Would You Like A Little Sass With That Coffee Pot?

I am just taking a moment here to vent about the double negative customer service experience I recently received at my local Bed Bath and Beyond.  It's obvious that you can either get a deal or you can get service...but you can't have both.

Bed Bath and Beyond is the place you go for a lot of your kitchen, bath and infomercial gadgets.  Cheap and plentiful, you can usually find what you need when you go there.  If you are like me, however, you never remember to bring one of the many 20% off coupon's that clog up your mailbox.  As you approach the checkout line you just know they aren't going to replace that coupon and you are kicking yourself that you forgot yours.  This is the time you are buying a $50 item and the thought of losing $10 is annoying.  All that being said, if this store was really "customer centric" (the latest buzz word regarding how we treat the client) they would tape that freaking coupon to the register like every other store does and beep away at checkout time.  But no, they will not budge when it comes to accommodating you.  They will, however, tell you to drive home, find the coupon, and drive back for an adjustment...like you have the time for this.  I asked again just to be sure while checking out during my pre-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza but, of course, they said no.  I just snorted and grabbed my salad spinner and left in a pissed off mood.

Take these from the mailbox and place directly into your handbag.

As I leave I'm telling myself I'm never coming back to this store.  But when I get home, guess what's in my mailbox?  A 20% OFF THE ENTIRE PURCHASE COUPON!...  good on Black Friday.  I read it carefully...it doesn't say "not valid on prior purchases", so what do I do?   I plan to head back on Black Friday to get an adjustment on my day before Thanksgiving purchase.  This time I am ready - the coupon is easy to find because it's big and colorful.  It's taking up my entire handbag.

I am greeted at the door by a happy and cheerful 20 year old "Customer Service" associate.  I ask politely about the adjustment and she speaks to me in a patronizing tone and says "I apologize, but we absolutely could not give you an adjustment because this is just for Black Friday purchases."  I tell her it's not stated on the coupon that it's not valid for prior purchases.  She tells me I should just assume the fact that it's just for Black Friday purchases.  I ask to speak with the manager (who never shows up).  I tell her I will just return everything and re-purchase it.  She tells me I cannot do this - it would be committing coupon fraud.   What?  Does this even exist? (as someone who interprets coupons for a living I can safely tell you, no).  I wonder, will they take me to jail where my sentence is being forced to watch "Extreme Couponing" 24/7?  No, I'd rather die.  This snit is taking her job way too seriously and I am getting nowhere so I leave once more...in a pissed off mood...which apparently I do a lot when I leave this store.

When I get home I go on the Bed Bath and Beyond website and write a scathing letter to the customer service hotline.  I am surprised when I get a quick response.  I catch up with their regional director the following day who takes my complaint pretty seriously.  I am pleased when she satisfies me with the adjustment and we have a nice conversation.  I tell her I'm not a complainer - working in retail myself I don't like it when people are in my face.  However I did suggest they put a muzzle on the little 20 year old "Customer Service" associate who's planning on being her CEO someday.

Why Do People Misbehave In A Store?

Flickr Image courtesy of Scurzuzu

I’ve been in the business for a long time and have seen just about everything one would see in a public place.   I saw an old man fall down a moving escalator and injure himself so badly it looked like we were filming a slasher movie in the store that day.  I saw a mother yelling at her child so harshly as they left the store I followed her into the parking lot and placed a secret Batcall to 911 after I saw her license plate number.  I saw a child throw up on the floor in my store and rather than take the child home, her mother continued to shop without missing a beat (not even a mouth rinse).   And it’s more common than you know to find used sanitary napkins and tampons strewn about on the ladies room floor…like the menstrual reclamation center in the typical stall is sooooo far away and hard to reach.

Why do some people feel it’s OK to behave this way in an upscale store?  Is it a socio-economic thing?  Are people in some way mad at the store (yes, this happens)?  Do people just not care and think someone else will pick up their goo?  Do you think they do this in their own home?  While I’ve never been able to definitively answer these questions, these occurrences are always fodder for conversation among the associates in the store, and although we would never speak about this openly, you better believe we are talking about behind closed doors.  When you deal with the public, you are always analyzing people's behavior to get a better understanding of what drives them to do the things they do.

Here’s my theory…I know there are some undeveloped humans who are so stressed out, so frustrated in their own lives, that they carry a lot of anger around with them….sort of like an extra ass.  So if at the end of their long work day, this angry individual must come into the store and deal with a “sales person” (ugh!) who they feel is at the bottom of their personal food chain, they will snap at the first thing that sets them off….because they can.  They won’t do it to their boss or their doctor or their attorney, but they will do it to us, and for a brief moment, they feel better.  We, however, recognize these people as they approach our counter and we send out messages to each other when we see them coming, much like a primal form of semiosis or Choctaw code talking.  Unfortunately, because I am the manager, these people are usually coming to see me.  My approach is to immediately put them on notice that they are behaving badly and should be ashamed of themselves (in so many words).  My favorite is “there is no such thing as a jewelry emergency” and calm the hell down.  Is this really the worst thing in your life right now?  My job is to take care of whatever they need and once they realize I will do this, they calm down.  No more exploding heads.  Sometimes they are even a little disappointed I’m not going to argue with them. 

Here’s something else I know.  I was told (more than once) by one of my superiors that people who work in retail are only one step up from the fast food industry.  Apparently people start at McDonalds and go directly to Neiman’s.  She didn’t pull this statement out of her hat but rather was given this information by industry analysts who follow employment trends.  However, I don’t really agree with this.  Over the years, I’ve worked with all types of people.  Some with advanced degrees, some without any degree at all, and I’ve come to believe that people who have the kind of skill required to work with all types of people, from kind to difficult, possess the type of education you don’t find in school.  You are born with it.

TAGS: jewelry, women, customer service, education, humor