SC Facebook sighting

[NoMoreRetail]

So I frequent the Facebook pages of the many stores that I shop out, to check out special deals they maybe having or just to see what is going on. Sadly many of these pages have just turned into complaint pages for customers. Some have valid complaints other are just so stupid you know you are dealing with a SC. I really wonder why the companies don't monitor what is being posted. Something that are being said could really hurt the companies business. ( oh well that is another thread)

Anyways, I was on the Kohls' page and one of the post pretty much said "I am never shopping at your stores again and I am telling everyone I know not to shop there!" So normally on the Kohls' page a threat like that does not go unnoticed and people want to know what has happened. (I mean seriously don't leave us hanging, what is it that is so terrible that is making you not want to shop their ever again?) So a few post later another person says " I will tell what happened since it happened to me"

Apparently the second person was doing some shopping with her newborn at the babies r us next door. She decided she wanted to do some shopping at Kohls so she took her packages to the car and went into the Kohls. She was stopped at the entrance by an employee. So what is the problem you ask? She was trying to come into Kohls using a Babies r Us cart, so she could have a place to put her baby carrier, purse diaper bag etc... She was told she could not bring the cart in. So she asked for one of theirs. Anyone who has shopped at Kohls knows those carts are for children who are of sitting age, really they are more for clothes. She wants to speak to a manager. Employee gets LP manager. LP manager says the same thing. She is irate that they are not going to let her walk through Kohls with a Babies r Us cart. She then said "How will you accommodate me with an infant?" The manager said they did not know and she left.

She said she had never been so embarrassed in her life and she was going call corporate and ask them if they are against People without strollers or people with tattoos. Hello lady it is called a stroller use it! If you don't have a stroller then go buy one, hell you just came from a store that sells 100's of them! That is part of being a parent if you want to take your kid shopping then you need to be prepared. I always have my stroller in my trunk, just in case I need to stop somewhere that doesn't have carts for me to put the carrier in. I would never think it would be ok to walk through a store with another stores cart. I am glad that the manager stood his ground on that one. I can only imagine the liability they would have opened themselves up to if they had allowed that big cart in the store. Babies r Us would have also been liable. Kohls stores are not designed for huge shopping carts like that one wrong move and she could have knocked an entire rack over on somebody. Good Luck ever shopping at a mall lady!

[emax4]

She obviously couldn't put 2 + 2 together...

Go to BABIES 'R' US

Buy a stroller

Use it immediately to go shopping while at Khols.

Khols management breathes sigh of relief from not worrying about customer using a competitor's (when it comes to baby clothes) stroller.

[Pixilated]

Yeah, but that would require here to (a) PLAN, and (b) actually take some responsibility for her own day, instead of assuming that the rest of the world will accommodate her.

[PepperElf]

of course on the up-side she basically just told all of her FB friends "i'm a moron who can't accommodate the child I gave birth to and everyone else needs to be responsible for me"

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I am going to predict the complainer gets freebies of some sort, and the store manager gets a talking-to.

Kohls probably doesn't care what happens to another store's cart if their own merchandise may conceivably wind up in it for purchase. Even if their stores aren't built around other stores' larger carts. If there's a liability risk Kohls probably doesn't think its a big one. They may tell their managers not to allow another store's carts in their store, but if somebody complains about it they'll tell the managers to "be more accommodating."

[Merriweather]

It's that same old entitlement attitude we are seeing everywhere these days. To compete in today's economy, more and more stores offer "extras" for the customers' convenience, and more and more customers are viewing those conveniences not as extras, but as entitlements.

Do you have a mobility problem? The store should provide you with a motorized cart. Do you have a child? The store should provide you with a cart or stroler suitable to whatever the age of your child. Want to have lunch with a child who (as is normal) gets bored waiting for food? The restaurant should provide crayons and colouring books. Sure, all these extras are very nice, and may very well influence my decision to use a particular business, but if I want to shop at a place not offering something I know I will need, I provide it myself or arrange to manage somehow. It's my responsiblity to determine what I will need and have it, not theirs.

SC's now expect to be provided with whatever it takes to make their shopping & dining experience the best it can be, with no advance thought or planning on their own part.

Three good examples I've run across - one store started keeping baby wipes by the changing table in their restroom. Until SC's quit bothering to have their own, and would complain to high heaven if they had run out, how on earth could they change their baby if the store didn't provide wipes?

Second example, when my daughter was young (the 80's) a local furniture store had a small playroom for younger kids, a small room with video games for older ones (both free), and a little cafe area with tables & free coffee. I loved it, I went there first anytime I needed furniture or accessories, my daughter loved it, I didn't have to worry about her being bored, and I could sit down, have a coffee, & think about what to buy. But there were so many times I'd hear an SC ranting and raving because the playroom hit maximum capacity and they had to wait til someone left, or the hot coffee had run out and a new pot wasn't ready.

Third & last example, Ikea. We don't have one local, so when visiting our daughter, we went to one for the first time. I was in awe. They had a small playroom, they had hand-held video game for older kids that they could carry around while shopping with their parents, and if the video games were all taken, they had pagers so the parent could pop back and get one when it became available. And there were still SC's compalining about having to stand in line for any of these, or not having a video game immediately available, or even for having to give their names i& phone numbers in order to use one.

All we can do is hope that those of us who get a kick out of and appreciate any little "extra" we can get outnumber the entitled SC's enough that the shops don't go back to bare minimum in all cases.

[MoonCat]

Wow. It's like people expect to find everything they have at home in every store they walk into. Pretty soon they'll expect stores to provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, a family room with a giant screen TV, a spa with hot tub and masseur, and a palace-quality bedroom in case they don't feel like going home. Oh, and a "companion" in case they're lonely.

Well, how do you expect them to have a good experience shopping at the dollar store without all that stuff, hmmm?

[hotelslave]

I love reading SC complaining of facebook. There is usually a lot on the craft stores pages. Never thought to read other stores.... Hmm I think I know what website to visit next

[kpzra]

I guess no one remembers what it's like to have a newborn and forget things, or going to a place you know has carts and decide to make an unplanned stop at another store. I didn't get a stroller until I moved to a place I can use it longer that 3 months out of the year. Why should she have to spend MORE money on something she might already have, just to accommodate ONE place. I've brought carts from other stores into place when they are right next door before, without a thought.

This isn't the first time I've heard about Khol's being asses. I've heard them tell a women in a wheelchair she couldn't use her own, she had to use theirs that they did not have available. They seem to not want anyone who is outside the "normal" to shop there.

[IDontWorkHere]

She then said "How will you accommodate me with an infant?" The manager said they did not know and she left.

This is the only part I might agree with - as in, IF this is what actually happened, that the manager just said "I don't know," and left, as opposed to offering suggestions or alternative solutions, that's really not the best way to handle it. I don't think they should have to provide her with every one of her needs, but a suggestion or an empathetic statement may have gone a long way (with the right person - however, due to the below, she probably would have been an SC regardless)

She said she had never been so embarrassed in her life!

She should be embarrassed at making herself look so unprepared and entitled on a public page, not at someone telling her that she can't take one store's property into another store. Every person is responsible for themselves and their own needs - if you have a baby, you are responsible for every and anything you need to care for it, not the store or the people around you.

[LillFilly]

I agree with the store not allowing the outside cart; who would think to bring one box store's cart into another? They're also too big for the average layout of Kohl's. Maybe the Manager said 'I don't know' because they had just exhausted every option suggested to the mother; they probably figured they just weren't going to win.

I also thought the whole point of the baby carrier was to, you know, carry the baby in.

[Lovecats]

When I worked at Kohl's (many moons ago) they used to have a few carts with a place to put a baby carrier on. I'm sure they still do.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I think we can probably agree that the women in the story shouldn't be expecting others to see to her child's needs. However, the story is really more about her bringing one store's cart into a different store and getting angry when the vendors were not willing to allow that.

In this case, she was motivated by needing the cart for her child and not understanding why she was not owed accommodations. However, her motives are less relevant to the thread than her actions and her expectations. So to avoid going into a Fratching sort of discussion on what makes a good parent vs a bad one, let's just focus on people expecting unreasonable accommodations from businesses for any reason.

If you'd like to debate parenting styles, or kvetch about how parents expect the world to revolve around them, we welcome and encourage you to take that over to Fratching and debate away.

[emax4]

of course on the up-side she basically just told all of her FB friends "i'm a moron who can't accommodate the child I gave birth to and everyone else needs to be responsible for me"

That's one type of payback I enjoy seeing, where someone posts something that they think is right, and 99% of people disagree and shut them down and call them out on their absurdity.

[Ironclad Alibi]

This isn't the first time I've heard about Khol's being asses. I've heard them tell a women in a wheelchair she couldn't use her own, she had to use theirs that they did not have available.

That particular non-accomodation could get them in deep trouble with the Feds, courtesy of the Americans with Disabilities Act.