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*sigh* What a day. I spent about 5 hours looking for workboots for Saturday. I will be volunteering my Saturday mornings at a horse farm that opened by me. One of the owners told me I needed to buy work boots. Didn't think that that would be difficult but it was.
I spent almost 5 hours going to every store I could think of that would sell workboots. None had womens workboots. The mens sizes weren't small enough. Some had childrens workboots, but not in the size I need. (I'm a 3.5 boys size and a 6 or 6.5 regular womens).
I finally found a pair of shoes at a store in a mall, tried the right one on (since that is my slighter fatter foot) it fit, and I ran up front to pay for it. Yay!
I get home, and called MIL to let her know I finally found a pair and we laughed at me buying kids shoes. She asked if the soles were sturdy enough and as i gabbed on the phone with her, I flipped the shoes over only to discover one was a size 3.5 and the other was a 4. ARRRGGHHH. I hung up with mother in law and called the store.
This letter to their corporate office was the result of my return visit where I was so very pissed off I called poor hubby to chew his ear off about it while he's at work.
I purchased a pair of shoes on 9/21/2006 at store #2408, register 2, transaction #8461. When I got home, I discovered that one was a different size. I called the store immediately and was told that I could come in and exchange them. The person who answered the phone apologized and said the person who rang me up should have checked them.
When I got to the store, I had to wait on line for over 15 minutes while the cashier kept messing up the order of the customer in front of me. She was very nice though and kept apologizing for her mistakes and for taking so long to both her current customer and to me. The manager had to come up to approve a check from that customer (and incidentally, was the person who rang me up only a couple hours before who didn't check my shoes.) I don't know her name as I didn't see a name tag but she was very rude to the cashier. The poor cashier seemed a nervous wreck. The manager asked her when was she going to get the boxes done in an impatient and rude tone. Obviously, the cashier had a line and couldn't be putting boxes away when there are customers to be helped.
I've been managing stores for over 12 years now. I understand the stress of retail and I understand the pressures of helping everyone and getting your work done. What I don't understand is how I was treated afterwards, and how the employee was treated. I know it is difficult if an employee is slow to learn but there are better ways to motivate and coach than simply barking an order and walking away.
Instead of staying to help the employee who was struggling with her transaction, the manager approved the check and left - with me STILL waiting in line. Most retail establishments need a manager to process a refund. If a manager sees a customer waiting in line with a bag already in their hand, I would say it's safe to assume you should just stay at the counter since you are going to be called back up again in a minute anyway. Maybe that's just me.
Once I was next, the cashier informed me that I needed to leave the shoes at the counter and go look for the correct shoe size. I was angry at this, and wondered why I must go digging through the inventory to find a missing shoe size that could be in any box, but decided that me looking would probably be a lot faster than her looking.
I went through every single box of that style that was out on the sales floor looking for my missing shoe size. I looked on the displays and looked on the endcaps. I didn't find the other one, and went back up to find the cashier. There were a couple other people waiting to be rung up and no one was there. Two people left leaving their white sneakers on the counter. I started to search the store to find the cashier. Once I found her, I explained I checked every box and display and I couldn't find the missing shoe size.
She then told me that I would have to find the manager b/c she would have to process an exchange and she couldn't do it. Again, I thought to myself - why do I have to 'find the manager'? I've never worked in, or shopped in a store that tells the customer to go find the manager so we can process your return. I asked the cashier to find her for me. She began walking down one of the aisles, clearly not wanting to approach the manager. I stood on one end waiting for my help and the manager was annoyed at the cashier for bothering her.
She told the cashier to have it home delivered in a very "I don't have time for this" tone of voice. Then when she saw me come around the corner, she lightened the tone a bit and said she could have them home delivered. The cashier started to explain that I needed these for Saturday. The manager then told the cashier to "Go check the mis-matches...there's tons of stuff back there out of place...I'm going to help all the people up front" (in a tone of voice that implied that the cashier should be doing that and not her) and simply walked away from us instead of taking over the situation herself as any properly trained manager should have done.
The poor cashier is now stuttering, trying to say sorry to me and re-checking all of the boxes to be sure I didn't miss the shoe. Unless she is by nature a very sensitive person, and perhaps she have a speech impediment, I wouldn't know. However, if she doesn't, from an outsider looking in, I would say the poor woman is scared of the manager. I felt horrible at this point and didn't want to keep the cashier from her shipment boxes and give the manager yet another reason to snip at her in front of a line of customers.
I asked the cashier if I could simply return them for my money back and she said yes, the manager could do that. I went up front to do the return. There was no apology for the mix-up (being that she herself rang me up), no offers to check the backroom or call another local store perhaps, no sorry for making you waste two trips to the mall and almost half an hour looking for a shoe we don't have. I was simply asked if I wanted my receipt and given my money.
Being that I work retail, I am torn on this. I won't say I will never shop in your stores again b/c I know I will. Most people know when a customer says that, you'll see them back within a few weeks regardless. Taking my business away will obviously not give that manager any more training. Complaining might lessen this store's payroll which may account for the general lack of service to begin with.
I don't want coupons. I don't want free stuff. I simply want someone to know that there are great training opportunities needed in this store. Perhaps if the manager was trained to stop working for just one moment and handle the situation, and coach staff to handle a situation quickly, with confidence and in a customer friendly manner - my experience, although having to leave with no shoes, would not have been so disappointing.
I thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
**Luna**
I could have thrown a fit, but I didn't because I didn't check the box myself. I tried one shoe on, was overjoyed that my search had ended and wanted to go home and start on laundry before it was too late and the laundrymat in our apartment complex closed for the night. *too late for that now*
Wonder what kind of response I'll get...if anything, the poor scared cashier will hopefully be treated better in the future. Hopefully.
I spent almost 5 hours going to every store I could think of that would sell workboots. None had womens workboots. The mens sizes weren't small enough. Some had childrens workboots, but not in the size I need. (I'm a 3.5 boys size and a 6 or 6.5 regular womens).
I finally found a pair of shoes at a store in a mall, tried the right one on (since that is my slighter fatter foot) it fit, and I ran up front to pay for it. Yay!
I get home, and called MIL to let her know I finally found a pair and we laughed at me buying kids shoes. She asked if the soles were sturdy enough and as i gabbed on the phone with her, I flipped the shoes over only to discover one was a size 3.5 and the other was a 4. ARRRGGHHH. I hung up with mother in law and called the store.
This letter to their corporate office was the result of my return visit where I was so very pissed off I called poor hubby to chew his ear off about it while he's at work.
I purchased a pair of shoes on 9/21/2006 at store #2408, register 2, transaction #8461. When I got home, I discovered that one was a different size. I called the store immediately and was told that I could come in and exchange them. The person who answered the phone apologized and said the person who rang me up should have checked them.
When I got to the store, I had to wait on line for over 15 minutes while the cashier kept messing up the order of the customer in front of me. She was very nice though and kept apologizing for her mistakes and for taking so long to both her current customer and to me. The manager had to come up to approve a check from that customer (and incidentally, was the person who rang me up only a couple hours before who didn't check my shoes.) I don't know her name as I didn't see a name tag but she was very rude to the cashier. The poor cashier seemed a nervous wreck. The manager asked her when was she going to get the boxes done in an impatient and rude tone. Obviously, the cashier had a line and couldn't be putting boxes away when there are customers to be helped.
I've been managing stores for over 12 years now. I understand the stress of retail and I understand the pressures of helping everyone and getting your work done. What I don't understand is how I was treated afterwards, and how the employee was treated. I know it is difficult if an employee is slow to learn but there are better ways to motivate and coach than simply barking an order and walking away.
Instead of staying to help the employee who was struggling with her transaction, the manager approved the check and left - with me STILL waiting in line. Most retail establishments need a manager to process a refund. If a manager sees a customer waiting in line with a bag already in their hand, I would say it's safe to assume you should just stay at the counter since you are going to be called back up again in a minute anyway. Maybe that's just me.
Once I was next, the cashier informed me that I needed to leave the shoes at the counter and go look for the correct shoe size. I was angry at this, and wondered why I must go digging through the inventory to find a missing shoe size that could be in any box, but decided that me looking would probably be a lot faster than her looking.
I went through every single box of that style that was out on the sales floor looking for my missing shoe size. I looked on the displays and looked on the endcaps. I didn't find the other one, and went back up to find the cashier. There were a couple other people waiting to be rung up and no one was there. Two people left leaving their white sneakers on the counter. I started to search the store to find the cashier. Once I found her, I explained I checked every box and display and I couldn't find the missing shoe size.
She then told me that I would have to find the manager b/c she would have to process an exchange and she couldn't do it. Again, I thought to myself - why do I have to 'find the manager'? I've never worked in, or shopped in a store that tells the customer to go find the manager so we can process your return. I asked the cashier to find her for me. She began walking down one of the aisles, clearly not wanting to approach the manager. I stood on one end waiting for my help and the manager was annoyed at the cashier for bothering her.
She told the cashier to have it home delivered in a very "I don't have time for this" tone of voice. Then when she saw me come around the corner, she lightened the tone a bit and said she could have them home delivered. The cashier started to explain that I needed these for Saturday. The manager then told the cashier to "Go check the mis-matches...there's tons of stuff back there out of place...I'm going to help all the people up front" (in a tone of voice that implied that the cashier should be doing that and not her) and simply walked away from us instead of taking over the situation herself as any properly trained manager should have done.
The poor cashier is now stuttering, trying to say sorry to me and re-checking all of the boxes to be sure I didn't miss the shoe. Unless she is by nature a very sensitive person, and perhaps she have a speech impediment, I wouldn't know. However, if she doesn't, from an outsider looking in, I would say the poor woman is scared of the manager. I felt horrible at this point and didn't want to keep the cashier from her shipment boxes and give the manager yet another reason to snip at her in front of a line of customers.
I asked the cashier if I could simply return them for my money back and she said yes, the manager could do that. I went up front to do the return. There was no apology for the mix-up (being that she herself rang me up), no offers to check the backroom or call another local store perhaps, no sorry for making you waste two trips to the mall and almost half an hour looking for a shoe we don't have. I was simply asked if I wanted my receipt and given my money.
Being that I work retail, I am torn on this. I won't say I will never shop in your stores again b/c I know I will. Most people know when a customer says that, you'll see them back within a few weeks regardless. Taking my business away will obviously not give that manager any more training. Complaining might lessen this store's payroll which may account for the general lack of service to begin with.
I don't want coupons. I don't want free stuff. I simply want someone to know that there are great training opportunities needed in this store. Perhaps if the manager was trained to stop working for just one moment and handle the situation, and coach staff to handle a situation quickly, with confidence and in a customer friendly manner - my experience, although having to leave with no shoes, would not have been so disappointing.
I thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
**Luna**
I could have thrown a fit, but I didn't because I didn't check the box myself. I tried one shoe on, was overjoyed that my search had ended and wanted to go home and start on laundry before it was too late and the laundrymat in our apartment complex closed for the night. *too late for that now*
Wonder what kind of response I'll get...if anything, the poor scared cashier will hopefully be treated better in the future. Hopefully.
but to my vision, EVERYTHING you do has a big potential of ending with police involvement.
I AM the evil bastard!
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