The trend in retail these days is to idiot-proof the cash register and the inventory system, so that you can hire anyone with a pulse and pay the bare minimum. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for.
I went into Bevmo for a few items today, but the 4-pack of Dad's Root Beer that I wanted was out-of-stock. Apparently, it had come in, but whoever stocked that section didn't realize that they sold 4-packs. They had crammed all the bottles into the section where they sell them individually, and had thrown out the cardboard 4-pack holders.
Since there is a huge price difference, I asked "Melissa" if she could sell me 4 bottles for the 4-pack price. I pointed out the UPC for the 4-pack, and showed her the overfilled section of individual bottles.
She said, "No, because it won't let me sell you a 4-pack if the inventory is zero." That is not true-- they order full cases and stock them both places, so it wouldn't have made a bit of difference to the inventory. Alternatively, if she'd actually believed that, she could have simply rung up the 4 bottles separately and adjusted the price. They do it all the time when an item scans at a different price than the shelf tag. It would have been very simple to adjust the price, if she'd actually WANTED to.
That brings me back to my original point-- retail clerks today are unable or unwilling to use simple logic to resolve a MINOR problem in order to accommodate a customer. Since I wasn't going to pay $1.79 per bottle, I not only walked out without the root beer, but I also left without the bottle of Kahlua and the vodka I had intended to buy. They lost a $50 sale and my future business, because she couldn't resolve a minor issue.
I'd rather pay a little bit more and shop at a store where the employees try to make sure you get what you came for and leave happy, instead of one where they treat you like an adversary!
On another day, a male employee was rude to me because I stuck my credit card in the machine chip first, instead of scanning it. He acted like I should have known that their chip reader wasn't activated yet, although there was no sign or tape over it, at that time. It wasn't what he said, it was the way he said it. Don't Bevmo's employees receive ANY training in customer service?!
No wonder every time I go in there, there isn't another customer in sight and the employees are standing around talking. The cumulative effect of poorly trained, rude employees has a huge impact on business over time. read more
