Another Day Another OS said...

> sueb wrote:
>
>> What ever you do, don't get the Vrut!
>>
>> I'm not a big TJ's fan. A lot of it has to do with the employees. I
>> once stopped in a store at 4 in the afternoon after working out at
>> the gym. I grabbed some salmon, a bag of frozen gyoza, and a big tin
>> of Altoids. The checkout girl asked if it was my lunch.
>
> I have to add my two cents here... We made our second trip to TJ
> yesterday afternoon and while the crowd we saw the first time was gone
> and we were able to pick up a few things our encounter with the
> employees was less than encouraging. TJs seems to have followed the
> GE model of hiring the - service jobs are beneath us crowd from the
> immediate neighborhood - in fact many of them reminded me of the
> former Shop -N Save crew that I desperately avoided when I lived in
> Squirrel Hill.
>
> We couldn't get anyone to help us find what we were looking for and
> when we located the stuff and went to check out, it was all the
> cashier could do to tear herself away from her conversation with her
> co-worker and trouble herself to check us out.
>
> Whatever Whole Foods does to hire their pleasant and helpful, if a bit
> quirky and sometimes too familiar staff, Whole Foods is about the only
> store in the city that has figured out a way to keep the sneering at
> the customers they loath element out of their employee ranks.


The hired help at all places and the quality of service they impart to an
individual customer really depends on the customer's state of mind, imho.

The first thing I always do is note the employee's name, then it's a
first name basis issue and I find they're much more comfortable with that
rather than "miss or sir". Plus I always seek out the opposite sex if I
need help cause I have an uncanny ability to flirt and make them blush or
at least smile!

If an employee doesn't have a name tag, after they've helped, I always
ask "And your name is?" followed up with "Thanks, <name>." They always
walk away beaming.

Could be that's why I shop almost every other day. It's more social than
hanging around in bars times 10*1000 power.

I also charm the women at the other end of the phone when I call to order
"stuff." I always ask where they're located and how's the weather and ask
about good places to eat, should I visit. I AND they LOVE it!

I've rarely pressed my luck beyond flirting.

Trader Joes is fun 'cause most of their aisles are too narrow for two
carts to pass without "excuse me, pardon, my fault, good choice, my
compliments" etc., remarks.

Andy
I need to go shopping later. Oh, and there's the phone!