Have you noticed increases in customer service?

[cardiackat88.]

Lately, I have noticed a few stores have seriously overhauled and added emphasis to customer service.

I do not frequent these places, so I have noticed many chances since my last visit.

Food Lion: Now has an overhaul of workers attire, the ugly dark black is now a friendly bright gray and light blue. My hometown store was remodeled to a sleek, modern, and clean look. There are managers at the end of the aisles, directing traffic for customers and adding a welcoming and upbeat attitude. The managers will even jump on a register if the store is very busy.

Waffle House: Not my first breakfast choice, but my parents insisted on buying my wife and our kids a breakfast. There was a very nice and polite lady managing tables and directing traffic. Perhaps this was new to me because most of my visits to Waffle House was in my early twenties past midnight and piss drunk in a military town.

Chic-Fil-A: Wow! There was a small child and expecting mother parking spot. Inside, there were servers delivering food to tables and a few others constantly cleaning and taking trays for people who were done eating and discarding their trash for them. Not only was this very customer friendly but it helped all the people get in and out faster.

I have a few theories as to why stores are stepping it up:

1. Earns your business. It earns your respect and loyalty to that store, and makes you realize how subpar other less cleanly and friendly other places are.

2. Keeps the trash out. I noticed in Chic-Fil-A that the customers seemed to be slightly more upper class, had very good manners, did not cause a ruckus, and did not trash the store.

3. Stores are hurting for business. People are seeming to spend a lot less  for their own reasons. Some want to spend their money on fancy materialistic things, some are flat broke, etc. Stores now have to go the extra mile to attract a customer back and won them over.

 

[Brooklyn Bully]

No.

[Jimmy]

It depends where you live I would think.  The Chik-Fil-A where I live is always pleasant.  Same with the Waffle House. The Food Lion however still looks like a bunch of hung over high school kids with a disgruntled former postal worker as their manager.  

[rayzor]

a few days ago i went to lowes hardware looking for some kind of filter. i had to stop one of their employees to help me find something. she got on her phone thing to see if she could find what it was i was looking for. couldn't figure it out and then suggested that i go to a hardware store because they might be able to help me.

 

 

[TheAmericanDream]

Customer service for the most part sucks!

[SCMunnerlyn1]

Grocery stores are doing it more because Publix is shitting on them and its not even close.

[Paintballr]

Grocery stores are doing it more because Publix is shitting on them and its not even close.

This,

Kroger bought out Harris teeter so expect changes with them soon. Publix is getting super aggressive in the NC market add in Whole Foods, Harris teeter and especially food lion have got to be careful or they will go the way of Win-Dixie or Bi-Lo (both ironically outdone by those). 

 

I have a Harris teeter down the street from me that just got completely remodeled after only being opened for maybe 6 years. Only reason why is a Publix is opening less than a mile away at a better location. Competition is a good thing for this or our grocery stores would still look the same as they did back in '95

[Jangler]

Nope, just more assholes.

[Lumps]

I wish people would stop needing so much help. That's what drives businesses into the ground. People need their hands held. If you need someone's help to find what you're looking for, you really should rethink what you're doing. In my younger days I worked at a ton of retails places and on busy days people would literally wait 20 minutes in a line to ask where or what something was that they could have found themselves with 5-10 minutes of looking. There is not a single position in any retails store besides custom clothing that a person's sole purpose and job title is to help you figure out what you're there for. They have actual work to do. Stop being such an idiot and learn self sufficiency. It only gets worse because these people never learn anything on their own, as if their neurons and pathways in the brain are stalled from any kind of growth because they're constantly asking other people what to do. Then they find a mate, helpless like them, and breed helpless demons. I'm sorry but good fuging lord. If you can't find someone in a reasonable amount of time looking yourself, or don't have time, or if something isn't where it's suppose to be, fine. But walking in the front door and trying to find the first employee you can to ask about something is the definition of pathetic. And this stupidity helps drives up costs of products and items (kind of like not putting your cart back so the company had to spend money to do it for you x1000). /rant