I’ve noticed this a lot lately. A lot of people in retail don’t say thank you any longer after you’ve spent money in a place. I was in a camera shop not long ago and spent nearly $500 I realize in a camera shop this is probably nothing, but $500 isn’t chump change either. The clerk gave me my bag’o shit said here ya go, off I went.
Maybe I’m just an old foggy (42), but when I did my retail stint in my younger years my employer made it a point to instruct me to always tell the customers “Thank You” at the end of a transaction no matter the amount because customers are the people that are paying the rent, food on tables, salaries etc… Then usually the customer would say thank you as well.
My camera shop experience got me thinking and I started taking note recently of what a person said after I spent money in a place I would say roughly 50 % of the time there’s no Thank you. Sure there maybe a "here ya go, have a good one etc.
But no “thank you” for spending your disposible income here. And not all of these places are huge corporate businesses. Some of these are mom and pop shops, privately owned businesses. The camera shop was a private business.
It felt really odd today when at a corner store that I’m a regular at on the way home from work all I got was “your good” meaning my debit card worked and I just walked out saying nothing. All this time I was saying thank you to them after making a purchase just how I was brought up.
Just a striking observation on how times have changed.
Where do you shop? I see that and many other pleasantries - greetings upon entering, wishes for a good day/week/weekend/vacation, etc. - generally. I live in the suburbs of Chicago and see it there, and I’ve been seeing it on my New England vacation this week as well. (In fact - to the sweet woman at Roost/The Beehive in Salem, MA today: I remarked to my husband after leaving that someone would make a fortune if they could bottle and sell your effervescent personality.)
When I worked retail, it always felt more natural to say “Have a nice day” rather than “Thank you for shopping at [insert store name].” When I shop clerks often say the same to me, and I think it’s perfectly acceptable.
corporation or small business, generally the employees could care less how much money you drop in their store. they’re still getting the same shitty paycheck unless they work on commission or something. as long as the employees are polite and acknowledge you i don’t see the problem.
It went to the same place that saying “I would like” and “please” on the customer’s part went. Most of the clerks here say “merci, passez une belle journée.” The customers? Not so much.
Yes, you have to use the magic word. Even with clerks. “Gimme a large coffee” is not acceptable. “I’d like a large coffee, please,” is more like it. That would be because you are talking to a human being, not pressing button A14 on a vending machine. How is this not automatic?
Even better than a routine “Thank you” would be a smile, or a playful or sincere conversational gambit. This is something that makes life in Thailand pleasant (though the novelty of interacting with a foreigner works in my favor).
Returning to California after long stays in Thailand, I almost experienced culture shock.
I’ll guess that general friendliness varies strongly from place to place in America. Just within the Greater San Fran Bay Area, I perceived dramatic differences from town to town.
I can’t even imagine expecting to be thanked for shopping somewhere. As a customer, I may appreciate a store that stocks some random item and I’ll say something to that effect but I don’t really care if the clerk says thank yo when I grab my razor blades and milk.
I always like it when the cashier and I both say “thank you” as she gives me my change: me for helping me, she for shopping there. Then again, I generally like it when the other person looks like she might be more interested in doing her job than in doing her nails… the thank-yous are one of the things that tell me I’m dealing with a person and not with a mannequin.
I find that less disturbing than them acting all friendly, since at least the former is honest. If they are all smiles, it’s probably because they are under orders to smile or else. A smiling cashier makes me feel guilty.
I completely agree. Customer service by following the script your manager told you to use is grating and artificial. What I would like is for people to engage me as a person rather than a scripted event.
VOOM! <this is the sound of sales help instantly appearing at your side>
me: I’d like this, please.
THANK YOU! Thank you thank you thank you thank you. Please, sit down and relax while I ring this up. Cash or credit?
me: <hands over credit card>
THANK YOU. Installments or pay all at once?
me: all at once.
THANK YOU! Here’s your card back <card held in both hands, slight bow. If the customer is seated, nine times out of ten the sales staff will skooch down on one knee so as not to ‘talk down’ to the customer>
<purchases wrapped>
THANK YOU! thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Please! allow me to carry this purchase for you to the store entrance!
THANK YOU! thank you thank you thank you thank you. Come again!
Maybe as part of the transaction, customers could be asked which parting platitude they prefer.
“Sir, is there something I can help you with?”
“I’ll say there is. I specifically requested ‘come back and see us’, and your cashier said ‘thanks and have a great day’ as I was leaving.”
“I’m sorry, but our ‘come back and see us’ promotion ended Friday. We still offer ‘we appreciate your business’ and ‘thanks for shopping at BlandMart’.”
I don’t necessarily require smiling, but I do require attention. I do expect hello, please and thank you (because I say them) and a basic effort at being polite and actually doing all the parts of the job.
I stopped shopping at one of the locations of a local large grocery chain because the cashiers were so busy kibbitzing with one another as if the customers didn’t matter that they barely managed hello and goodbye. They jettisoned the “script” for the chain (which had affinity programs and so on) and wouldn’t even halt their conversations for thirty seconds to keep focus only on the customer during the paying and returning change/receipts portion of the transaction. And it showed; there were mistakes and sloppiness and delays and it was just rude.
If a person wants a job where they can stay on personal phone calls or conversations all day, they shouldn’t work in a public service position where they’re supposed to serve the public, not themselves.
So many customers keep talking on their cellphones while checking out.
Ideal is when both customer and salesperson/cashier treat each other as real human beings interacting, and deep six the effing cell phones. You don’t have to like each other or fake friendliness. Simply be mindful and aware of each other. Basic civility.
When I was in my early 20s, one of the cashiers at the local 7-11 referred to every male who stepped up to the counter as “sir” and every female as “ma’am” regardless of age. I was actually taken aback the first time the guy called me “sir” since I was, like, 21. This, of course, was an older fellow, maybe late 50s or early 60s, obviously steeped in an unbringing that trained him to believe that every customer requires a certain level of respect, but I found that his politeness and formality made what is otherwise a pretty mundane stop in the corner store for a Slurpee and some chips into a surprisingly pleasant experience.
I’m in favour of staff in stores granting the customers at least a minimum of politeness, even if it is scripted or artificial. Who knows? That politeness might just rub off on one or two people and make the world an easier place in which to get along. Or maybe that’s just being overly optimistic and naive…
And yes, I agree with **blondebear **-- put the damn phone down and do your job for 30 freaking seconds while I’m conducting a transaction. My money pays your paycheque, no matter how small that cheque might be, so do me the courtesy of making at least a token effort to recognize it. You may then return to discussing whether Jayden and Brianna were totally making out last night or whatever the hell you were killing time on. [/rant]