I love a
good sale; there’s nothing like saving money—especially when you don’t have to
spend money to do it.
Still,
lately I have been having a hard time actually spending money. No, not because
I’m adhering to a budget; not because I’m debating a large purchase or even
haggling over prices: The store just won’t seem to take my money. It’s an odd problem to have. Under normal
circumstances I wouldn’t complain, but these circumstances aren’t quite normal.
Last week I
visited Wal-Mart to purchase new tires. On one hand I had reservations about
purchasing tires from the same place I can purchase sweatpants and toothpaste;
but, there’s a certain nostalgic quality reminiscent of Sunday shopping with my
grandmother decades ago that eases the uncertainties. Back then, she shopped at
Two Guys, a long gone “everything” store similar to Wal-Mart and perhaps more adept—though
their bankruptcy would say otherwise—at taking money. So I was able to
rationalize shopping for tires where I shop for life—at first.
When I stepped
up to the counter it was like stepping into a sitcom. The customer in front of me
had moved around the country; it seemed the only things that remained
consistent over the past year were her love of mobility and her love for
Wal-Mart. The employee searched for her client information using three
different phone numbers before giving up and setting the customer up with a new
account. Ten minutes later, when it was
finally my turn, another employee searched the computer system for my tires and
found nine in stock and many more in stock that were higher than I wanted to
pay.
The next
part is a communication whirlwind. I say, “if I need four tires, I want four
tires; if I only need two, put on two.”
They hear, “blah, blah, blah…two tires.”
About an
hour later a somber faced mechanic comes out. He has broken the screw to the
sensor and it looks like I am going to need a new one. I stare at the screw and
the valve and then at the sensor and the mechanic. It seems an odd thing to
show me, but he is intent that I see the connection: the gold-plated stub
wedged between metal—yes, I see it. The
need for me to purchase a new one—no, I don’t.
First he says I need a new sensor. My sensor is broken? I ask. No, just
the screw. And they don’t sell the screws? I ask. Well, I broke it, he explains—again.
He seems
ready to launch into a complicated answer, instead he pauses reconsidering. “Let
me check.”
The thing
is we both know I’m not going to pay for a new valve or a new sensor.
Five
minutes after a discussion with his supervisor, work begins again on my
car. Thirty minutes later it’s finished.
“You’re going
to need two more tires really soon.”
“You didn’t
put them on?” I ask.
I
re-explain my explanation. “We can put them on but it will be another hour and
a half,” the mechanic says. My car would be put back into the loop—I mean, in
the back of the loop.
Against my
better judgment, I decided to come back another day. When I came back I was told it would be a one
hour wait. I waited. Almost one hour later my car was still parked where I had
left it neither finished nor worked on.
Still, my sense of “how can this happen again” drove me to try one more
time. The last time I went, the attendant looked for my tires for ten minutes
without finding them. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. He
searched each tire on each shelf, even using the rolling ladder and a
coworker. Of course, he was looking for
the exact tires I purchased last time without asking if I wanted a different
brand.
The store
manager recommended I order the tires online and have them shipped to the store
for them to put them on. I decided to go
elsewhere. I will stick to sweatpants
and accessories for Wal-Mart and leave the car parts to companies who
specialize in cars and servicing them.
Are your
employees costing you money? If your employees won’t listen to your customers,
someone else will. Train your staff to listen to your clients and address their
needs; remind them to ask questions when they don’t understand and to give
honest feedback when they do. Don’t let lack of communication cost you your
clients; your competitors won’t.
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