“Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over.” Henry George
Nothing irks me more than inefficiency. In all ways of life.
It aggravates me to no end when I have to wait an inordinate amount of time due to the ineptness of some dimwitted employee.
I will (reluctantly I admit) put up with waiting if I perceive that the person in charge is doing the best he/she can do. But it absolutely drives me crazy if I recognize that some schmo is not up to the job.
This morning I went to a local Safeway store to do a little grocery shopping. I went there out of convenience. The store is close by and it has a good array of products.
But, convenience is often another term for poor or inexistent service.
One shops at a certain place for its products, its prices, but most of all you patronize a store (at least me) for its service. If I encounter a problem, I know that it will be quickly resolved to my satisfaction.
In Marin County by the way, I highly recommend a hardware store called Pini. It has the best customer service anyone could wish for.
In a perfect world, all stores would be Pini clones.
When in a supermarket, after your shopping is done, you ultimately have to pick a cash register line. Your goal is to get out of the store as quickly as possible and go about your business.
You gauge the people waiting in the different lines, the employees in charge of the cash register and you place your bet; you pick a line.
But many things can go wrong.
You can have pesky customers, a slow cash register handler or both.
My cash register jockey this morning happened to be an elderly black woman who was either very inexperienced or brain-dead. It also looked like that she desperately needed a pair of glasses.
She was so agonizingly slow that I felt like screaming.
The problem with poor service has generally something to do with compensation. As I pointed out, “Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor”.
I have no doubt that this woman was trying her best, but she was definitely not up to the task. I suspect that she got this particular position not because of her skills, but rather because of the scarcity of people applying for this low paying occupation.
In my opinion, this person has no business dealing with the public.
It is not her fault but the store’s management. If they want capable employees they need to compensate them adequately.
Personally, I am willing to pay a little more to get decent service, but low pay is still no excuse for lousy service.
Alain
PS: An enlightened company has a website with an online customer service receptive to criticism and quick to correct a problem.
I didn’t see any such thing on Safeway’s website.