Unfortunately I’ve done it multiple times - especially at Home Depot. Once a Lowes moved in - I no longer shop a Home Depot. First time I did it - I had sat around for 20 minutes for someone to help. I grabbed the stairs in the next isle. No one was around. Maybe they’ve gotten better.
2 Likes
Don’t know how this went from a terrible act of violence to climbing ladders at big box stores. I don’t know what I am doing right or wrong but I just don’t have problems like some of you do.
I went back to the same hardware store the other day. Looking for something in a different section of the store, this time electrician’s area, & overheard this exchange between a staff member that was busy stocking various electrical parts and a customer who rolled their shopping cart up to them.
Customer, frustrated: I need wood!
Staff: What type of wood?
Customer: Floor wood is no good, it crumbling.
Staff: That product is on aisle 34.
Customer: Leaves in a huff …
I also heard an in-store audio announcement
“If you are looking for an item in the store you can’t find, ask any of our staff and they’ll quickly locate it for you.”
It’s all a matter of perspective I guess. I definitely felt sorry for the electrical-staff-guy being disrespected like that.
The customer was probably just frustrated and angry about the situation. The employee happened to be there when the customer vented. It’s hard to know since I wasn’t there. Sometimes I let my frustration show when I’m dealing with customer help and I make sure the tell the person I’m dealing with that I’m not angry with them, just frustrated at the situation.
Probably so. Those warehouse size hardware stores can be a frustrating and intimidating experience, especially for someone who doesn’t know exactly what they are looking for. But a customer looking for a wood product should at least be able to understand they should look in the area of the store that has the wood products; i.e. don’t start the search in the electrical section, frustrated or not. It’s not a mystery which section the customer was in, big overhead signs saying “Electrical”, and shelf after shelf of electrical sockets, switches, and rolls of wire.
I’ve found that there are few employees in the store. It might be that no one was in the wood products section and that customer found an employee in the electrical section. My solution when I want a specific product and can’t find it when I can’t find anyone in the product section is to go to the help desk.
I just try to always go to ACE vs the big box stores, when I walk through the front door someone always ask me if I need help, great customer service… I avoid the 2 big box stores if at all possible, but one has better service then the other…
Developing? It’s been going on for quite some time but I also feel it continues to grow. Entitlement. People call 911 over missing french fries at fast food joints…
3 Likes
Banging away on the cash register buttons has an even faster effect 
I have taken to self-help on a number of occasions. By and large, most of the time when I find someone that works at the store, they are very helpful in bringing a ladder or cherry picker to look for overflow inventory still on the racks. Pro tip- look all around yourself first using their SKU or stocking codes. I see the box in the aisle or even one over that has what I’m looking for helps expedite the process 
I had an experience once where I bought a patio set from the box store. Got home, the top frame of the table was bent. No way I’m boxing all this back up and trailering it back to the store so I just took the frame to the store. Talk about a run-around. Cut to the chase- you want me to box it all back up but then I’m returning for full refund- no sale. OR you can get another one down here and we’ll open it far enough to get the defective part and I’m on my way. You’d think it was a proposal for world peace. Eventually got the manager involved and she agreed. Now the worker finds out the only ones they have are on a top shelf…took over an hour to get satisfaction but I wasn’t leaving without it…
2 Likes
Was it defective or was it damaged?
In the dealer auto parts world, a damaged part must be returned in the original packaging. There is a shipping label on the box showing the shipping date, there is a time limit when making a damage claim.
Nothing was serialized. Who’s to know if the damaged/defective part came in box #1 or box #2?
And who’s to say they received it damaged? Just as likely the warehouse workers dropped it while taking it down from 20 ft up on those storage racks.
Here’s my idea of customer satisfaction: Satisfy your customer first, then sort out how you’re going to go after who you think caused the issue on your own company time…