Below is the message that I sent to their corporate customer service contact.
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I often shop in your Methuen, Massachusetts store. I regularly visit the store to browse around to see new products and the great deals that you often have. I am writing to report a recent unpleasant experience at the store. On June 2, I drove down to the store, not looking for anything in particular. I wandered around the store and found a couple of things that I liked. I got in the cashier line to pay for the items. There was another customer ahead of me and a couple of people behind me in line. I was talking to a friend on my cell phone while waiting.
Of course, I was speaking discretely so as not to disturb the people around me. When the person ahead of me was finished, as I was getting ready to put my items on the counter, the cashier said to me in a rather rude tone "Can I just take them first, and I can take you when you're done with the phone?" She did not even greet me first. I would expect that your cashiers be trained to greet your customers. Anyway, I put the phone down and said "No, I can pay for it now". She scanned the items, and I paid for it. As I was walking away, I felt that she was rude and I was mistreated, so I decided to get back in line to return the items.
As she was taking the return, she said "Did I offend you? I was just trying to do the right thing", again in an unfriendly tone. She kept going on and on. I didn't want to create a scene, so I decided just to keep quiet. I was further offended and embarassed since there were people around us listening. She made it seems as though I had done something very wrong. I did not go visit your store to be preached by one of your cashiers. I can understand her perspective if my being on the phone was somehow slowing things down. But I had my items in my hand ready to put on the counter for her to scan.
When I got home, I called the store and asked to speak with a manager or supervisor. When she came to the phone, I explained to her what had just occurred at the store. I was surprised that rather than offer an apology on her employee's behalf, she proceed to rattle off a series of excuses... Something about the cashier not wanting to make a mistake. I'm not sure why my being on the phone would cause her to make a mistake.
All she has to do is scan the items and take my credit card. If she needed to ask me something, I would've put the phone down to respond.in fact, after she was scanning the items, I would've put the phone down for the credit card transaction. But instead, the cashier decided, for some reason, to behave in a hostile manner without even saying "hi" or "hello".
It is now a couple of days later, and I still don't feel good about going back to your store. Sometimes, I run across young and untrained workers, but I was appalled by the response I got from the store supervisor/manager.
I did not get the name of the supervisor, but the cashier's name is Kathleen.
Perhaps, you should take a look at the customer service practice and training at this store. I've had a couple of other experiences at this store in the past. One time, one of the items I was purchasing did not have a price tag on it. The cashier told me that I had to go get a different one that had a price tag on it.in most other stores, the staff would've figured out the price on their own. Another time, I asked a staff member to help me find something. She just pointed in a general direction and said "Go look over there". First of all, in most stores, they would've walked me over to what I was looking for to make sure I found it. Second of all, she pointed in a completely wrong direction. I wandered around store a while and finally found it on the opposite end of the store.
I would appreciate a response to this message with a description of the actions that you are planning to take. I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that your business is not without competition, and customer service plays a big part in my decision of where to shop.
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