Monday, March 10, 2008

Von's Supermarket-agita for life

Agita, a perfect word in Italian to describe my feelings for my local Von's supermarket. Customer service isn't the perfunctory, Didyoufindeverythingyouwerelookingfortoday? Customer service is where you say to the customer, "I'm sorry you had to come back to the store to correct OUR mistake." I hope we can serve you better next time you return." And of course, this is spoken looking directly at the customer with some sort of, albeit fake, sincerity.

I don't shop at Von's because they have the lowest prices or a sparkling clean market, far from it. I go there because it is the closest option in my many options to by food.

My checker, trying to get done with the day, was so quick to ring me up she forgot to give me a substantial discount on a product I'd purchased, $9.65. I did think my bill was a bit high and putting my groceries into my trunk I noticed the mistake. If it had been any less, I swear, I'd have just gone home but I was irritated by her actions in the first place.

After I waited in the Customer Service line the guy looked at the receipt, looked at the ham, walked to the cash register and gave me my change. No apology, no smile, no kiss-my-ass-I-hate-all-you-people. He then stood there and watched me struggle to put the ham back in my bag. I still do have a broken wrist and a noticeable brace on my right arm. I had to ask for his help.

Mistakes happen, I'm well aware of that, and I'll even go so far as to say I should have been paying a bit more attention as she checked me out but for the love of all that's good, would it have killed them to be a little more cheerful?

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