Dear Retail People,
Just thought I'd drop you a quick note for completely ignoring me in your shops today.
Just because you're such a "fabulous" shopping location does not mean that you have only one type of customer. Remember there are other stores nearby, and there maybe people shopping there for other kind of stuff who also shop at your fabulous shops. Who actually like to wear nice clothes when they're not wearing trainers and trackies.
Also just a tip, if you see someone popping in to your store wearing jeans, thongs, a birds nest of a hair do and a bright pink t-shirt (because she's rocking colour this week), just a thought, she may not have planned to do any shopping in your fabulous shops, but decided while she was the area by chance, to poke her head in anyway.
You never know where your next deal will come from. It may have been her. But you'll never know now because you IGNORED her so rudely and completely as you chatted on the phone or to more fabulous people than her (who may not have been going to buy anything).
Sometimes, it's important to remember that some people don't take rude treatment lying down, and that that woman with the birds nest hair and look-at-me pink t-shirt actually likes to vent about this stuff, and got another retail person in BIG BIG trouble when she told about a million people once who read a newspaper where she had written about the rude treatment she got. Just a thought.
Sometimes people don't need much, just a simple "hi can I help" and that's it. And that's only 4 words. Easy.
And to the retail person who in a nano-second looked me up and down, formed a judgement and then blatantly ignored me, I had credit cards in my wallet even if it wasn't Prada. But those cards are capable of buying Prada (ok, that's a lie and if The Husband is reading this, it's only for effect).
Yours truly,
The Woman in jeans, pink tshirt and birds nest hair.
ps. To the Retail Person in the shop where I looked at the thin, cotton navy asymmetrical jumper with a $495 price tag, it was ok that you ignored me, I was cool with that.
story of my life - earlier in the year I had planned to buy a new TV & laptop. I walked into one of the major retailers one morning. There were 5 or 6 salesmen huddled around the counter at the back of the store having a good old chinwag. Nobody came to see if I needed help with anything so I walked out and across the way to their competitor who were nothing but friendly and forthcoming with information. I bought my new TV & laptop then and there, and if I need any more electronics then I'd go back to the same store.
ReplyDeleteBeing bigger I think I'm just used to getting the up and down looks then being ignored. Actually it happens to my whole family - we have 'invisible' days
Thanks Kelly, I love that secret smug feeling when you know you've gone and offloaded your cash at a different store than the one you intended because of bad customer service, it's like a service-self righteousness. And I get the invisible days, I seem to have a voice in restaurants that way staff ignore, and often those sitting with have to get their attention for me. Let's call it a "silent voice"
DeleteMany years ago when I started working in the city I wanted to spend my first pay in David Jones and from the time I walked in there till I left if I wasn't being ignored I was being looked up and down like a piece of dirt. Yes I was a teenager wearing my big sister's hand me downs and my shoes were no more leather than made of gold, but I felt so humiliated I have never shopped in there since. That's 31 years worth of patronage they have lost, granted I'm no big spender but I've also told everyone about my experience and some of them may have felt the same. Now I can afford nice shoes and labels I still refuse to enter that department store and will much prefer to be a customer of the small retailer that treats me like a human being.
ReplyDeleteYou go girl, why not write a letter to the CEO of David Jones calling it "The Importance of Customer Service for Forming Life Long Retail Relationships" or "Take that Suckers" . Love the power you wield!
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