When you ask an Associate for assistance with an item that is on the very top shelf and they tell you " I can't reach that . " , and walk away...

But yes, customer service is almost non existent, it's a shame

I just came back from a week in the Czech Republic and Poland, I was astonished at the pride people took in their work. In everything they do.

I helped another customer reach something while at the grocery store last week. I had a good foot of height on him, but the item was still out of reach. I didn’t want to risk a climb, so I picked up my 5yr old, held him above my head, and had him grab the item.

Win.

I would have gotten his name and talked to his manager.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
When you ask an Associate for assistance with an item that is on the very top shelf and they tell you " I can't reach that . " , and walk away...

And I can almost guarantee you that the associate feels they are underpaid and overworked.

Needed a can of etching primer, Home Desperate says they have 8 in stock, nothing on the shelf, that's above my 6 ft 2 inch height, tip toe up and sure as shit someone shoved all 8 cans to the back where you'd need Shaq to get to them. Nobody around to help, and they'd need to be 7 ft tall.

So over to the lawn sprinkler aisle, grab a 3 ft precut section of 1/3 inch pvc, pop on a 90 corner, and a pre shaped u piece, made my own hook to reach way back, got the paint... Left the hook...

I spent yesterday being insulted by customer service in various situations.. a real eye-opener as to what’s happened in the last year or two. Incredibly rude staff. Part of me thought maybe it was just me, but I was being polite and courteous and thoughtful with my questions and trying to find it myself before asking. Here’s a tip for staff: go check stock before you commit to somebody over the phone from two hours away that you actually have it - and you will have it when I get there the next day.

Had to laugh at this. Back 4 decades ago when I was single and living in NYC I would fantasize about meeting girls in the supermarket.

But the only females who would talk to me were the old ladies who needed me to reach the prune juice on the top shelf.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Here’s a tip for staff: go check stock before you commit to somebody over the phone from two hours away that you actually have it...

Yeah, good luck with that. They don't give a shit what you need as long as they think you'll come in the store and buy the next closest thing.

Not their gas you are burning to get there.

"Every call results in a visit!" I used to work for such a Manny, Moe, & Jackass that did business this way.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
I spent yesterday being insulted by customer service in various situations.. a real eye-opener as to what’s happened in the last year or two. Incredibly rude staff. Part of me thought maybe it was just me, but I was being polite and courteous and thoughtful with my questions and trying to find it myself before asking. Here’s a tip for staff: go check stock before you commit to somebody over the phone from two hours away that you actually have it - and you will have it when I get there the next day.

When I was still in the auto and motorcycle parts business I’d physically check the bin for phone in requests and offer to hold it for a reasonable time like 24 hours. I’d even check the bin when the inventory showed zero, hey, posting errors happen.

A lot of times people would come in and when they found out we were out of stock and they were told by another dealer that we had the part on hand. I’d ask them if anyone called to check if it was actually on hand or if they had gone by the information on the locator.

And of course neither they or the other dealer had called to check and it was all our fault.

Problem was the parts locator was anywhere between 1-7 days behind as they are not in real time.

To me it depends on where you were shopping. If it was Walmart, you aren’t paying for customer service, so I would just chalk it up. I prefer to pay more for products and get customer service so I pay higher prices that allow retailers to provide customer service and avoid Walmart like the plague. I’m at the point that if I’m buying from a big box store instead of a local business then I don’t expect to be served and then I’m not disappointed. The American consumer has driven hard for a race to the bottom so they can get the absolute lowest possible price, no matter the consequence and then bitches about self checkout, not enough associates, lack of product knowledge etc. I personally find it humorous and it just makes me treasure my local businesses where I pay a bit more but get treated with actual customer service.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
I spent yesterday being insulted by customer service in various situations.. a real eye-opener as to what’s happened in the last year or two. Incredibly rude staff. Part of me thought maybe it was just me, but I was being polite and courteous and thoughtful with my questions and trying to find it myself before asking. you actually have iHere’s a tip for staff: go check stock before you commit to somebody over the phone from two hours away that t - and you will have it when I get there the next day.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If and when I call looking for something spefic I get employees name and have them go and physically put their hand on the item. Tell them to put my name on it and when to expect my arrival... Actually worded like that. ..... What gets me madder than hell when the web site shows multible quanity in stock and stock location but upon arrival at store the items can not be found even when instore computer shows it in stock........... drill sgt.

Walmart app showed the item I wanted was in stock, so I went to the store, item was not on the shelf. I asked an employee (what's the difference between an employee and an "associate?") for help. She checked, told me "yes, it's in the back on a pallet, buried behind today's truck delivery, and we can not get access to it. Maybe tomorrow?"

Been there, done that, this week, so I decided to order the online thing for curbside pickup. It worked great 2x yesterday.

When you get the message that your order for ready to pickup, it should definitely be, because they have to scan the bar code.
.

I blame the suits .
They don't give a shit these days.
They don't offer the support that is required.

They are too busy counting their money.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Walmart app showed the item I wanted was in stock, so I went to the store, item was not on the shelf. I asked an employee (what's the difference between an employee and an "associate?") for help. She checked, told me "yes, it's in the back on a pallet, buried behind today's truck delivery, and we can not get access to it. Maybe tomorrow?"

If they took the time to go and look and find it, you'd think they could make the effort to get it unburied and bring it to you... but then that might actually take work.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I blame the suits .
They don't give a shit these days.
They don't offer the support that is required.

They are too busy counting their money.

I disagree . The " suits " usually have no idea that there's a problem . If you report an employee to their Manager , a lot of times the Manager has their hands tied by HR . The employee will report the incident as harassment . If you go to a District Manager with a complaint , it's the same thing .They don't want their boss to know there's a problem because it might cost them their bonus or even their job . So if they initiate disciplinary action , the cat is out of the bag .
My wife is a retired manager from Lowe's . I could tell you stories that you wouldn't believe . The inmates truly run the asylum . She retired because she was unable to run her departments like they were supposed to be run . Yet she was still held accountable . Not worth the stress . Sorry to be so long winded but it was a frustrating situation for her and I was glad when she left it behind .

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:

If they took the time to go and look and find it, you'd think they could make the effort to get it unburied and bring it to you... but then that might actually take work.

She checked the listing, then walked back to the stockroom and she could see the pallet by looking between two other fully loaded pallets. No way to access what I needed without unloading the pallets that were blocking it, which would have taken an hour or two. I wasn't going to wait. The girl did what she could, but there's a limit to what she can do.

Customer service, hah. I got off the phone with Tracfone CS this morning after waiting 45 minutes. Spoke with an off shore little dingbat who, I believe, could not find her ass with both hands.

She offered to email me instructions after I gave her my email address, which I asked her to repeat to me for clarification.

Her answer:"I can't give you an email address over the phone".

I'm still waiting for the email from her.

I shit-canned Straight Talk, which is part of the Tracfone family, because of frustration with the customer NO-service from their call center in the Philippines.

Switched to Spectrum mobile. Lower cost, and customer service is U.S. based; in fact, the walk-in Spectrum store near me is staffed by courteous, helpful, employees.