Small Rant - Uneducated Employees (Why work somewhere you have no interest in?)
07-19-2007, 03:30 AM
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Small Rant - Uneducated Employees (Why work somewhere you have no interest in?)
I HATE when I ask for help at a store and the person has no clue what I'm talking about...
EXAMPLE 1. While at Lowes I asked someone in roofing for dimensional shingles, and he said they are all the same size, I told him I realize that but I need 30yr dimensional shingles - he needed to ask the manager.
EXAMPLE 2. At AutoZone I asked the girl behind the counter where the SeaFoam was - she told me they didn't carry that... so I asked her where the fuel treatment was... She asked me if I had a leak in my gas tank.
EXAMPLE 3. At the Cummins store, I asked the parts manager for an air intake temp sensor - he told me that he would have to talk to a mechanic to see what kind of engine I had - I told him it was a "B" series 12 valve 5.9 Dodge Ram... He suggested I go to the dealership because Dodge makes the parts for my engine. I told him he was wrong, in a nice way - he insisted that I would be better helped at a dealership, until the mechanic walked in.
Why work somewhere if you don't care about the product you sell?
Belittling comment removed
EXAMPLE 1. While at Lowes I asked someone in roofing for dimensional shingles, and he said they are all the same size, I told him I realize that but I need 30yr dimensional shingles - he needed to ask the manager.
EXAMPLE 2. At AutoZone I asked the girl behind the counter where the SeaFoam was - she told me they didn't carry that... so I asked her where the fuel treatment was... She asked me if I had a leak in my gas tank.
EXAMPLE 3. At the Cummins store, I asked the parts manager for an air intake temp sensor - he told me that he would have to talk to a mechanic to see what kind of engine I had - I told him it was a "B" series 12 valve 5.9 Dodge Ram... He suggested I go to the dealership because Dodge makes the parts for my engine. I told him he was wrong, in a nice way - he insisted that I would be better helped at a dealership, until the mechanic walked in.
Why work somewhere if you don't care about the product you sell?
Belittling comment removed
07-19-2007, 06:46 AM
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i totally agree with you it is very frustrating when you know more than the employees do. I know at home depot you are supposed to go through their training (used to work there) but they will never let you do the training because they do not have enough people working there to help the customers so they just throw you out there and hope you can figure out everything on your own. I think it has in some part to do with the employer not wanting to invest to much time in teaching the employee about the job and also the employee should take time to learn what they are selling
07-19-2007, 07:13 AM
#4
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Well that can certainly be a factor, I agree. But that doesn't mean the employee can't at least show a little interest in the product they're supposed to be selling or the customer they're supposed to be serving. I HATE paint and anything to do with it, but if I HAD to work in a paint store to feed my family, you can bet I'd learn all I could about the product and be as helpful as I could to the customer.
A year or so ago, I went to our local, small hardware store to buy/order a box of padlocks, all keyed alike and to a number I was already using. The person who waited on me, (who I later found out was one of the owners), told me point blank, "You can't get locks like that. You can get a case all keyed alike, but it will be to a random number and we already have those on the shelf." I told him I had ordered locks numerous times in such a manner when I was back east to which he replied, "I guess you better go back east then." Needless to say, I don't go to this particular hardware store anymore.
It's too bad really, because I like to try and support the small business whenever I can, but why should I, when the owner won't even put forth the effort to know what he's selling? I've noticed that there's not a lot of customers crowding into that store like they used to, so I guess I'm not the only one that's been treated that way.
Incidentally, I called Masterlock and they shipped my locks to me directly, so I guess it wasn't too hard!
chaikwa.
A year or so ago, I went to our local, small hardware store to buy/order a box of padlocks, all keyed alike and to a number I was already using. The person who waited on me, (who I later found out was one of the owners), told me point blank, "You can't get locks like that. You can get a case all keyed alike, but it will be to a random number and we already have those on the shelf." I told him I had ordered locks numerous times in such a manner when I was back east to which he replied, "I guess you better go back east then." Needless to say, I don't go to this particular hardware store anymore.
It's too bad really, because I like to try and support the small business whenever I can, but why should I, when the owner won't even put forth the effort to know what he's selling? I've noticed that there's not a lot of customers crowding into that store like they used to, so I guess I'm not the only one that's been treated that way.
Incidentally, I called Masterlock and they shipped my locks to me directly, so I guess it wasn't too hard!
chaikwa.
07-19-2007, 10:38 AM
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By the time a company finds a person that is drug free, willing to show up, will not steal, can learn the basics of the place such as where the front door is and how to run the register, etc., they are hired and working. Most companies don't want people that might make decisions on their own. The companies have well oiled "systems" that are proven to work and are cheap. Home Depot is a good example. They advertise that they can help and know something, but the sad reality is, most employees don't know much about building materials and even less about how to use them. Or worse, you have to interupt a personal conversation between two disinterested employees to ask a question.
It's frustrating, but folks that really do know about stuff are not willing to work at an entry level job at minimum wage. And companies are not willing to pay for experience when they can hire a young person cheap. Consequently, the customer has to put up with buying from people who cannot answer simple questions.
The opposite and equally frustrating situation is the DMV. In California they are taught NOT to say the things that would help the public. They are barely smart enough to do the job, but smart enough to learn what not to say. It's all about getting the max revenue in. Public service???? Not.
John
It's frustrating, but folks that really do know about stuff are not willing to work at an entry level job at minimum wage. And companies are not willing to pay for experience when they can hire a young person cheap. Consequently, the customer has to put up with buying from people who cannot answer simple questions.
The opposite and equally frustrating situation is the DMV. In California they are taught NOT to say the things that would help the public. They are barely smart enough to do the job, but smart enough to learn what not to say. It's all about getting the max revenue in. Public service???? Not.
John
07-19-2007, 11:18 AM
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Customer service is not a lost art, it's deliberate.
John
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07-19-2007, 11:56 AM
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About 2.5 years ago, I moved into this house that I am in now, and there just happens to be a Home Depot 3 miles away (Lowe's is 10 miles). I happened to be in Quicken two weeks ago, trying to figure out what I have spent remodeling my kitchen, and figured out that in 17 months, I have spent a hair over $17,400 at Home Depot alone.
Well, they screwed up on an appointment we had to get a price on granite (mostly curiousity...I don't trust most of the contractors they use, but I just wanted to get a baseline). Anyways, we get there, asked for the person we were supposed to meet, come to find out she wasn't even working that night, and at 6:30 on a Tuesday evening, out of the 3 employees standing by the Kitchen desk, not ONE of them was a "designer."
I wasn't really planning on blowing up at the mgr on duty, I just wanted to inform him of my displeasure, and I think it is poor planning on their part to have 3 people standing around bs'ing, and not one of them is a "designer."
I say I wasn't planning on it, but the glazed look I got from the guy, combined with the ridiculous answers I was getting from him ("Well, I would think you would want a designer to lay that out for you." Thanks, Sherlock, my point was that it was 6:30pm, prime time for customers, and there's not one around that is qualified!).
So, I was still trying to be calm, and stating to him that while the $1k a month I average in there was probably nothing to the store, the district, or the company as a whole, it shows that I am a pretty loyal customer, so I would think that they would want to hear what I had to say. (It's to the point that 90% of the employees in there greet me by name!).
So, after my calm rant, I stated that if this is the best customer service they can provide, I would be willing to drive the extra 7 miles to Lowe's, where I would be appreciated. His response? "Well, thanks for coming in."
Not trying to pick on Home Depot, this is just the latest in a series of incidents with various companies we have been dealing with, trying to renovate the house.
But, everytime I relay one of these incidents, I always end it the same...it's not suprising, considering DHL spent millions on an ad campaign stating that they have customer service. 20 years ago, that was a given, but now you have some international company that their strategic competency is customer service.
Just shows the status of corporate culture these days....
Off rant... (sorry, couldn't find the icon!)
BTW, to this day (9 days later), I still have not gone back there. Gone to 2 of their competitors, spent upwards of $600, but have not spent a dime there. (Plus, gives me some more time in the CTD, driving all over heck and creation to avoid them!
)
Well, they screwed up on an appointment we had to get a price on granite (mostly curiousity...I don't trust most of the contractors they use, but I just wanted to get a baseline). Anyways, we get there, asked for the person we were supposed to meet, come to find out she wasn't even working that night, and at 6:30 on a Tuesday evening, out of the 3 employees standing by the Kitchen desk, not ONE of them was a "designer."
I wasn't really planning on blowing up at the mgr on duty, I just wanted to inform him of my displeasure, and I think it is poor planning on their part to have 3 people standing around bs'ing, and not one of them is a "designer."
I say I wasn't planning on it, but the glazed look I got from the guy, combined with the ridiculous answers I was getting from him ("Well, I would think you would want a designer to lay that out for you." Thanks, Sherlock, my point was that it was 6:30pm, prime time for customers, and there's not one around that is qualified!).
So, I was still trying to be calm, and stating to him that while the $1k a month I average in there was probably nothing to the store, the district, or the company as a whole, it shows that I am a pretty loyal customer, so I would think that they would want to hear what I had to say. (It's to the point that 90% of the employees in there greet me by name!).
So, after my calm rant, I stated that if this is the best customer service they can provide, I would be willing to drive the extra 7 miles to Lowe's, where I would be appreciated. His response? "Well, thanks for coming in."
Not trying to pick on Home Depot, this is just the latest in a series of incidents with various companies we have been dealing with, trying to renovate the house.
But, everytime I relay one of these incidents, I always end it the same...it's not suprising, considering DHL spent millions on an ad campaign stating that they have customer service. 20 years ago, that was a given, but now you have some international company that their strategic competency is customer service.
Just shows the status of corporate culture these days....
Off rant... (sorry, couldn't find the icon!)
BTW, to this day (9 days later), I still have not gone back there. Gone to 2 of their competitors, spent upwards of $600, but have not spent a dime there. (Plus, gives me some more time in the CTD, driving all over heck and creation to avoid them!
)
07-19-2007, 12:21 PM
#9
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I don't mean to hi-jack this thread but we've had a girldog time dealing with Home Depot on our kitchen as well. We paid $12,500 for new cabinets and counter top last October. The cabinets arrived just before Christmas and were installed in Jan. There was one bank of drawers with the wrong fronts and a few doors weren't the same length, maybe a 1/16" or so out. The doors arrived in Mar. The installer came to put them on but they were missing the little inserts required to screw them on. That was the last I heard from him. I've phoned a few times and got the run around. Now they don't even return my calls. I guess I'll suck it up and put them on myself if I can figure out where to get the parts.
Home Depot's customer service is a disgrace. I'm tempted to go in there and butt in and tell the story when they're trying to sell people cabinets.
Back to the topic, my wife is in retail management. If she hires someone that takes no initiative or doesn't learn the merchandise, she cans them before their probation is up. She does have a hard time finding good people. I imagine the low wages and crappy hours retail people work doesn't give them much incentive to pour their heart and soul into their jobs.
Home Depot's customer service is a disgrace. I'm tempted to go in there and butt in and tell the story when they're trying to sell people cabinets.
Back to the topic, my wife is in retail management. If she hires someone that takes no initiative or doesn't learn the merchandise, she cans them before their probation is up. She does have a hard time finding good people. I imagine the low wages and crappy hours retail people work doesn't give them much incentive to pour their heart and soul into their jobs.
07-19-2007, 12:32 PM
#10
Registered User
Home Depot was in the news a while back about all of their customer service issues. At the time, the gist of the article was that they don't treat employees well, so the employees just don't care.
As for the Home Depot contractors, I am really wondering about the pricing for some of their services. We looked at having a contractor from HD install a paver patio and sidewalk. There already is a back patio that is smaller and the sidewalk area is currently just 3" of loose stone. The quote for 425sqft was ~$8400. This was to lay the pavers over the existing patio, not to remove the concrete. The estimate included $1100 just to get rid of the stone from the current sidewalk. We had another contractor come out to do an estimate and his price was only $4200. And this included removing the existing concrete patio and rear step, plus the small concrete pad by the front enty to replace them with the pavers. And when asked about the stone on the existing sidewalk, he said it was no additional charge since they had to excavate anyway. I knew the HD estimate seemed high, I just didn't expect that kind of difference. And they wouldn't do a estimate for gutters because the job was too small, but they said the expected cost would be around $600-650 dollars. But every other estimate has been in the $250-300 range.
As for the Home Depot contractors, I am really wondering about the pricing for some of their services. We looked at having a contractor from HD install a paver patio and sidewalk. There already is a back patio that is smaller and the sidewalk area is currently just 3" of loose stone. The quote for 425sqft was ~$8400. This was to lay the pavers over the existing patio, not to remove the concrete. The estimate included $1100 just to get rid of the stone from the current sidewalk. We had another contractor come out to do an estimate and his price was only $4200. And this included removing the existing concrete patio and rear step, plus the small concrete pad by the front enty to replace them with the pavers. And when asked about the stone on the existing sidewalk, he said it was no additional charge since they had to excavate anyway. I knew the HD estimate seemed high, I just didn't expect that kind of difference. And they wouldn't do a estimate for gutters because the job was too small, but they said the expected cost would be around $600-650 dollars. But every other estimate has been in the $250-300 range.
07-19-2007, 12:51 PM
#11
Muted User
my dad woked for home depot for almost 8 years, the store really went down in those 8 years thats for sure, it used to be they would hire people that new what they were doing, my dad has done construction for over 20 years so he was a great candidate, now they will hire anyone, i am tired of going there, every time i build a deck, i do a will call, guess what, there not a thing pulled or ready for me to load when i get there, i do this sometimes 2 or 3 days ahead of time, so i have to go pull it, my dad finally quit when the store manager tried to fire him for NOT breaking the state fire code. he was working as maintenance in the rental dept. when the store manager told him to put plywood wrapped in the fake "grass" under all the equipment on the metal racking, well since the equipment had combustibles in them, they have to have grated shelves underneath them so water can run down and keep other fires from starting when the sprinklers go off if there is a fire. well the store manager and some of the big wigs were doing a store walk when my dad was working, well he started flipping on him cause he hadnt done what he was told and said that he was going to fire him, he politely looked at the manager and all the big wigs and said, "you can fire me if you want but i will have the state fire marshall here this afternoon and im sure he will gladly shut you down for fire code violations" then he explained to the big wigs why he did what he did, the store manager was fired about 2 weeks later and my dad quit about 3 or 4 days after that.
07-19-2007, 03:10 PM
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Its guys like your dad that i seek out when i really need technical help at those places....
i really haven't had bad experiences at HD or Lowes, but thats mainly because i go out of my way to find the oldest, most grizzlied guy I can find there, because i know that theres a pretty dern good chance that they have worked construction, plumbing, electrical, or some other form like that for a hundred years. Sometimes you have to deal with the stories they tell, but more often than not, i learn something from it!
i really haven't had bad experiences at HD or Lowes, but thats mainly because i go out of my way to find the oldest, most grizzlied guy I can find there, because i know that theres a pretty dern good chance that they have worked construction, plumbing, electrical, or some other form like that for a hundred years. Sometimes you have to deal with the stories they tell, but more often than not, i learn something from it!
07-19-2007, 05:50 PM
#13
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One employee at an electronics store I used to work at had such a NEGATIVE attitude....A customer would come in looking for someone to help find parts and he would greet them with, "what do you want?" in a snippy tone. I tried to coach him and help, then went to management, to no avail. Then, after a year they promoted him to 'supervisor'....because I, along with the rest of the crew, was going to school & working part time. That didn't bother me TOO much. He then started getting upset with me 'cause all the industrial (big commission) customers wouldn't deal with him...they wanted my help: they would leave messages, even wait a day for me to come in.
Some people NEVER get it!
Service / support a customer and they are yours for life!
Customer service isn't dead...it's just REALLY refreshing!
Tony
Some people NEVER get it!
Service / support a customer and they are yours for life!
Customer service isn't dead...it's just REALLY refreshing!
Tony
07-19-2007, 06:29 PM
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Reporting concerns to the manager is a good start. Except with Home depot, whos corperate people really don't care. You will get canned letters, and never get anywhere.
I stopped going there. I've gotten to the point that I order directly from the manufacturer, use my local small time (but really good) contractor, and buy nails, screw, etc from our small lumber yard. I get better service, I know the manager, and the owner, and the prices all work out much better that way.
As far a people who don't know what they are talking about, I send them away, and talk to the manager. I do this early on, so I can avoid being aggravated, and if I see that the owner or manger isn't up to speed, I tell the very frankly and in a calm manner why I will never be back there, and that I am going to tell everyone I know about their poor service.
Then I do.
I stopped going there. I've gotten to the point that I order directly from the manufacturer, use my local small time (but really good) contractor, and buy nails, screw, etc from our small lumber yard. I get better service, I know the manager, and the owner, and the prices all work out much better that way.
As far a people who don't know what they are talking about, I send them away, and talk to the manager. I do this early on, so I can avoid being aggravated, and if I see that the owner or manger isn't up to speed, I tell the very frankly and in a calm manner why I will never be back there, and that I am going to tell everyone I know about their poor service.
Then I do.
