I am pretty sure that Zale's has a policy about NOT greeting people. When I walk into Subway, I always hear a "welcome to Subway" from behind the counter. When I walk into another jewler at the mall on a busy day, like Kay's or Benchmark, I usually don't get service right away, but the employees at least make eye contact and let me know they will be with me as soon as possible. That makes me feel welcome and comfortable. I walk in to Zales, and unless there have been NO other customers in the store, I have NEVER been greeted. I find this policy not only disrespectful, but rude enough to loose my business. I also noticed that when I was being helped on a weeknight (when for a long time I was the only customer in the store) the other customers weren't greeted for who knows how long!
On the night we purchased my fiance's ring, I had been in the store earlier and I asked him to come to try on the ring. I waited for him sitting outside the store on a bench. When we returned, one associate was helping a lady try on a ring, the other was showing a couple how to use the internet kiosk. I waited patiently for about 5 minutes, and the guy at the kiosk was just standing there, looking over the shoulders of the customers who were looking at the Zale's website. I asked if he could get the ring out that I liked. He refused, stating that he had other customers. I thought maybe it was a theft prevention measure. So we waited another 15 minutes until the lady who was trying on the ring left. I was annoyed, but I liked the person who helped us, so I let it go. We tried on the ring and purchased.
Since then, I've been in that store and other stores WITHOUT being serviced. I feel like an introuder. The associates avoid eye contact because they are with another customer and don't recognize my presence.
But what got me the most, was yesterday there was a FedEx guy waiting patiently. They made him stand there for at least 20 minutes. I walked the store twice, tried to make eye contact with the salesmen, and sent three text messages, answered a call, made dinner plans for 40 minutes from then, and continued to wait. I wanted to buy a necklace I had been eying, but after not getting any service, I left, and continued down the mall. About 15 minutes later, I was walking by the store again, I considered going in, but there were two families with children and I didn't want to keep my date waiting. I thought about how I'd wasted a trip to this mall specifically for the necklace and how the FedEx guy must feel. That guy was on the clock, he gets a performance review on how quickly and effectively he delivers the packages, and the employees at Zales made him wait!
Does Zale's really think their customers are so vain they will no purchase if the employee behind the counter acknowledges another customer?
Shop somewhere else if you want customer service. If you're a price shopper, save yourself the trip, purchase online.
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