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In reply to the discussion: Stopped in a local McDonalds today for coffee, an employee was miffed I didn't use their new kiosk [View all]TexasTowelie
(112,150 posts)This week I went to the Dollar General to pick up 7-8 items at about 2:00 in the afternoon. There were two employees in the store with one of the clerks checking out customers. There was a line of a half-dozen customers with some having full shopping carts so I can see that it will take at least ten minutes and probably fifteen minutes before I can complete my supposedly "quick" trip to the store. The other clerk walks back to the area behind the counter and passes the first clerk along with the line of customers, but instead of opening up another register to thin out the line she goes to the back office. I spoke up about it and the first clerk admonished me saying that the other clerk should stay in the back office because the second clerk was on her lunch break even though she hadn't even started eating. The woman behind me in line also chews me out saying that I was impatient and rude (neglecting the fact that the second clerk was rude by ignoring all of the customers instead of trying to get us out quicker). I was very tempted to tell that lady that she shouldn't judge me and she should mind her own damn business, but I didn't.
I have very apparent breathing difficulties, the front of my T-shirt was damp with perspiration, and I also have lower back problems so standing in long lines is a major irritant to me--plus there is nowhere that I can sit or anything that I can even lean against while waiting in line. I was always taught that the customer comes first (particularly when I was a pizza delivery driver) and I've had to interrupt my lunch breaks even when I worked in an office environment so in a retail environment what occurred is unacceptable to me. There was no consideration for the amount of time that I spent in the store or my own physical ailments, yet alone the rest of the customers. So in addition to my quick trip for groceries, I also came home with a guilt trip because I spoke up. I reluctantly went back to the same store today and saw the same two clerks--they looked at me as though I should apologize for that earlier trip, but there was no way that I was going to say that I was sorry. If they want to talk about me behind my back after I leave then that's okay--it's not like I go to Dollar General to socialize with the clerks.
That experience (and others that are similar) makes me understand why some companies use automation. I really don't want to see anybody lose their jobs, but considering that I really didn't get any customer service anyways there is no way I can blame a company for using automated technology.