Whatever happened to: "Thank You" after a retail purchase ?

[SmellMyWort]

@expectopatronum

oh, please. yes, stores are dependent on customers to stay in business. that’s obvious enough. but spare me the whole “i’m doing them a favor” shtick. i mean, do people actually go around saying “self, i am going to grace [local supermarket name here] with my presence, and generously give them the pleasure of accepting my money in exchange for products!”, or do they just say “oh, dude. i need bread” or some variation of such? the attitude displayed in the former really shows a lot of entitlement, which tends to be the kind of customers who are less than pleasant to deal with.

For a lot of stores and for many products, yes, who cares if I get my bread from Store A or Store B. But a lot of people are willing to pay a bit more to shop local, for example, and they want to feel like it’s worth it.

I was especially struck by the camera store example because I recently bought a new camera and I am willing to bet that the OP would have saved some money buying online. People who own and work in that type of specialty store should know that one way to compete with lower competitor prices is by providing a more personal and informative experience for the customer. Part of that is showing appreciation for choosing their store. If the clerk was otherwise helpful and attentive, I would consider that showing appreciation in itself, and probably would have left feeling good about the experience anyway and not even noticed the lack of a final “thank-you.” But if I went to that store and wasn’t treated well, first I would consider leaving, and if I did decide to buy something I’d be a little annoyed (but not surprised given the experience so far) if I wasn’t thanked, and it would probably be the last time I shop there.

[Peremensoe]

@expectopatronum

oh, please. yes, stores are dependent on customers to stay in business. that’s obvious enough. but spare me the whole “i’m doing them a favor” shtick. i mean, do people actually go around saying “self, i am going to grace [local supermarket name here] with my presence, and generously give them the pleasure of accepting my money in exchange for products!”, or do they just say “oh, dude. i need bread” or some variation of such? the attitude displayed in the former really shows a lot of entitlement, which tends to be the kind of customers who are less than pleasant to deal with.

The use of the word “favor” there was a response to Jaledin’s post. (I thought it possible that she had misconstructed her sentence, or left something out.)

I don’t exactly think of my patronage of a business as a favor, but I do consider that I’m giving them something that I could choose to give to someone else. I make the choice based on many factors, but attitude and manner toward customers is one.

@Binarydrone

I think that Peremensoe has inadvertently identified why the pleases and thank-yous are a vanishing animal. What should be the case that trumps all of the “my transaction pays your salary” sentiment (a very near cousin to “the customer is always right” which could have a Pit thread all its own) is that another human being is performing labor for you.

When I am in a restaurant, for example, I say thank you whenever my drink is refilled. I say thank you when my food is dropped off and I also say thank you when the check is dropped off too. This is what I was raised to see as basic human courtesy, it costs nothing to do and adds to the overall tone of the whole interaction.

I do all of that too. As I said earlier here, and have said in other threads, my personal custom and local experience seems to be far above average in terms of number and sincerity of human interactions with retail and service employees. People in my area think (not accurately, but also not without basis) that non-Southerners are just routinely rude in public transactions; the attitude expressed by Runs With Scissors above would be seen as verging on psychopathic.