[Update since this was posted: I had to pop in today. Management here made it clear to me that it has no intention of doing anything to enforce the county's indoor mask mandate. Customers were roaming freely about this location maskless or with masks dangling below their noses in violation of current county laws. I was told that if I fear for my well-being in the store, I was free to shop online. Imagine that we who obey the laws are being asked to shutter ourselves in our homes so the scofflaws can roam about as they please. What a sorry state of affairs.
At what point do we, as consumers, just tell companies like Ralphs that enough it enough? I mean, they fill the air in their stores with P.A. announcements about how much we customers matter, but it is all just words. You would be hard pressed to find anyone (save for a few very conscientious workers I've encountered) who actually gives a darn about the patrons who shop here.
I have witnessed petite customers reaching high, struggling for items on upper shelves, while employees stroll by blissfully unaware and unconcerned. As a taller guy, I offer my assistance in such moments, but where is the hired help to do so?
Speaking of, this company has succeeded in making check out with an actual cashier too much of a hassle to be worthwhile. They don't employ enough folks to work the registers, so there are always lines at the few registers actually open for business. No express lane ever. So, shoppers with few items to check out end up using the automated checkout. The effect is that the only folks who then use regular checkout are those with enormous carts of items to get rung up. If you come in needing six or eight items, you are going to end up using the automated checkout unless you want to wait behind two customers buying all their groceries for the next year. (Each of whom will struggle with the concept of using a debit card to pay, for some reason.)
The situation mirrors banks. The only people who go into a bank nowadays are those with a lot of business to transact or some sort of complicated matter to handle. This means it is often better to just use the ATM even if you would prefer to actually speak to an actual person. That would require an actual person, and banks, as well as supermarkets like Ralphs, would really we rather not need actually people to patron their businesses.
This then allows Ralphs to justify not hiring more cashiers. Shareholders win, customers and employees lose. The downward spiral toward self-service shopping will pick up more inertia.
This evening I was in and could find little that I needed. I know the global supply chain is in chaos right now, but my sense is that having someone to restock shelves would be of great value.
The checkout situation was messed up and I found myself waiting to get help using self-checkout because I had alcohol to buy. But it wasn't really alcohol, since it was zero-alcohol beer. It took almost as long to get my transaction completed as it would have if I had just waited behind customers with overfull carts in slows full-service lanes.
I called a bit later to reach the manager, and after pressing 0 to reach the front desk, the phone rang well over 100 times. I eventually found an employee in bakery who routed me to the manager, who seemed incensed that I was actually upset. How dare me?! These places have NO PROBLEM insulting their patrons but management gets quite in a huff if we ever express our frustration bluntly.
Does anyone here give a darn? When did customers become the enemy or, worse, hostages to be abused?
I am voting with my feet and my wallet. No more of this place. I'll gladly pay more SOMEWHERE for a better experience. read more