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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "*Bill Holmes*" <bholmes_fm@msn.com> |
| Subject | Re: Plastic Fantastic is closing |
| Date | Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:14:29 -0500 |
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> Speaking as a retailer I see this type of
> attitude every day, but the fact is that it isn't some god-given right
that a store
> will be open. People who work in office jobs have the freedom to step out
if
> needed--for lunches, for emergencies, for MEETINGS (as is the case here)
etc.,
> but those who work out in the public don't have that. They needed to have
a
> store meeting and scheduled it mid-day (which is a dead time for most
retailers)
> to interfere with as few customers as possible.
Sorry Jason, I disagree. Scheduling the meeting just before or after regular
working hours would interfere with the fewest customers possible. Having to
close your store during regular hours is, of course, the whim of the store
management. But it sure seems to indicate poor judjment and poor
planning/management skills.
If a retail business couldn't do that and absolutely HAD to schedule a
working time meeting where EVERYONE had to attend and they were forced to
close, I would think signage in advance would be the least they could do -
and I don't mean an hour in advance. As for offices, sure, there are
meetings all the time. But business carries on as usual - someone mans the
phones, and people in the meetings have their work covered. There isn't the
expectation that everyone is available for a drop-in visit; it's a
completely different environment. For restaurants, retail and any other
business that offers a time period of open hours, is itreally worth sending
the message that hey, you MIGHT be open and you might not?
> There are also some times that stores HAVE to close, such as during power
> outages (when it's impossible to ring out customers anyway and it becomes
a
> serious safety issue for the employees to continue to allow guests into
the store),
> major storms, or (in some cases) to give the employee(s) their
> legally-mandated lunch break. It's obvious from the other posts that this
particular store
> had some customer-service issues anyway, but I don't think that this
particular
> one should be so inexcusable.
What you describe above are considered emergency situations and no one would
complain. It doesn't sound like the midday closure was an emergency, and if
it was, it was surely poorly communicated. I don't know that I would heve
abandoned the store forever - it would depend on other things and also the
WAY in which I was asked to leave the store - but I'd certainly take the
place down a notch in my mind.
b
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