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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
| Subject | Re: Plastic Fantastic is closing |
| Date | Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:31:34 EST |
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In a message dated 1/13/2004 12:07:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,
audities-owner@smoe.org writes:
<<Speaking as a customer/consumer, I see this type of attitude every
day, but the fact is that it isn't some god-given right that a store
can offend customers and expect them to come back and still be a
repeat customer. >>
I think you sort of missed my point, though (and, for the record, I
completely agree that the store meeting should've been held either before or after the
store's regular business hours, but given the likely financial picture of this
store--isn't it in the process of closing?--there may have been valid
financial reasons they didn't.). And what about the other things I mentioned--such as
emergencies, lunches, etc? Are retail employees not afforded equal status? Do
keep in mind that currently most are only making minimum wage salaries as it
is--do they not get lunches, or not get to leave in the case of personal
emergencies?
"The customer is always right" is generally an applicable mantra, being the
appropriate way to deal with 99% of situations. But there has been an
increasing attitude on the part of consumers that stores are responsible for cleaning
up after the customer's own mistakes--such as if they decide they simply didn't
like an album, or bought the wrong one, just as obvious and common record
store examples. There is nothing that the store can do with that product once
it's been returned, so the store takes a loss. Now when you're talking about
record stores, who typically make a weak margin of about 10-15% per disc, and are
already facing weak sales and higher overhead than much of their competition,
that's a major bite out of sales if you do say "the customer is always right"
and allow that return. Or if a store doesn't give cash back on a return
without a receipt--people STEAL things and return them to try and get money. Frankly
this is just the flip of what you were talking about--its just the other side
of what you were talking about above. If you're noticing poorer customer
service in stores in general, then it has a great deal to do with poorly paid
employees and strict cost-saving policies (in the music industry these are often a
result of the overall current struggle that we're all aware of). The store
does need some room in "the customer is always right" to protect its own assets.
That's my point, though, and not so much that this particular store made the
right decision in closing mid-day on a Friday. My point was more that denying
your business to a store that you like based on one bad experience seems
silly. I don't honestly know what you do for your own work, and I'm sure that when
you do it you seek to make your boss/cleints/customers as satisfied as
possible, and this is obviously no different in the retail world. But there has
recently been a confluence of factors--lower salaries for workers, a decline in
respect for the industry as a whole, cheaper-than-possible goods from large,
category-killer chains to name a few--that are squeezing the retail industry to a
point that it can't afford to take losses in some places that it once
could've. It's great to have a happy customer, but it's not so great if that very
customer is part of what puts you out of business.
By the way, with stores like Plastic Fantastic and Manifest Discs closing, I
shouldn't have to add that soon Best Buy will be where we're buying all of our
music anyway, regardless of good or bad customer service. What does that tell
you? Customers like good service, a good atmosphere, and good selection, but
they LOVE good prices. And prices that good simply can't be delivered by
smaller companies who pay their employees respectably, stock slower-turning
product, and sell CDs as more than a loss leader. --Jason
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