Yesterday I was buying some clothes at a department store with my husband and the lady who checked me out was extremely talkative. That part wasn't bad service, but it was a bit annoying and awkward because she kept rambling on and asking me way too many questions about my own life. It was also annoying when she made a comment about my husband having me trained when I said no to the credit card offer (I said no because I don't want to have a million credit cards, not because my husband has me on a leash). It started to get into bad service when she got done ringing up the clothes but just kept rambling. There wasn't a display to see my total, and I wasn't sure if she'd actually totaled my order yet, but she kept rambling for quite a while without telling me my total or asking me how I wanted to pay. Eventually I interrupted her and asked if I could swipe my card yet. She said yes, and I asked for my total. So I run my credit card through while she's still rambling on and on and then she gets the receipt and puts it on the counter. Then she runs into the spiel about going online to fill out a survey, which is alright with me since I know they've got to tell me about those things. The kicker? She says, "So go online and tell them the great service you received from me today" (she really did emphasis it like that). I don't think so. It wasn't terrible service, but she was so busy chatting my leg off instead of checking me out that it certainly wasn't great service. Usually when an employee tells me about a survey, they politely ask me to go do it but they don't nearly demand that I say that I had great service.
This story is more of a mistake then bad service, probably. A little later in the day, I went to a small camera shop in the mall to buy the camera I was wanting. In this store, the cameras are kept behind the counter so you tell a salesperson what you want and they get it out and bag it for you. I bought the camera and left. When I got home, I noticed that the box didn't have wrap or tape on it. I didn't know how this box was supposed to be packaged and the box itself looked fine so I didn't think anything of it. However, when I opened it some of the items were missing (like the software and the strap for the camera). I didn't think to check the box inside the store our right outside since the employee got it from under the counter for me (so I assumed that the box would be new and not messed with) but it's obvious that I got an already opened box. My husband thinks it might have been a returned camera. I'll call them up today and see about doing and exchange. It's a small store so I hope they have another one of these cameras so I can exchange it today. If not, I'll have to ask for a refund so I can buy it elsewhere since I really want to have this camera for tomorrow. I just wish that the salesperson (who was a manager of the store) would be more careful about what merchandise he gets out of the counter for the customer.
I did get really great service at American Eagle when I was picking out jeans. One of the girls working there did a good job of helping me pick out the jeans I wanted. I'll have to go leave some good comments on their website.
