# Why K-Mart Is Going Under: An Example **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052 "2003-03-17T17:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/41 "2003-03-19T01:20:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > **If management sees that customers are desperate enough to play with equipment meant for staff just to get some help, don’t you think they’d wake up and hire more people?** I’ll field this one: No. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/42 "2003-03-19T02:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RexDart \* > \*\*Wouldn’t it fall under the Jame Gumb collection? > > (Hey, I didn’t make the movie, don’t blame me.) \*\* Nope, definitely [Ed Gein](http://www.crimelibrary.com/gein/geinmain.htm). ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/43 "2003-03-19T04:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\ ***NE Texan** : that’s pretty much the same situation we were in at Home Depot on Saturday! I wonder if they use the same system. \*\* **Jeff** , not so wild a coincidence - the incident I describe happened at a Home Depot! I have witnessed something similar happening to someone else at a K-Mart, though. I haven’t bothered using the self-check lanes at K-Mart, though, as they’re getting so little business that the regular checkouts are usually empty. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/44 "2003-03-19T04:30:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NE Texan \* > \*\ ***Jeff** , not so wild a coincidence - the incident I describe happened at a Home Depot! I have witnessed something similar happening to someone else at a K-Mart, though. I haven’t bothered using the self-check lanes at K-Mart, though, as they’re getting so little business that the regular checkouts are usually empty. \*\* K-Mart and Home Depot do use the same self-checkout systems - from NCR. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/45 "2003-03-19T04:45:25Z")
Wow, thanks for the link **ladyfoxfyre** , it’s even more twisted to know that was based on a real guy. I can’t believe I’d never heard of him before, he sounds like he should be on the list of most sick and twisted murderers in history. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/46 "2003-03-19T17:35:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\*One of my sisters got stopped by one of the store’s security goons when she was coming out of K-Mart. He thought she might have been attempting to steal one of the blouses they sold since they supposedly sold one that looked just like the one she was wearing. I don’t know what he made her do to prove that she had worn the blouse into the store, but she was embarrassed and very pissed off at the moron. I don’t know if she ever went into a K-mart again after this incident. > \*\* It’s not just a K-Mart problem, I’m afraid. I once got stopped leaving a Sears store once for “shoplifting” the jacket I was wearing, because it was just like one they sold. They didn’t seem to care much when I pointed out that I already knew they sold jackets just like that because, whaddayaknow, I had bought mine in that very store about two weeks prior. They wasted a couple of hours of my time, until someone (me) had the brilliant idea that perhaps they could look up the purchase in their computer since it had been made with a credit card. The security people continued to be assholes throughout, but the store manager got a lot more cooperative when I asked to use the phone to call home and instead called the family friend who did the ‘consumer advocate’ segment on the local news. They eventually reversed the charge on the jacket by way of apology. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052/47 "2003-03-20T15:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by ivylass_ > If management sees that customers are desperate enough to play with equipment meant for staff just to get some help, don’t you think they’d wake up and hire more people? As **Dragonblink** said, “No.” Management often aren’t around, (though, management at my store, on the whole, aren’t too bad. They’ll quite often work customer assistance when it gets busy. ) But basically, management can’t do shit. If they’re told by head office that they’ve got a certain amount of money to pay staff wages, they can’t put on any more staff, no matter how much they’d like to. And I can guarantee that head office won’t see customers playing with staff-only equipment. And if they somehow heard about it, I doubt they’d care. They’re not the ones having to deal with it. > [@](#): > > Yes, tbey’re acting childish. But sometimes throwing a tantrum is the only way to get attention. I’ll say it again. These people are adults. Customer Service isn’t a right. It’s certainly a good business policy for a store to maintain good customer service, but you don’t have any right to it. You don’t like the service, you go elsewhere. Vote with your wallet. Don’t throw a tantrum. > [@](#): > > BTW, I’ve worked in retail, and I will never go back. NEVER!! Lucky you 🙂 > [@](#): > > _originally posted by Baldwin_ > Thanks! Oh, and blow me. I was requesting basic customer service. And if you don’t care how long the customer has to wait, then you’re either an apathetic employee or an incompetent asshole of a manager. If a manager, you could at least put up a sign explaining that you’re horribly understaffed and that the customer is on his own. But I’ll gladly take your advice not to spend my money in your store, dickweed. Now, it seems that not only do you have difficulty behaving like a reasonable adult out in public, you also have difficulties with your comprehension. Let’s have a good look at what I said. > [@](#): > > _by me_ > I don’t care how long you’ve had to wait for service, you’re an adult, and that means you can have the intelligence not to use devices that are obviously staff-only. My not caring was obviously, given the context, conditional. It showed that in my opinion, there is no excuse (this was where the ‘don’t care’ came in) to behave the way you did. Understand? Nothing makes my job easier than when I have the opportunity to care about the customer. I fulfill their need quickly, they get out of the store, I’m happy, they’re happy… I would love it if I had the time to give attention to every customer. My shift would fly by. And let me guarantee this. We don’t keep customers waiting on purpose. If you’re waiting, it’s because I’m helping someone else, usually someone who has been waiting just as long as you. And finally, yes, take my advice. Don’t spend money at the store. The guys in charge look at the bottom line. There’s no difference to them whether you had to wait half an hour for service if you ended up spending the same amount of money anyway. But playing around with equipment for staff use is just incoveniencing people who didn’t create the problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-k-mart-is-going-under-an-example/162052.md?page=2)