SHOWDOWN, SUBURBAN STYLE — The Consumer Playbook

I had a coupon for $20 off of a $100 purchase at Whole Foods. Not something that I see often, so of course, I had to find a way to use it. When it’s just Howard and me, although it’s usually easy to spend money at Whole Foods, the only things that I needed added up to $30. However, I did need to buy gift cards. Gift cards are usually excluded on coupons. I scrutinized the small print and didn’t find any exclusions. Nice! I got to checkout, and, not so nice. The cashier didn’t know how to put the coupon into the system. She called for a supervisor. That’s where the customer service problems began.
To protect her privacy, let’s call the supervisor Morona (I’m refraining from using a nickname, but you can use your imagination.) Morona barely looked at the coupon, and abruptly said “You only spent $30.” “No", I replied, “I spent $330”. She testily told me that gift cards aren’t included with the coupon. I asked her to read the coupon and see that gift cards weren’t excluded. She ignored that request. “You’ll have to go to Customer Service”, said Morona. My order had already been rung up. I asked for a manager in order to finish the transaction and move on. Morona’s response—she IS the SUPERVISOR. That answer never works for me. “I need your manager—the store manager.” Her response—another of my personal favorites—“She’s just going to tell you the same thing.” “Just get the manager, please.” (It was a strain to say “please”, but someone had to behave civilly.) Simultaneously scowling and smug—I guess that she learned how to do that at Supervisor U—she flippantly voided the transaction and walked off towards Customer Service. Of course, I followed, smoke emanating from my ears, but determined to use the coupon and have a manager address Morona’s inappropriate behavior.
Fortunately, there was a polite associate at Customer Service, and as Morona stood there, I asked that associate for the store manager. It took great effort to remain credible, since I sometimes become breathless when I’m that angry. My version of breathless isn’t the sexy Marilyn Monroe breathless; it’s lunatic lady breathless. But I managed to keep breathing. When the manager arrived on the scene, as Morona stood there like a smug lump, expecting manager support, I explained the coupon issue and detailed Morona’s inappropriate demeanor and abysmal customer service behavior. The manager got it. She agreed that I was right about the coupon and would also deal with Morona’s behavior. (My furious self was hoping for flagellation with a wet noodle or demotion. My rational self was looking for customer service training.) Rather than using the $20 coupon, she asked if she could just charge me for the gift cards, and write off the $30 in other charges. While my goal was simply to use the coupon, of course, this worked for me.
What did Morona do wrong?
1) She didn’t look at the coupon to recognize that I could legitimately use it on the purchase.
2) When I asked for a manager she tried to stonewall me rather than find a manager.
3) Everything about her demeanor was antithetical to good customer service—antagonistic tone of voice, nasty and smug facial expression.
4) Voiding the transaction and walking away—that was the apogee in the world of bad customer service.
What did I do right?
1) I checked the coupon before using it, to make sure that it was valid for my purchase.
2) I realized that Morona was a lower level supervisor and I asked for a higher level manager.
3) I managed to tone down my fury and explain the situation clearly to the manager so that I could use the coupon, have the manager deal with Morona’s bad behavior, and not sound like a maniac
4) I persisted in the wake of Morona’s dogged attempts to thwart me. I’m sure that if she treated me that poorly, other customers had and would continue to have similar experiences if I didn’t speak up.
I’ve found that many businesses have first line supervisors who are supposed to provide support to line staff and to deal with customer service issues. This is prevalent in retail and especially so in supermarkets. I’ve seen some good ones. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen too many Moronas. The recurrent theme here is that there are first level supervisors who see the customer as the enemy and define their role as one where they defend the store against the interloper customers. This is a danger when you have little people with a little power. Why does it happen? Poor hiring decisions, failure to provide adequate customer service training, lack of adequate oversight, customers failing to report problematic service. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just me since I’ve experienced it too often. I really don’t think so. I just think that customers are too willing to accept the poor service or abuse and don’t speak up. I’ve seen it happen. I’m just not willing to accept it when it happens to me. I’d rather accomplish my goal and also try to have the problem rectified so that improved customer service becomes the standard.
I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN—POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE ISN’T ACCEPTABLE AND SILENCE NEVER FIXES IT.
SPEAK UP WHEN THERE’S A PROBLEM!