I’m the one with the cash and I make the decisions.  I decide where I shop, what I buy and how much I spend.  Why is it then, that I am made to feel bad when I shop in the weeks leading up to Christmas?  I get sighs from the “friendly” sales associates when I ask them to locate an item for me.  It may feel natural to have sympathy for the men and women who work until the late hours of the night, but sometimes the employee is so blatantly rude that I find it hard to be sympathetic.

   When I have questions about a purchase, I am often met with short answers that can answered by looking at the box.  I can read, and I am quite good at doing so, so why is the answer I get from the “experts” clearly printed on the package?

   Readers of MSN Money propose that the most important aspect of the sales process is the knowledge of the staff followed by having a friendly and readily available staff.  This is certainly not recognized by many retailers because I am still confronted by the sales associates who snap when they are put on the spot by a consumer like myself.

   While shopping in larger stores, I am encouraged to ask questions by the salesman who says, “Are you finding everything alright?”  Many times the employee is unable to help, but they ask the question anyway. When unsure, the salesperson might offer to help look.  With having no clue as to which aisle this item calls home, their help is limited, and the employee is merely another set of eyes with which to look for the product.

   Still worse are the supermarkets.  The problem here isn’t limited to the Christmas season, but persists year round.  When stocking the shelves it seems the workers are trying to barricade the aisle so to keep the customers lingering in their aisle longer.  It becomes a major issue when the aisle is full and nobody is sure where to go and the worker is still plugging away stocking the shelves, oblivious to the surrounding gridlock of shopping carts.

  It seems many customers have learned their lesson as 85 percent of holiday shoppers will make some portion of their purchases through online distributors.  Unless we see a change in the attitudes of retail employees, we may find a new tradition… a tradition that involves $5.95 for shipping.

Written by: Shield Staff on January 4, 2012.