop sees enough money-making potential from lazy customers to build another one right next to it..

[karma_gypsy]

Also, Boots already has a pharmacy, so its worrying that my shop sees enough money-making potential from lazy customers to build another one right next to it..

Isn't that terrible? People can complain about high prices, but are too lazy to walk a couple extra feet to save some money. I think that's silly... Plus, why are they complaining to the manager? Are they going to produce the missing aisles magically from behind their back . .. "oh just fooling you, here they are!"

[Ree]

Ummm...if you already have a major drug store chain next to you as competition, then why would anyone be encouraging their customers to shop next door, or complain that their loyal customers, no matter how annoying, are too lazy to walk the extra few feet during your renovations??? Just wondering at what point loyalty became equated with laziness.

I would be worried that my customers would walk those extra few feet and like the competition better, and then I'm out of a job because "Boots" stole all my customers.

I'm just saying....


Not that I don't understand the frustration of customers looking for stock that's stored elsewhere, or we simply can't find. Our new store has been open 5 months, and we still can't go by the computer for inventory, because there is stuff still stashed away in cubbyholes in the various stores and warehouses that we had before the merger with the new store built.

[jayel]

Ummm...if you already have a major drug store chain next to you as competition, then why would anyone be encouraging their customers to shop next door, or complain that their loyal customers, no matter how annoying, are too lazy to walk the extra few feet during your renovations??? Just wondering at what point loyalty became equated with laziness.

I don't think cheese was complaining about loyalty; I don't think the customers would have been encouraged to walk next door under normal circumstances. For right now though the very best cheese could offer WAS to suggest going to the other store. The customers wasted more time waiting to complain/ complaining to a manager about something that nothing could be done about at the moment than they would have by following cheese's suggestion. What else could cheese have done? I'm all for loyalty, but if a store doesn't have something, and an employee tries to direct a customer the right way and they don't want to listen, what else is the employee supposed to do?

[Ree]

I don't think cheese was complaining about loyalty; I don't think the customers would have been encouraged to walk next door under normal circumstances. For right now though the very best cheese could offer WAS to suggest going to the other store.

That's a good point, and I agree, because we've sent our customers 'down the road' during our store changeover. I also know, though, how hard it is to get a customer back if we send them somewhere else while our place is in chaos.

We always run the risk of them deciding they like the calmer atmosphere, as well as the fact that they can get what they want right now, and they don't come back to us.


I think I was more answering to the comment that people complain about high prices but are too lazy to walk to save money.
Yeah, if they are staying loyal to one store, rather than going to the competition to save a buck...that's actually a good thing for the employee.

I do think, though, that they should shut up and quit whining if they do decide to stay with their regular store, and show a bit of understanding for the inconveniences.

[Customer Beating Robot]

The best customer service is to tell someone where they can get something that you can't provide. Even if it hurts the store. The customers should have complemented them on looking out for the customer first.

[AFpheonix]

We send people to other stores if they get an order for something that is out of stock that I can't get in quickly, or if it's something I can't make, or something I can't bill for like a durable medical item like a nebulizer.

They keep coming back to us because we're just so darned good. I think they appreciate if we look past trying to hang on to them at all cost and genuinely care that they get what they need when they need it, and go the extra mile to get it for them.

[cheese]

Thankyou jayel, thats exactly what I meant

I doubt we are going to lose any customers during this changeover; Customers are still going to continue to come here to get their groceries, even if they do shop next door to get their health and beauty products that is still only a small part of what we sell. However I doubt this will happen; our store managers know that customers will still continue to buy those produts here after the refurb, just cos customers can't be bothered to go to two seperate places! Boots has been there as long as we have, its a huge store and you can't miss it and everyone knows what it sells, if customers were going to shop there already they'd be doing so by now

[Canadian In Maine]

The best customer service is to tell someone where they can get something that you can't provide. Even if it hurts the store. The customers should have complemented them on looking out for the customer first.

If I'm not mistaken that is the policy that Macy's took when they first opened. It seems that looking after the customer's needs first didn't hurt them at all.

[protege]

If I'm not mistaken that is the policy that Macy's took when they first opened. It seems that looking after the customer's needs first didn't hurt them at all.

Speaking of Macy's, it's still a bit odd to see their signs in the former Kaufmann's stores here in Pittsburgh...

Anyway, I think that people are going to complain about how it's "too far to walk" for years. Remember, the majority of these people are probably also the ones who insist on parking in handicapped spaces

[XCashier]

At the Drug Store From Hell, we were always running out of the more popular brands of cigarettes. When we did, I would direct the customers to the grocery store next door. Management got on my case about me sending the customers to another store, but what else could I do? You can't sell what you don't have in stock.

Same with the OP's situation. If the store had to clear out a few aisles for remodeling, and they don't have the product, what can they do? As it is physically impossible to pull things out of thin air, the only thing to do is suggest another store.

[Ree]

I don't have a problem with sending people to another store if we don't have the stock.
We do it all the time, and have done for years.

I just know our store has recently been through an upheaval, and we've also had to deal with the grumpiness of people complaining that we don't have stock, and we have had a lot of them head to our competition and not come back.

Like I said, I think what stood out to me with those first couple of posts was there seemed to be an attitude that having customers shop there, rather than going the few feet to the competition, was an annoyance.
To me, having them stay loyal to your store shouldn't be seen as an annoyance.

[karma_gypsy]

Yes, but having them stay loyal to your store and complain about about something that's isn't in stock (or in this case, being moved/changed around), then being redirected to next door which would have the item(s) they need, then the customer wants to complain to the manager about it? I'm sorry, but the other store can have 'em.

Redirecting them is a customer service thing - them not going and would rather stay behind and complain to the manager - well, that's a laziness thing (I mean, come on, it's should have been clear the aisles were empty). What would they complain to the manager about? I couldn't imagine what the conversation must have been like . . .

[Jester]

I have been on both sides of this fence, both directing customers to other establishments if I don't have what they need, and being directed to other establishments when the business in question doesn't have what I need. In most cases, my customers are grateful for the time and attention I give them, even if it means sending them elsewhere, and likewise I am always grateful for such great customer service from businesses.

Perhaps the best example of this in my life as a customer was when I decided it was time for me to purchase a new bicycle. Keep in mind, I am an avid bicyclist, and I spent much time shopping around, comparing, and test-riding, as I was set to lay out a few hundred dollars.

Well, I happnened about Great Bike Shop, and talked to the owner/mechanic, Doc, about what I was looking for. He tried to sell me on a recumbent (the kind of bike where you are actually sitting down in almost a chair-like seat), but that was not what I wanted, though the test-rides were a hoot. He then recommended a Soft Ride, and told me all about them. They sounded great, but all he had in his stock were Soft Ride mountain bikes, and I wanted a road bike. So Doc suggested I go to his competition, Big Chain Bike Store up the road, as he knew they carried Soft Rides.

I did go to the competition, and test rode a Soft Ride road bike. And was giddy with laughter, as I had never ridden anything smoother or tighter in my life. I fell in love instantly. I might have even bought one right there, but Big Chain Bike Store did not have the right size for me. The one I test-rode was close, but to ride that one daily would have been uncomfortable, and this was a big investment for me. And I wanted the right fit. Heck, the Soft Ride was significantly beyond what I initially wanted to spend, but was so great, I had no problem justifying the jump in expenditure. Now, I could have ordered my Soft Ride of the right size from Big Chain Bike Store, but I was so impressed with Doc sending me there, that I went back to his Great Bike Shop and ordered from him, plunking down approximately $1,000 on the spot.

Though it took several weeks to get it in, once it came, he paid particular attention to it, putting it together lovingly, and he pretty much became my regular bike mechanic at that point. Heck, he often reminded me that it was HIS bike, and he was just letting me ride it. Best bike mechanic and one of the coolest people I have ever met. (And I have another cool story about it, for another time.) That was in 1997. I still have that bike, and it is still the best bike I have ever ridden in my life.

This man, Doc, risked losing a sale just so I could get what I wanted. Heck, he was the one who convinced me in the first place that that was what I wanted, even though I didn't know it yet. I became a loyal customer of his because of that great attitude, and recommended his shop and him to every other cyclist I met. The only reason I am not still a customer is that (a) I no longer live in Arizona, where the shop was, and (b) last I heard, he had sold the shop. And if true, that was a sad day for all cyclists and fans of true, good customer service.

Doc, wherever you are, I salute you! Cheers!