Lane Bryant in Tupelo

[calliope]

It has been my observation that customer service gets worse and worse all the time, but chain stores almost always have the worst of the worst.

I've been looking for a nice pair of navy slacks for fall, and being a short and round type of gal, I figured I'd start at Lane Bryant in the mall. They had a clearance sale going, and the place was hopping, but when I walked in, I saw two clerks: one at the register, with a line about a mile long, and one folding clothes and ignoring customers.

That was okay with me. I was browsing, and it's a small store. I figured I could find a pair of navy slacks all by myself (duh).

Well, I was wrong. There were two styles of navy slacks displayed on the wall above some other slacks, but nowhere on the racks could I find anything navy. I walked over to the clerk who was ignoring everybody, and I asked her where I could find navy pants. She shrugged and said, "I don't think we have any."

I thought that was weird, since navy is a staple color. Plus, as I mentioned above, there were two pairs on display on the wall. I asked her about those. She gazed at them curiously, then turned back to me and shrugged again. "I've worked here for four weeks, and I don't think I've ever seen navy in here." (Except, of course, for the two pairs on the wall. Not that she offered to get them down to check the size for me.)

But the coup de grace came when this lazy and stupid clerk said, "You could ask her about it, if you want to," pointing to the cashier, who still had a mile-long line.

Right.

So I tried on a couple of other things and decided to wait until the line diminished to ask the cashier. By the time I was done, another clerk emerged from somewhere. She saw me and, to my shock, asked if she could help me.

Naturally, I asked her if she could show me where the navy slacks might be. She said -- I'm not making this up -- "We don't carry navy."

I went back to the wall and showed her the two pairs displayed there, to which she replied, "No, I think those are black. We don't carry navy." Mind you, these two pairs of navy pants were displayed right next to pants that actually WERE black. They were as navy as navy gets. But still, "We don't carry navy."

I just dumped the other stuff I'd planned to buy on a table and left. I knew it was hopeless. And Lane Bryant sure won't see me again.

Incidentally, after this episode, I went to Pontotoc to visit with my sister. We decided we'd make a quick trip to the Wal-Mart in Pontotoc to pick up a couple of things. When we got to the register, the cashier was busy reading a magazine. She very reluctantly looked up, said, "Hang on just a sec," finished her paragraph or whatever, sighed heavily, and finally started ringing up our stuff.

This kind of garbage is a HUGE part of the reason I shop online whenever I can. Business owners, hear this: SERVICE COUNTS. If you want my dollars, do something to earn them.

[TF Admin]

I agree 100%. Service counts...period. I would recommend you send an email to Lane Bryant's Customer Service. This is something I learned from BSIGrimreaper. Sending an email about your experience to a company's corporate service center will often net you not only a very positive reply, but often times will net you a solid discount.

I, recently, went to Best Buy to help a friend of mine purchase a laptop. The sales guy argues with me about what "Centrino Technology" from Intel is. I mean the guy full on told me I was wrong, and argued with me. This guy might have been 19 and I could tell he knew very little about laptops, and he insisted on helping us. I explained to him that I did not nor would I need his help now or for the rest of my life. He finally left, but I came home, wrote a nice email to Best Buy, and I got a code for 15% off at Bestbuy.com and they are sending me some stuff.

Service counts, but more importantly, knowledgable employees count even more.

TFADMIN

[TF Admin]

BTW...Calliope, Thank you for sharing that story with us. I gave you a blessing for your reputation.

TFADMIN

[taxed]

That guy at Best Buy sounds like one of the morons I had to deal with at Circuit City. I hope Best Buy hasn't hired that piece of trash. It's one thing to not know what you are talking about, it's another thing to not know and be a smart aleck about it.

Service is poor in most stores because they barely pay enough for your gas to get to work. Then they treat their employees like a useless piece of junk. If you are a hard worker, that means they will work YOU really hard. After all, someone has to perform for all of the slack-offs. The large corporations try to tell their local managers that employees are not motivated by money. Just tell them they are doing a good job and they will perform. There is probably some merit to that, but if the car payment is behind - I think money is the only way you can guarantee yourself some competent and reliable help.

How do these places stay in business? They can afford the advertising and store locations to draw you back. I swear everytime I go to McDonald's that I will never go back. Yet, I do. Pizza Hut is the only place I have managed to stay away from for several years now. Yes, they were really that bad - on multiple and consecutive attempts from me to give them money they didn't deserve.

Corporations have strayed far from customer satisfaction. Heck, it's too expensive to give you good service. These places buy the cheapest goods from China and sell them so cheap that you think it is silly to pay way more at an independent shop that gives good service and sells American products. The only one making money is the corporation. If they get a good manager that starts making money for the store they do not reward them. The manager becomes frustrated and turns into a monster, or they just go someplace else thinking they will be appreciated elsewhere (usually not).

You can only hope you get a good worker when you visit these stores. You spread the word that a store treated you right, you get others to go and they get the monster! Making you look like a fool for recommending that store.

[TF Admin]

RIGHT ON TAXED! PREACH IT BROTHA!

TFADMIN

[calliope]

Hey, thanks so much for letting me vent, for the suggestion to contact the store's customer service center, and especially for the humor! I'm not usually such a grouch, but doggone it, those folks just really got on my bad side.

And TFAdmin: Thanks extra much for the blessing on my reputation. My reputation needed it!

What a great forum!

[Pontotocmom]

Calliope,, I'd also call Brian Timmons the manager in Wal-Mart at Pontotoc. And share your experience with him. I have always been treated with respect from him. With any problem he deals with it and tries to make it a better store.