TOPIC: A good article about annoying customers

Yeah, and she'd probably be one of those people to complain that your customer service is horrible (even though you handled it the way that you felt things needed to be handled).<br /><br />Exactly what I mean - some people just think it's their right to complain and make you miserable.

In answer to your question, George, about why was she still ordering from you if she was unhappy - I think she thought she could get a complainer's discount.  LOL!  That tactic is not uncommon.

<br />In answer to your question, George, about why was she still ordering from you if she was unhappy - I think she thought she could get a complainer's discount.  LOL!  That tactic is not uncommon.<br />

<br /><br />I am amazed at how many people do that after the sale.  Before the sale was a bit aggressive for my taste.

I am afraid that I too have been wronged in a similar way by KMart and was very displeased with them, and at no fault of my own. My mother came to visit us not long after my son was born and she, being the proud grandparent, wanted to buy him some stuff. She took us shopping and bought him a new stroller, some toys, lots of clothes etc. All at the KMart down the road from where we lived. We walked outside and suddenly we had 4 security people swarming us. They accused my mother of stealing a purse because her purse looked similar to one they had carried. Now they clearly had nothing on us, cause there was no purse. But, as was explained to us by them (I said by them so dont tell me how I am misinterpereting) they have to stop anyone who carries out merchandise that looks like something the store carries. I asked them if I were wearing sneakers they carried would they stop us and they said yes, they would. Sorry folks but I cant stand watching KMart be defended here for their ridiculous policies as though they were some benevelont organization, they are not and the truth should not be glossed over by blaming it on the customer. Or perhaps my mother should have carried a different purse into the store? Dont blame the customer because you had some crappy ones, sometimes they are right.

Interesting differences in security protocols.<br /><br />When I was about eight or ten years old, I was at Jewel (small grocery store) and my mother told me I could get some candy.  Not seeing any platcic bags at the bulk section (they were out), I put some candy in my pocket, fully intending to take it out of my pocket at the counter as we left the store.  Instead, I was approached by three men in white dress shirts and ties and accused of stealing.  They scared the crap out of me.  In the end, I was so pissed off at being accused of a crime when I had never even considered stealing before, that I ended up stealing several items (star wars cards with the bubble gum) from them in the next 12 months.<br /><br />When I worked for the Wholesale Club, which was bought out by Sam's Club (I think ownership might have been under Sam's Club when this took place), the staff, including the cashiers, were given training by Loss Prevention.  We were told that if we saw a customer hide a product inside another - or otherwise apparently attempt to steal an item - that we had to keep our eyes on the customer 100% of the time (not sure what happened if you blinked) or the company could not accuse the customer of anything.  We were told to never take your eyes of the customer but to somehow get the attention of a manager so the manager could approach the customer.  We were also told that the customer had to make it outside the store with the unpaid-for merchandise in order for it to be considered theft.<br /><br />I have a friend who worked for Meijer security for at least three years.<br />From what I was told, Meijer security actually had to see someone steal an item before they could approach the customer.<br /><br /><br />Brian's experience makes me want to go buy a full set of clothes from KMart and re-enter the store an hour later, fully decked out in KMart clothing and gear and to do this several times just to see what happens.  It would be great if I could whip out a receipt and say "ha, ha!"  Who knows what would happen though, eh?<br /><br />

The irony of Kevin's story is that it is a good thing his mother didn't buy the purse at K-Mart.<br /><br />K-Mart's new slogan "We punish repeat shoppers".<br /><br />The big question is if a store is going to be agressive in dealing with shoplifting, is how often is an honest person wrongly accused?   <br /><br />In the era of the web, forums and blogs this can be a major issue.   In the old days a person wrongly accused could tell their friends and family, perhaps dozens of people might hear the story.   Now a person can post a complaint on the web and perhaps 100s of people will read it.  The first story may not have as much impact as a being told in person but when someone comments (like Kevin did) yea that happened to me too, the stories start become more believeable.   <br /><br />Kind of like the US Air stories I have been following.  Story #1 was the woman who died in the Pheonix airport.  When you get into the details, she was making a connection from a US Air flight to a US Air flight.  Her first flight arrived 40 minutes before the connection was to take off.   When she went to the counter she was told she didn't have a seat on the connecting flight because she hadn't checked in on time.  On any other airline her check-in on the first flight would have counted but it didn't seem to for US Air.   In the comment section of the story on a website several other people talked about similar experiences with US Air.   The volume of negative comments has encouraged me to avoid US Air.  <br /><br />So while places like K-Mart might have been willing to harass one good customer for every X shoplifters figuring that it was an acceptable ratio.   In the web era, a good web active customer harassed might cost that company 10 or 100 times as much business as word of mouth did 20 years ago.   Wrongly accusing people of crimes may not be a suvivable business stratagy in the future.     

Thanks for your understanding guys.. but its Kevin  . As in Kevin Stoner. That aside the dialogue is very interesting and cool.

Too many people have a follow the herd mentality.

<br />Too many people have a follow the herd mentality.<br />

<br /><br />Which is why a lot of advertizing works. 

shrink oh nos

Look the customers, that means you and me, we are all customers at one time or another, are never right! The people who really believe in the customer is right, never have worked in retail or customer support, or are just really cheap.<br /><br /><br />My 2 cents.