Complimentary Complaint or Whiny Compliment?

[HawaiianShirts]

Yesterday evening, Mrs. Shirts and I tagged along with my dad and step-mom as they looked for patio furniture*.

We went to a furniture store first and were disappointed by their limited selection. Then we tried a hardware store and found a good selection in their outdoor garden area. While perusing the options there, I overheard this exchange...

Customer: Do you know how fast this plant grows?
Garden Associate: Not specifically, but it's slower than the [other plant] you picked out.
<Enter Manager from Main Store>
Manager: Excuse me just a moment, ma'am. Garden Associate, when did you clock in today?
Garden Associate: At [time]. Why?
Manager: I need you to clock out and go home now. You're going into overtime, and I'll get in big trouble with [some name] if the store takes too much overtime pay this week.
Garden Associate: I only have an hour left.
Manager: I know, but I need you to go home now. [Another name] can close for you.
Customer: What? You're sending her home?
Manager: I have to because of the labor budget. Did you need some additional help?
Customer: Yeah, I wanted to get more plants, but I want her to help me.
Manager: I'm sorry, I have to send her home.
Customer: Well, that's ridiculous.
Manager: I can help you, if you like.
Customer: No. She's the only one of you people who knows anything about plants and who can answer my questions.
Manager: I'm sure I could help or find another associate who knows about the plants you're looking at.
Customer: Nope. I've talked to enough retail garden people to know who's real and who's BSing me. She's real. The rest of you make it up. If you won't let her help me, then I'm done shopping for today.
Garden Associate: I can stay a little longer, really. I don't mind.
Manager: No, I have to send you home. Go clock out. Now, what is you're looking for, ma'am?
Customer: Nope. Not gonna do it. When do you work again, Garden Associate?
Garden Associate: Tuesday afternoon.
Customer: Then I'll come back Tuesday afternoon.
<Customer pushes her cart into the main store to ring out, telling other garden customers as she passes them that they should come back Tuesday when "the only smart one" is working.>
Manager: [swears]
Garden Associate: [smiles] Guess I'll be going home now! Bye!

I was entertained, though I'm still not sure whether she was just whiny and picky or if she was complaining in a way that genuinely complimented Garden Associate's knowledge and service skills.


*Dad tried to be funny when he suggested this trip. He said, "We're going to try to find an Irish relative: Patty O'Furniture." That's my dad!

[stucksb]

Honestly, It sounds like she was ticked off at having to stop working with an employee that she had built a rapport with for an arbitrary reason. I would have put it a slightly different way, but I would have gotten pretty angry if the person I had spent time with and who knew the problems I was trying to solve and the information that I wanted was suddenly switched out for someone I would have to explain all of this to and didn't feel confident that I would get the answers I needed.

[LillFilly]

I think the customer made a good point of supporting the employee. It's silly, the Manager should have scheduled the hours better, rather than almost making it an accusation that the employee was going into overtime. Also, it think the customer wanted the employee who was helping them at the time to get the sale they deserved, rather than it going to the Manager. At least this shows the Manager that this is a very valuable employee.

[Arm]

I think the customer was going out of their way to try to support the employee there, and that's probably not a bad thing.

We've seen lots of folks on the board here whose managers schedule things badly or gut their hours, for no good reason. Emphasizing that THIS employee is a valuable employee is a way for the customer to at least try to keep the manager from dicking the associate over too much.

It can backfire; a lot of managers like to fire people who make them feel uncomfortable. But there's not much else the customer can do, really.

[SnapAddict218]

Customer was fine but the manager...dude. He needed to pick a better time to send the employee home. I understand the labor thing-my aprt time job runs into this alot, but if I'm in the middle of helping someone (or if I'm the customer in the middle of being helped) that is no the time to talk business. A quick "Pardon me for interrupting but So and So may I speak with you just as soon as you finish here?" And give me (or the clerk helping me) the chance to politily excuse myself.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm totally on the customer's side here. Manager should've done the scheduling better or allowed the employee to stay a little longer. I know I'd be upset if I were being helped by somebody who seemed to know their stuff, and they got spirited away and I had to explain everything all over again to somebody who may not have been as competent.

A very similar thing happened years ago to my current supervisor. She used to work out in the lawn and garden department. She was helping a customer when the lazy slug manager in charge of lawn and garden at the time came out with his clipboard and told her "Supervisor, it's time to walk now." (meaning go around the compound and identify what needs to be done)

She told him she was with a customer. Manager told her they had to go walk off the compound right away.

She tried telling him she was helping somebody again. He just about dragged her off just so he could give her her list of stuff to do. The customer complained to the store manager.

EDIT--looking over the story again, I'm wondering if the manager was trying to cock-block the employee from making the sale.

[MergedLoki]

I'd say it's a compliment to the retail worker that her knowledge is thought so highly of which is nice. (I can count on one hand the number of times patients have thanked me for the work i do or complimented me etc. so ti's always nice to hear).

however telling other customers that they should leave because the 'smart employee' is leaving is taking things too far and venturing into SC land.

[smileyeagle1021]

however telling other customers that they should leave because the 'smart employee' is leaving is taking things too far and venturing into SC land.

I don't think it is... I'd call that a good way to prove a point to the manager... the manager was upset about how much it was going to cost to keep an employee on the clock and now he just lost sales because he was a dick about making the employee leave right then... next time the manager might not be such a dick about sending employees home.

[Nyx]

Uhhhhh...huh... I honestly have no words for this.

*Dad tried to be funny when he suggested this trip. He said, "We're going to try to find an Irish relative: Patty O'Furniture." That's my dad!

I think "Paddy O'Furniture is a store out here.

[MergedLoki]

I don't think it is... I'd call that a good way to prove a point to the manager... the manager was upset about how much it was going to cost to keep an employee on the clock and now he just lost sales because he was a dick about making the employee leave right then... next time the manager might not be such a dick about sending employees home.

True.. I forgot it was the manager being an idiot and telling the employee to get outta there when she didn't mind staying for a bit.

[Hyena Dandy]

I think the manager's being stupid for interrupting the associate talking to a customer anyway. If the associate were in the middle of ringing up products would he demand that s/he stop right now because if he finished the transaction it'd be overtime?

[Fire_on_High]

I've seen that, actually. Local WM, of course.

[greensinestro]

This is a great example of how companies prefer lining their own pockets by cutting costs, reducing overtime, selling crap to customers they don't need, etc., making customer service a second priority. What's to say this lady doesn't later on call corporate to complain about this? Or, tell her friends what happened? While she is looking to come back on Tuesday afternoon, what's to say her friends decide not to shop there due to some rude manager having this argument in front of a customer?

Nope, not a sucky customer at all. She was sticking up for the associate, and it's rare that you get customers on this site who do that.