The recession has or will hit everyone in one way or another. Some people saw it coming a few years ago. I still remember how upset I was a couple of years ago when I went to grab a half gallon of ice cream. I could wait to get home to measure how much I've grown. Then I realized that my clothes still fit. But, how is that possible? The ice cream carton feels so small in my hand. Oh, I didn't grab a half gallon, I grabbed 1.75 quarts. This must be a slightly smaller size to give me the option to save a little money. Oh wait, this is the same price as the half gallon. Where are the half gallon cartons? Then I realized that all of the cartons are now 1.75 quarts. A few months later they were reduced to 1.5 quarts for the same price as the half gallon used to be.
It seems the ice cream people know that ice cream is already priced too high and that we would stop buying it if the price went up. They figured that we might be willing to keep paying the same price even if the carton got smaller. Maybe they thought that we wouldn't notice. I noticed and that was the last time that I voluntarily went to the ice cream section of the store. I'm sure that by now they've decided that we'll revolt if they make the cartons any smaller and they've raised the price. Remember when Dilly Bars were twice as big as they are now and cost 10 cents each or 12 for a dollar?
The ice cream caper I don't believe has anything to do with the recession because it happened before anyone wanted to admit we were in a recession. It was greed pure and simple. We are starting to see changes made because of the recession but they are much more subtle.
Not long ago after attending my son's concert we decided to get some dinner to take home with us. We pulled into KFC to pick up some chicken and sides. After recovering from the heart attack I had when I saw the 40+ dollars price we went home to enjoy our wonderful meal. All of the way home I kept thinking that the french fries we got smelled a little strong. Upon taking the first bite of my favorite, an extra crispy thigh, I realized that it wasn't just the fries that smelled funny.
My guess is that since they can't really make the chicken smaller and the price is already...well, $40, they decided that they could save money by using the oil to fry their food a few days longer than they should. Needless to say I won't be voluntarily be returning to that fast food joint(I can't call it a restaurant).
Just as I was almost recovered from the rancid oil induced emotional distress, my son and I were out running around all morning and into the afternoon on Saturday. As hunger began to set in we decided that a Western Bacon Cheeseburger was a good idea. I almost never get onion rings because I hate paying $2.79 for 12 cents worth of food. We deserved a special treat that day. As I sample my oinion rings and my son's french fries I realized that this fast food joint is using the same oil as the other joint. Is there some kind of newsletter that they all get?
I can see the demise of fast food like unemployment becoming a self perpetuating cycle. When one person loses his job 5 or 10 other people start worrying about their jobs and quit spending most or all of their discretionary income. Businesses start to fill the pinch and have to lay someone off and the cycle starts over. When people don't feel they can eat out as often as they used to the food industry starts feeling the pinch and decides to start using old rancid oil thus causing their customers to quit buying from them or at least cut back conciderably. Thus the cycle starts over and is self perpetuating.
If I buy ice cream I'll buy the more expensive one that says "still a half gallon" on the carton. If I decide to get fast food I'll go out of my way to find the joint that uses fresh oil.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I must be heard
Recently I went to my daughter's graduation at ASU. It was an exciting time. As parents we were so proud. We took our other children and their grandma with us. There was a buzz in the air as we waited for the ceremony to commence. We had our i-pods out so that we could post on our Facebook walls telling the world where we are and why we are there.
Finally the moment had come. The graduates paraded in and took their seats in front of the podium. Everyone hollered and waved as their graduate marched in. We sat and listened to some speakers. Some were very good. One notably good speaker was a Mister Rios. This man had some great accomplishments yet he was a very humble man.He gave an exceptional speech. In fact we talked about it on the way home. Other speakers left us wondering why they were even on the program.
Then came the announcement. We will read the name of each graduate and have them come across the stage to shake hands the important people at the school and give them their empty diploma holder. Please hold your applause until the end so that all names can be heard.
I've been to many concerts at the schools as my children were growing up and I know parents are proud of the little children. Many will holler out as their son or daughter walks on stage. Many seem to get a great thrill from seeing their child wave to them from the stage. Most people however, tend to follow good concert etiquette once the concert begins. Of course there is always some Jethro Bodine type who's mouth is bigger than their brain who simply must yell out his son/daughter's name right in the middle of a song. I think security should escort this individual and everyone in his party out of the auditorium. If he insists on being allowed in to see his student play then take the precious little one off stage and send him out with his family.
Well, so it is at college graduation as well. Things went well and quiet for the first fifteen or twenty names then they called the name of the spawn of Jethro. Suddenly an air horn sounded as what seemed to be an entire section in the auditorium erupted in loud cheers and yelps. Things went down hill from there. Every yahoo in the village then took courage and made a ruckus as Yahoo Jr's name was called. After each yahoo made his presence known the next name or two couldn't be heard. Where is security?
I don't believe that these people are so proud of their son, daughter, parent or friend that they just can't keep it in. In fact I'm convinced that it has nothing to do with the student what-so-ever. It's just an excuse for some clown to say, "Hey everyone look at me even if I am a dork."
Maybe we could pay for the socialized medicine being crammed down our throats by imposing a dork tax.
Finally the moment had come. The graduates paraded in and took their seats in front of the podium. Everyone hollered and waved as their graduate marched in. We sat and listened to some speakers. Some were very good. One notably good speaker was a Mister Rios. This man had some great accomplishments yet he was a very humble man.He gave an exceptional speech. In fact we talked about it on the way home. Other speakers left us wondering why they were even on the program.
Then came the announcement. We will read the name of each graduate and have them come across the stage to shake hands the important people at the school and give them their empty diploma holder. Please hold your applause until the end so that all names can be heard.
I've been to many concerts at the schools as my children were growing up and I know parents are proud of the little children. Many will holler out as their son or daughter walks on stage. Many seem to get a great thrill from seeing their child wave to them from the stage. Most people however, tend to follow good concert etiquette once the concert begins. Of course there is always some Jethro Bodine type who's mouth is bigger than their brain who simply must yell out his son/daughter's name right in the middle of a song. I think security should escort this individual and everyone in his party out of the auditorium. If he insists on being allowed in to see his student play then take the precious little one off stage and send him out with his family.
Well, so it is at college graduation as well. Things went well and quiet for the first fifteen or twenty names then they called the name of the spawn of Jethro. Suddenly an air horn sounded as what seemed to be an entire section in the auditorium erupted in loud cheers and yelps. Things went down hill from there. Every yahoo in the village then took courage and made a ruckus as Yahoo Jr's name was called. After each yahoo made his presence known the next name or two couldn't be heard. Where is security?
I don't believe that these people are so proud of their son, daughter, parent or friend that they just can't keep it in. In fact I'm convinced that it has nothing to do with the student what-so-ever. It's just an excuse for some clown to say, "Hey everyone look at me even if I am a dork."
Maybe we could pay for the socialized medicine being crammed down our throats by imposing a dork tax.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Self Checkout
A while back at my local home improvement center I noticed some checkout lanes that were do-it-yourself lanes. I have tried to stay away from these things. They don't offer me a discount for using it. If I'm paying full service price I want full service. The gas stations of yesteryear offered a full service island with full service prices and a self service island with discounted prices. Sending me to a self service checkout and charging me full service prices is akin to making the ice cream carton smaller but lowering the price. You are cheating me. If you want to gauge me raise the price. Don't treat me like you think I'm so stupid that I wont notice you gauging me by making the product smaller or give me less service for my money.
I admit that sometimes if I only have 1 or 2 items and the full service lanes are full I'll go to the self service lane. The other day my son and I went to the grocery store. We picked up 6 or 7 items and decided to go to the self checkout to save time. When I tried to input the code for the bananas, celery and lettuce it would tell me that I had entered an invalid number. So I cheated and used the picture method. I found and touched the picture of the product. I got the same results. I had two bottles of cranberry juice that weren't in the database. Five times a message popped up on the screen telling me that an attendant had been notified. Five times the attendant never even looked my way. I had to walk or yell over to the attendant show her the item I'm trying to purchase so that she could push some buttons on her screen. The product then showed up my my screen so I put in the grocery bag to try to scan the next item. At that point a message would pop up telling me to remove the last item from the bagging area. Again I'd have to get the attendant to push some buttons so I could continue. The attendant, by the way, was a 70+ year old woman who was only interested in making small talk to other store employees and not in giving me the service I'm still paying for.
A half hour later as we left the store my son said "Next time lets just go the the checkout line that has a person". I agreed and we will.
I admit that sometimes if I only have 1 or 2 items and the full service lanes are full I'll go to the self service lane. The other day my son and I went to the grocery store. We picked up 6 or 7 items and decided to go to the self checkout to save time. When I tried to input the code for the bananas, celery and lettuce it would tell me that I had entered an invalid number. So I cheated and used the picture method. I found and touched the picture of the product. I got the same results. I had two bottles of cranberry juice that weren't in the database. Five times a message popped up on the screen telling me that an attendant had been notified. Five times the attendant never even looked my way. I had to walk or yell over to the attendant show her the item I'm trying to purchase so that she could push some buttons on her screen. The product then showed up my my screen so I put in the grocery bag to try to scan the next item. At that point a message would pop up telling me to remove the last item from the bagging area. Again I'd have to get the attendant to push some buttons so I could continue. The attendant, by the way, was a 70+ year old woman who was only interested in making small talk to other store employees and not in giving me the service I'm still paying for.
A half hour later as we left the store my son said "Next time lets just go the the checkout line that has a person". I agreed and we will.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Customer Service
Whatever has happened to customer service? I think during the boom years when there were more jobs than there were people wanting those jobs our employees acquired an attitude of not caring about customers. Fortunately our company hasn't had this problem. I think it is because the employees can see that the owners of the business really care about and bend over backwards to serve our customers. I think this might be true for many small businesses. To a small business the loss of just one customer can have a big impact so an employee who comes to work with a bad attitude and doesn't care about the customers wont be tolerated. My thoughts are of the bigger businesses.
Last night I needed some chorizo for the batch of chili beans I'm making today. I don't use the chorizo that comes in a tube. Try reading the ingredients some time. I have two stores I can shop at to get the good stuff. It was about 11:30 PM when I arrived at the store. I only saw one other customer while I was in there and at least three employees. I quickly grabbed four items and headed towards the front of the store to check out. As I walked across the front of the store to get to the checkout line I saw an employee of the grocery store walk from the checkout area to the door at the front of the store where the offices are. She disappeared through the door. I found the lane that was open and placed my four items on the conveyor belt and began to wait. As I stood there I could see two employees.
The first was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He was standing in front of the customer service desk using the telephone. He was dressed as if he worked in the back room and doesn't usually have to worry about being seen. After he hung up the phone he went around and appeared to be working but didn't seem to be doing anything. The most work he did was trying not to make eye contact with me.
The second employee was a man in his late fifties or sixties. He was taking items from a cart and putting them on them shelves. Occasionally he would pull out his price gun and put a price sticker on an item. He was very good at that. Once in a while he would look at me as I waited for someone to and accept my payment for things I had picked out then he would go back to what he was doing.
Since neither of these two people had any interest in helping me out I started to walk across the front of the store looking down the isles for someone who could run a cash register. After having no luck I said something to the man with the price gun. He walked up to the cash register and stood there starring at it as if he was looking for the instructions. At that point the girl who had gone into the office rushed back out and took over to ring up the sale.
The girl may have been in the bathroom which is understandable or she may have been sneaking a little break while I was standing there. My problem is with the other two employees who did everything they could to avoid any interaction with me instead of explaining to me that the wait would only be a few minutes or at least talking to me so that the wait didn't seem as long.
The point is, if you work in customer service in any form every time a customer or client walks away or hangs up the phone he/she should feel like they just had an amazing experience or they made a new friend. If you can't give them that feeling then maybe you should consider a career move. You could get a job on a farm or something where you don't have to deal with people. That would free up a migrant worker to go and start doing the paper work to become legal.
Last night I needed some chorizo for the batch of chili beans I'm making today. I don't use the chorizo that comes in a tube. Try reading the ingredients some time. I have two stores I can shop at to get the good stuff. It was about 11:30 PM when I arrived at the store. I only saw one other customer while I was in there and at least three employees. I quickly grabbed four items and headed towards the front of the store to check out. As I walked across the front of the store to get to the checkout line I saw an employee of the grocery store walk from the checkout area to the door at the front of the store where the offices are. She disappeared through the door. I found the lane that was open and placed my four items on the conveyor belt and began to wait. As I stood there I could see two employees.
The first was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He was standing in front of the customer service desk using the telephone. He was dressed as if he worked in the back room and doesn't usually have to worry about being seen. After he hung up the phone he went around and appeared to be working but didn't seem to be doing anything. The most work he did was trying not to make eye contact with me.
The second employee was a man in his late fifties or sixties. He was taking items from a cart and putting them on them shelves. Occasionally he would pull out his price gun and put a price sticker on an item. He was very good at that. Once in a while he would look at me as I waited for someone to and accept my payment for things I had picked out then he would go back to what he was doing.
Since neither of these two people had any interest in helping me out I started to walk across the front of the store looking down the isles for someone who could run a cash register. After having no luck I said something to the man with the price gun. He walked up to the cash register and stood there starring at it as if he was looking for the instructions. At that point the girl who had gone into the office rushed back out and took over to ring up the sale.
The girl may have been in the bathroom which is understandable or she may have been sneaking a little break while I was standing there. My problem is with the other two employees who did everything they could to avoid any interaction with me instead of explaining to me that the wait would only be a few minutes or at least talking to me so that the wait didn't seem as long.
The point is, if you work in customer service in any form every time a customer or client walks away or hangs up the phone he/she should feel like they just had an amazing experience or they made a new friend. If you can't give them that feeling then maybe you should consider a career move. You could get a job on a farm or something where you don't have to deal with people. That would free up a migrant worker to go and start doing the paper work to become legal.
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