2011-05-29

Here's a tip for businesses on how to retain customers.

Don't malign your customer right in their face.

Case in point.

At a local spot I've taken the family before, we elected to grab a snack before dinner. We saw this place that advertised ice cream and cookies, so we thought that would be good.

I noticed the establishment was selling coffee. Turns out it was a container of coffee that had been sitting there for a very long time, so I passed on it.

The guy behind the counter then proceeded to malign the company which was selling him the very coffee he was trying to sell me, as well as their business practices. I shrugged. Then he said, "Well the problem is, they got all them ethnics back there screwing things up."

Nice. Evidently he missed the part about me not being white. I guess he must have realized this eventually, because he proceeded to keep his distance.

But then it occured to me - what is it about people that can so casually say things like that to a customer and expect that they'd agree with them. I got the impression that this was not likely the first time he'd said that to someone, and perhaps not unlikely he had a customer agree with him.

I'm not sure which is more disturbing.

Of course this guy has the right to an opinion and to speak it.

Just as I plan on not returning back to this business as a customer.

C'est la vie.

No comments:

Post a Comment