One of the shining moments in Disney’s rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” is the dining room scene, in which Lumiere, the singing candelabra, belts out “Be Our Guest”:
Be our guest
Be our guest,
Put our service to the test …
Be our guest
Be our guest
Your command is our request.
I just got back from New York, and suffice it to say, Lumiere was nowhere in sight — I experienced phenomenal art, a retail smorgasbord and astonishingly bad customer service. Even for the Big Apple.
New York is a glorious place, but life there can be grueling, as anyone who has jammed a stiletto through a subway grate on a crowded sidewalk knows. Frankly, if I had to pay $20 every time I wanted a turkey sandwich and chips, I’d be cranky too.
But the same thing happens here, despite our subway-free existence and reasonably priced sandwiches.
It’s counterintuitive. The economy is flailing. Stores are offering ridiculous sales to lure in reluctant shoppers. But at the end of the day, if the service is lackluster, I won’t go back, no matter how good the deals are. And I’ll tell all my friends not to, either.
There’s a reason why I love shops such as Bella Luna, Molly’s in Winterport and The Cherished Home in Belfast: amazing customer service.
The people who work at these and my other favorite shops have it down pat. They understand how far a warm smile, engaging conversation and remembering a customer’s preferences can go.
What amazes me is how many others don’t.
Note to shopkeepers, managers and clerks: It is not OK when your employees are texting or talking on the phone the entire time they’re ringing up customers. It is not cool when the guy at register 1 is flirting with the gal at register 2 while your customer is trying to buy dog food. It stinks to have a return policy that works against the consumer. And if you’re running a high-end boutique (or, say, an upscale outlet), please do not encourage your employees to act like they’re more worldly, wealthy or wise than your customers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked out of shops empty-handed because of this.
Below, I’ve compiled a few customer service rants and raves that readers have sent me over the last several months. I’ve had to condense them for space, but I’ll be posting the full version of each on the ShopBlog at http://shopblogbdn.blogspot.com over the next week.
• Deb had a wonderful experience at Hannaford recently. She was at the checkout when the clerk noticed a rotten cherry tomato and called to have a new bunch of tomatoes brought to the register. Way to go!
• An anonymous reader made the mistake of trying to try on clothes at a trendy discount store (one with a decidedly nautical name) 10 minutes before closing. A saleswoman barred her from the fitting room at 10 minutes to 9, saying it was store policy. As the customer stood in front of a mirror in the middle of the store, trying on outfits over her own clothes, she noticed as the same saleswoman ushering a mother and daughter into the fitting room. The reader is a part-time stay-at-home mom who also works 30 hours a week. She rarely has time to shop, so this was a real treat. And the saleswoman ruined it. Can you say, bad for business?
• Laura Michaud is the assistant manager at Talbots in Bangor, and her view of good service is right on: “I understand that customer service is one of the only things holding the economy together right now. If people receive poor or no customer service at a store they will not hesitate to just leave. Why would you want to hand over your hard-earned money to someone who doesn’t seem to care if you buy something or not? If people receive great service, they tell everyone they know! We are all about EXTRAORDINARY customer service at Talbots. … We know we are here because of our customers.” Amen to that, Laura. Visit the ShopBlog to read about Talbots “Style by Appointment” service.
• An anonymous reader and her 17-year-old daughter had a horrible experience in a Brewer big box. They showed up at 7:15 a.m. so they could buy supplies for a school event, but no one would help them. Desperate — and needing to get to school on time — they actually picked up the phone and paged someone over the store’s P.A. system. Then they waited five minutes and paged again. “During the entire time, a total of three employees wearing store name tags, including a male employee in a three-piece suit, walked by and asked if we needed help. They all said they would find assistance and left on the errand, but no one appeared.” At 7:45, someone arrived to help, but not before tidying up her workstation without saying a word to the customers in line.
• Karen Fielder of Brewer decided to buy her first new outfit in months at J.C. Penney in Bangor. “In only one minute I gasped, spying in Misses an Alfred Dunner open front denim jacket with gold and raspberry embroidery around the neck, down the edges of the front and around the hem. The hippie in me screamed ‘YESSS!’ but pawing the rack full of tiny sizes dashed my hopes; nothing over 18 in the bunch.” It fit, but it wasn’t perfect, and Karen REALLY wanted the jacket. Chelsey, a saleswoman at Penney’s, came to the rescue. She not only scoured the store to see if there was another size, she ordered one from another store when she couldn’t find it in Bangor. Go, Chelsey!
ShopGirl would love to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions by e-mail to: kandresen@bangordailynews.net, by U.S. mail to Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329, or by fax to 941-9476. For exclusive online shopping tips, visit http://shopblogbdn.blogspot.com.