Stooges in the stores.

[CourierDriver]

Does anyone encounter counter/store employees that are just plain ignorant? My favorite store is Verzion , but next comes auto parts stores imho. I guess everyone has a favorite, list yours if u want.

I grew up in retail and my dad was big on me knowing products. we could make decisions , change prices, give a guy a break, and did not have to call some goon at the home office, ah, the days of old fashion service are long gone,imho. PS, why we had to count the change back to a customer, the register did not have to tell me.

 

[javacontour]

Can't recall any at the moment, but last nights encounter with the door to door pest control guy was classic.

Having dinner (of course) and the door bell rings. oilBabe says it's your turn as he's been here once already. I answer the door and keep him on the porch at 100+ degrees out. He introduces himself, and says there are a bunch of folks in the neighborhood getting a group discount, blah, blah, blah. I said I don't really have any pest control issues, and he says are you ready for this.

"You have bugs outside"

Really?

I simply told him that's how nature works, said no thanks and left him on the porch.

Good grief.

Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
Does anyone encounter counter/store employees that are just plain ignorant? My favorite store is Verzion , but next comes auto parts stores imho. I guess everyone has a favorite, list yours if u want.

I grew up in retail and my dad was big on me knowing products. we could make decisions , change prices, give a guy a break, and did not have to call some goon at the home office, ah, the days of old fashion service are long gone,imho. PS, why we had to count the change back to a customer, the register did not have to tell me.

 

[mpvue]

retail is SO competitive, and all that matters anymore is low price. a store cannot afford well trained people AND have low prices. you cannot expect a $7/hr drone to be well trained in his product.
it wasn't too long ago that Circuit City fired their highest paid employees in one fell swoop.
they went out of business soon after.
we're approaching a completely self-serve retail environment; it's starting with the grocery stores and their self checkout lines, now lowes and HD have them also (which I don't like, and HD some some the THE best trained cashiers I've ever encountered)
I find Verizon stores to be the exception here. one kiosk has some long time employees, I'm talking more than a decade, and they really know their stuff.

 

[RamFan]

Maybe its just me but I can't seem to get a good hair cut from any of the chain places; Sport Clips, Mastercuts, Great Clips, etc. I just get a buzz, 1 on the sides 2 up top, for whatever reason the girl just can't get it even.

 

[LeakySeals]

Give them some slack, most of them are teens on their first jobs, want people to think they know something. If you don't want a green-horn answer, don't debate them, just go in, ask for what you want, leave.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: RamFan
Maybe its just me but I can't seem to get a good hair cut from any of the chain places; Sport Clips, Mastercuts, Great Clips, etc. I just get a buzz, 1 on the sides 2 up top, for whatever reason the girl just can't get it even.


The people working at the $10 haircut chains are amateurs and first timers getting a foot in the door. Follow the money to find the experienced barbers. The salons.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: RamFan
Maybe its just me but I can't seem to get a good hair cut from any of the chain places; Sport Clips, Mastercuts, Great Clips, etc. I just get a buzz, 1 on the sides 2 up top, for whatever reason the girl just can't get it even.


Shave your head yourself. It saves me money and grief.

 

[Kruse]

For me, it's salesmen/saleswomen that show up on your door. My attitude is if I wanted their products, I would have called them myself.
Our nearest neighbor is over a half mile away and usually the people that show up on our doorstep are people who are lost or are looking for directions to a neighbor's house.
We always have several dogs that announce something like that and at the time we had a dog appropriately named "Spook". Spook was a large dog that had been dumped on us, was part German Shepherd and part Blue Heeler and had a very mild temperament. This dog wouldn't hurt a human, but would keep the wild animals away. The most distinguishing feature about Spook was his bright red eyes. I mean this dog could have been a star in a Hollywood horror movie.
One day a car full of people shows up in front of our house. Spook stood beside the driver's door and the man wouldn't get out. My wife thought the people in the car needed directions, but when she walked out to greet them, she could tell that they were trying to sell religion. (I know that is their mission in life, but you would think they would have this national data base that would mention that they've had no luck at this residence for the last 20 years. Whatever.) The guy inside the car asked my wife is that dog had ever mauled anybody. My wife turned around, walked back to the house and simply said "Not lately."
They drove off without getting out of their car.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Big box retailers just staff their stores with living, breathing bodies and that's about it. For what they pay, you're probably not going to get a skilled worker.

I worked at a Target for 4 years on summer break from college and carpooled with my mother (yeah, yeah, I know - working with mom ... it was a job!).

Anywhere, besides the two of us, there were maybe 3 or 4 people in the store that actually knew the product lines in the store. The so-called "managers"/"supervisors"/"team leads" barely knew what Target sold and had only been promoted to their position based on time put in the store.

It's kind of amazing when you ask someone who has been working there for 6 years where the mops are and they don't know.

When you're buying basic products like at a Target or Walmart, its' not terrible.

There's some people that don't use the internet to get auto advice and they go into these parts stores and just get blatant misinformation from people who either know they don't know what they are talking about or think they know what they're talking about.

My favorite is being asked if my front axle U joints are for a 4 wheel drive Jeep ...

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
she could tell that they were trying to sell religion. (I know that is their mission in life, but you would think they would have this national data base that would mention that they've had no luck at this residence for the last 20 years. Whatever.)

people's life situations change, people that were opposed for many years suddenly have questions, a tragedy strikes them and they are now curious, people move, etc.
they approach every door with an open mind, just wanting to share something with their neighbors.
big scary looking dogs? well, you're on your own then. they don't have a death wish.

 

[kkreit01]

Originally Posted By: RamFan
Maybe its just me but I can't seem to get a good hair cut from any of the chain places; Sport Clips, Mastercuts, Great Clips, etc. I just get a buzz, 1 on the sides 2 up top, for whatever reason the girl just can't get it even.


But at least you might get a nice view at Sport Clips.

 

[CourierDriver]

wow, lots of good reports, maybe some retail dude read them.

 

[TC]

It didn't even occur to me until now, but perhaps auto parts counterpeople don't need to be quite the gearheads they needed to be 30 years ago. Two reasons: 1) Cars last much longer now than they did back in the 1970s and 80s. Parts and systems simply don't fail as much as they did back in the day (no more 12K mile tune-ups for that matter), so therefore there's less to change out, and therefore fewer purchases, fewer questions, fewer puzzles and requests made of counterpeople. 2) As with everything else, there's more "disposability" built into cars these days. You don't fix a blender now like in the old days, you simply buy a new one. Same with automotive systems. With certain systems, you don't dismantle and rebuild that part/system, you just replace the overall unit. And that allows for a lesser knowledge base by counterpeople. I dunno, maybe all this is just gibberish. But there may be something to it.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: TC
It didn't even occur to me until now, but perhaps auto parts counterpeople don't need to be quite the gearheads they needed to be 30 years ago. Two reasons: 1) Cars last much longer now than they did back in the 1970s and 80s. Parts and systems simply don't fail as much as they did back in the day (no more 12K mile tune-ups for that matter), so therefore there's less to change out, and therefore fewer purchases, fewer questions, fewer puzzles and requests made of counterpeople. 2) As with everything else, there's more "disposability" built into cars these days. You don't fix a blender now like in the old days, you simply buy a new one. Same with automotive systems. With certain systems, you don't dismantle and rebuild that part/system, you just replace the overall unit. And that allows for a lesser knowledge base by counterpeople. I dunno, maybe all this is just gibberish. But there may be something to it.


Nope. As an auto counterperson, I can say auto knowledge is absolutely necessary, just as much as it always has.

I once had to go to Autozone for a battery. (The car had been sitting for months and would only start if you jumpstarted it) The guy said the battery tested fine, and that it must be a bad alternator. Umm, the alternator has nothing to do with starting the vehicle, it doesn't do ANYTHING until the engine is already running. Trying to explain this was futile. I left and got a battery elsewhere.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
Originally Posted By: Kruse
she could tell that they were trying to sell religion. (I know that is their mission in life, but you would think they would have this national data base that would mention that they've had no luck at this residence for the last 20 years. Whatever.)

people's life situations change, people that were opposed for many years suddenly have questions, a tragedy strikes them and they are now curious, people move, etc.
they approach every door with an open mind, just wanting to share something with their neighbors.
big scary looking dogs? well, you're on your own then. they don't have a death wish.


Not that it's really anybody's business, especially on an oil site, but I practice religion (oh dear, will my post be banned and will I get a time out?), I just don't practice THEIR religion. I went to a parochial school, my kids went to a parochial school, I've been on our church board, I've been a baptismal sponsor and I've taught Sunday school. Currently, I'm a regular church attendee. Once again, if I wanted THEIR religion, I would have asked for their religion.
While I don't push religion on this site, it was only mentioned because of the situation.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
I grew up in retail and my dad was big on me knowing products. we could make decisions , change prices, give a guy a break, and did not have to call some goon at the home office, ah, the days of old fashion service are long gone,imho.


Stores going corporate is what ruined this.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: RamFan
Maybe its just me but I can't seem to get a good hair cut from any of the chain places; Sport Clips, Mastercuts, Great Clips, etc. I just get a buzz, 1 on the sides 2 up top, for whatever reason the girl just can't get it even.


Couldn`t agree more! That`s because they`re all fresh out of cosmo school. You need to find an experienced stylist who really knows the science of hair.

 

[rjundi]

The internet and everyone expecting & getting discount/rock bottom prices ruined quality help.

 

[JHZR2]

Rock bottom prices shouldnt equal no service/help.

Ive found that places that employ people with half a brain and dont have a multi-level management monkey scheme are often willing to give a good deal/match and still know their stuff.

The other side of it is that with the internet, people can learn a LOT, and folks who are smarter and willing to learn can indeed know more than others.

I had an HVAC tradesman on another forum tell me that the internet has ruined a lot of stuff because people actually know what they are talking about and that "there is nothing worse than a consumer with too much info, they will never be satisfied."

As if information is a bad thing. Only to people who pad their costs with excessive profits and costs to the point that they are just rampantly ripping off the consumer.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
...

I had an HVAC tradesman on another forum tell me that the internet has ruined a lot of stuff because people actually know what they are talking about and that "there is nothing worse than a consumer with too much info, they will never be satisfied."

As if information is a bad thing. Only to people who pad their costs with excessive profits and costs to the point that they are just rampantly ripping off the consumer.
Well, maybe it was more along the lines of people who *think* they have all the info? I work for 3 managers who think they know about computers, but know just enough to be dangerous and make my life miserable while I try to tactfully explain that they don't quite know as much as they think they do.

Anyway, back on-topic.