I recently came upon the blog of a woman who was very dissatisfied with her local hardware store. She points out that there is a local hardware store cklose by her neighborhood and a Home depot about 20 minutes away. She needed to find a bolt for a cabinet that she was fixing in her kitchen, so she decided to shop at the smalll store thinking it would be more pleasant than going to a HUGE Home Depot where it might be next to impossible to find what she was looking for. When she went to the store she asked an older employee for help in finding what she was looking for. He kept asking her questions about the size and type of bolt she had. A little embarassed, the woman responded by asking him to take a look at it and see if he could decide the size and type. the older man seemed annoyed at her lack of knowledge of bolts. They were rummaging through unorganized drawers and aisles. She noticed that there was a sizing chart for bolts. She looked at the chart, matched the size and type, and found what she was looking for without the old man's help. She paid for her item and as she left, she said thanks, even though you didn't really help me much. The older man said that if she would have stopped arguing all the time, it might have been quicker. She replied, if he pointed her to the chart, she would've been on her way so much faster. She plans on going to Home Depot next time where she believes people know their stuff.
I realize that thjis post from this customer may be biased but it is the experience of a real customer with real needs. Her experience with small business shows how seemingly "unprofessional" they can be in providing quick and reliable service to customers.
Link: http://thisdamnhouse.mosaic-commons.org/2007/09/big_box_vs_local.html
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This is a very intersting article. It makes me wonder if other people that went into the store had the same complaints that she had. She seems like a difficult person to deal with, so i wonder if she was the real problem. Or it could be that the man that was helping her was a little old a didn't understand the woman. I wonder who works on Westcott street. Is it older people that can't get a job elsewhere, so they have no other choice of where to work?
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