In this economy, I can't imagine any retailer hiring people with poor customer service skills, but alas, today I had some bad customer service at Kohl's. I was using up a $10 Kohl's reward money card and unfortunately, my shopping experience was just horrible at the Kohl's in Alameda, CA. Tanya C. was working at the jewelry counter and I asked her if I could check out there and she said, "No, only jewelry customers," even though she wasn't helping anyone there, nor was she doing anything anyway! So I waited in the regular long line with only one check stand open, and decided to go back and ask her again if she could please check me out since the line was long and they didn't have any customers in the jewelry department. So, she felt she had to go ask someone if she could check me out and the other sales lady said, "Yes." She then muttered under her breath, "You could wait in line." Now, at this point, I was already a little weirded out by her rude customer service, but having her mutter under her breath on top of it was just too much! I really don't like it when people mutter under their breaths, so I called her out on it and said, "Excuse me?" She said, "Nothing," and kept up her huffy attitude. I then told her that I never would have asked her to help me if she were helping someone else there, but since she wasn't busy, I asked her. I also told her that the jewelry counter staff is usually happy to check anyone out because they aren't busy, normally. She was so rude and checked me out begrudgingly. She did not say, "Thank you," or "Have a nice day," which is usually standard procedure for good customer service oriented sales associates. This has turned me off Kohl's. What horrible customer service!
I went to find a manager and I just reported the bizarre incident to him. He said he would talk to her, but I don't know if he will. Even if he does, she was so unprofessional, I am sure she will continue to throw her bad attitude at other customers anyway.
Seriously, I just don't get it. Where has good old fashioned customer service gone? I didn't do anything wrong except ask if she could help me check out. I can't believe Kohl's hired her. She obviously has no professionalism to her and she was just upset because she had to actually WORK and help me check out! She was quite happy just standing behind the counter doing nothing. That's another thing I didn't get: She refused to help me, even though she wasn't doing anything and it was quite clear that no one else was seeking her assistance in the jewelry department to pick out jewelry! I mean, I wish I could get paid to just stand there and do nothing! That's all she was doing.
Bizarre...
Kohl's has lost my loyalty. I do not want to encounter rude customer service at Kohl's again.
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Wow, I'm so sorry what you had to go through, Mar! You're always so reasonable in your requests, it wasn't like you were being a diva or anything!
ReplyDeleteThis is a big reason why I like the smaller companies. I also go into these big stores with the expectation that good customer service isn't something I'm necessarily going to experience.
On a side note - I read Seth Godin often - a brilliant marketing guy. YOU, my dear, are holding the cards of power over places like Kohls when you write like this. They'll notice your blog post, especially if others have similar experience and write something too.
Write about this on your FaceBook account, too. Get the word out! Your word will be heard. :)