“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is
powerful”. -Jeff Bezos
Conversely, if you give customers a bad experience, they will tell each other about it and give
your business a bad reputation.
A MoneyGram transaction on New Year’s Eve at Rodney’s Supermarket, Arima, that should
have taken no more than 30 minutes, lasted almost three hours because of the incompetence of
an ill-mannered security guard and a cashier who seemed to be more focused on leaving to get
lunch, rather than attending to the last five persons in the line swiftly as they announced they
would.
The weather outside was oppressively hot and what compounded the discomfort was the lack
of shade and the fact that the female security guard decided to appoint me ‘temporary
Messenger’; to advise persons who came after me that the cashier will resume duties in an hour
after attending to the last customer (me).
About 20 minutes after my arrival at the Supermarket, another security guard approached to
inform me that I would no longer be attended to because by his count, I was not fifth in line.
How unfortunate it was that he miscounted. Needless to say, what was even more unfortunate,
was his adamant refusal to acknowledge and admit his error, despite being corrected by myself
and others, including his supervisor.
Between the security guard’s quarrels, and the supervisor’s need to conduct a full-on
investigation into the situation, I found myself still in Rodney’s Supermarket more than an hour
later.
By this time, I was not just hungry and exhausted from standing throughout the entire ordeal,
I was also nursing aches from every muscle in my body, and on the verge of using every
profanity known to mankind towards the cashier who then dared to tell me “When I first came
out, she was not there.” Kudos to the supervisor who maintained the calm demeanour I could
not express while interacting with the unprofessionalism actualising before my eyes.
One would think the myriad of excuses ended there. They did not. I was also victim to the
following:
“There was no more money to give out.”
“We don’t use a float to start the day’s transactions.”
“We are waiting for persons who will be sending money, in order to give money to the persons
who are receiving.”
and the infamous – “The cashier has to go on lunch.”
It became quite evident that I was being given any and every excuse under the sun as a poor
form of damage control. As such, I finally requested to speak with Management.
Conveniently, management was not available, and a sign was then placed at the front of the
cashier’s cage reading, “Sorry, we’re closed. Will be back at 2:30pm.”
Surprisingly, the cashier did not return at 2:30pm.
After suffering through this experience, I am now left with a string of questions for the
management I was unable to meet:
To the management at Rodney’s Supermarket – Are you operating a licensed parlor or a
Supermarket?
To the management at Rodney’s Supermarket – Have you ever provided Customer Service
Training for your staff including Security Officers?
To the management at Rodney’s Supermarket – Don’t you know that “good service is good
business?” (look up Thomas Siebel)
I would think with the war the country is in with the pandemic (covid-19), there would be some
level of urgency for Management to hire persons to fill the shortage of human resources and
expedite services to your customers, thereby avoiding the potential of spread of the virus.
For more than 20 years, I have supported your business. However, it took a matter of minutes
for several of your incompetent staff members to make me one of your most disgusted
customers.
In future, it will do you well to remember that the customer is the most important visitor at
your establishment. As such, you’re not doing them a favor when you serve them, they are
doing you a favor by giving you the opportunity to do so.
The world is battling a persistent pandemic and businesses are struggling to stay afloat.
Therefore, your current customers are the ones who will ensure that your Supermarket stays
profitable in the months to come. Hence, now will be a good time to focus on delivering
excellent service for your existing customers.
In short, do better!
Your dissatisfied customer