That’s spooky, SBS, b/c I had a nearly identical experience last year at a bike shop.
4 guys behind the counter, one of them working on a bike, the others just yapping, and me in full view, with my bike, the only customer in the shop.
I only gave them a minute and a half. After all, I’m there to give them business, pay their bills. When it was obvious they really weren’t all that het up to do anything for me, I rolled my bike out the door. No one batted an eye.
Took my bike to the other shop in town, got great service, became a regular customer. Wrote a letter to the owner of the other shop explaining why I wouldn’t be taking my business there.
Since I haven’t had the hypothetical convenience store job, I haven’t had the chance to do any of the stuff I said I would probably do in such a situation. It’s called creative license. And I already said that just because I think that’s what I’d do, doesn’t necessarily mean I’d do it in real life.
In my day-to-day life, I am a polite person, and I treat those with whom I come in contact with a basic respect. I just think a job like that could drive a normally polite person to push the boundaries.
Maybe on here I make the mistake of trying to be clever and funny in my posts and others take it completely literally. I figure tongue-in-cheek humor is obvious, but I guess I’m wrong. Sometimes I paint an over-the-top picture in order to drive home a basic point.
I’ll still maintain that I think an adult working for $6.50 an hour could easily be driven to bad behavior. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch. I mean, hell, that’s what this thread is based on.
It is possible, but my experience has been pretty universal everywhere I have lived (literally from coast to coast). I may just have good service karma, sort of like those folks that always find good parking. Don’t know, but I am pretty sure that my ideas have some merit.
Why, thank you kindly for your apology. I accept it unreservedly and am grateful.
I have to say I’m astounded at the things that are written into my company’s policy handbook. Things that I consider just plain common sense. It’s actually written in as a policy that you are to acknowledge the customer within one minute of his or her arrival at the counter. “Acknowledge” as in “nod, smile and say I’ll be with you in just a minute” if necessary. I think that if you need to be told that you need to do that, you are not competent to work at my company.
A few weeks ago, Gunslinger and I were at a sword & knife shop at a mall. We wanted to take a look at and possibly purchase a cavalry saber they had on display behind the counter. However, the man who was running the store was talking to another customer about airsoft pistols, and during the entire 15 or 20 minutes we were standing at the counter, he looked over at us several times and made eye contact with me twice without ever acknowledging our presence. He didn’t say a word, he didn’t even nod at me when we made eye contact. Finally I got really fed up and left the store; I won’t be going back.
When I was a waitress, not only was it expected, we purposely made SURE that we communicated everything we could to the customer about every part of their dining experience. Particularly if something was short, or going to take a bit longer or whatever.
I don’t think you were rude for asking, but it’s possible that it was the WAY you asked that set your friend off?
