Just say thank you … PLEASE!

By Barbara Simpson

Surly clerks, rude treatment and lots of attitude – par for the course these days, in just about every level of business. They dish it out and we, the customers, who are standing there ready to give them our hard-earned money, accept it. Are we so desperate for more stuff in our lives?

Actually not, because the pervasiveness of rudeness in commerce affects everything we want or need to buy. It seems we have no choice, and it’s getting worse.

Yesterday, I walked in to pay for gas, after I’d pumped it myself and cleaned the windows – clearly it wasn’t a service station!

A morose-looking teenager slumped in a chair behind the register. I told him the pump number, gave him $20 and asked for a receipt.

Not getting up, he reached over to the register to get my change. He plopped it on the counter and handed over the receipt.

Not a word. Not a flicker of recognition on his face that I’d just brought business to the place. He never looked at me. Don’t even think he counted out the change. And, of course, not a “thank you” in sight.

Whatever happened to the idea that a business wants us to shop there? Did they forget they need us? Without customers, they’ll go bust. With few exceptions, they don’t seem to care.

Retailers call the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday, hoping for a shopping binge that’ll mean year-end profits. Many aim to take in up to half their annual take by year’s end. It’s a good plan, but the craziness of the season makes shopping more unbearable.

Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the retailer. They hire inexperienced people of all ages and they don’t train them in sales. The adage followed by James Cash Penney, when he founded the chain with his name – the customer is always right – has gone the way of the buggy whip.

They hire people who don’t care and don’t have the welfare of the owner at heart. In a major chain, I asked the clerk to verify the price because I wanted to be certain it was correct. It seemed too low! She said, “it didn’t matter.” When I said that it would be important to the owner, she just shrugged.

Some supermarkets, hoping to cut expenses, will go the way of gas stations. They want to eliminate clerks. You’ll have the thrill of pushing your own cart, collecting items, then doing your own scanning, loading bags and paying. All that with no employee contact.

Wow, what fun. Bet they won’t cut prices.

Did you ever consider that if markets can make a profit on their lower “club prices,” it means that a non-club member is being royally gouged? The price differential is enormous. I don’t join clubs.

Yesterday, I shopped in a major market and bought items without the club price. Fine, except the salad rang up a dollar higher than the marked price. The clerk said that was the club price. I objected to the manager that it wasn’t posted. In fact none of the salad items were … all had the lower price.

He was so flustered and couldn’t figure out how to fix it that he gave me a dollar out of his own wallet (!) to correct my overpayment! He also urged me to write and complain saying they hate the club too! Think of all those people who overpaid at the register and never noticed.

Another gimmick I saw in a major drug chain is that every individual item has to be rung up separately. They can’t ring 3 items at 25 cents as 75 cents. But if the clerk is heavy on the key, extra items get rung.

One clerk made three errors during the transaction that I caught. I was suspicious about another, so after I paid, I checked the slip. Sure enough, another overcharge. I showed her and she refunded the money to me. She never apologized for any of the errors.

One chain founded on the idea of self-service is Home Depot. Now, faced with competition from Lowe’s, they’re planning to change and focus on service. What a concept. It’s amazing what a little competition will do.

And don’t even ask me about the U.S. Post Office – that’s for another column

Bottom line: This rotten treatment has turned me into the customer from hell. I don’t take anything from anyone and I let them know about it. I feel better!

Barbara Simpson

Barbara Simpson, "The Babe in the Bunker," as she's known to her radio talk-show audience, has a 20-year radio, TV and newspaper career in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Read more of Barbara Simpson's articles here.