Key Food -- now *that's* how you handle a complaint

apollonia666

Subject: Key Food -- now *that's* how you handle a complaint

I was just picking up some stuff at the Key Food on Washington -- not the greatest grocery store in the world, but much better than the C-town -- and as I was checking out the two teenage kids bagging groceries (brothers, evidently) were going on and on and on about fags and queers and gay gay gay gay, fag this, gay that. It was constant. It seemed like every third word out of their mouths was fag. Normally that kind of thing doesn't bother me, and I'm certainly pretty used to hearing kids in the neighborhood talk that way, but something about hearing it from people working in a store where I'm spending my hard-earned queer money really pissed me off. By the time I got my receipt I was so mad I was shaking. I sort of tossed off a really ineffectual remark as I was leaving and they just gawked at me and kind of laughed.

So when I got home I called and talked to the store manager and told him what happened. I told him that I know this is how kids talk, and I don't really care what kind of opinions they have or what they say off the clock, but that language like that is extremely hurtful and I don't like spending my money in a store where I feel like I and people I care about are being so disrespected. He was extremely nice about it and apologized and listened to everything I had to say, which was pretty much all I needed from him. I told him I didn't want to see them fired or anything but that I'd appreciate it if he'd have a talk with them about respecting all of their customers. He apologized several times and said that of course he'd talk with them and that he'd talk with their father about it too.

Anyway, just wanted to post about it in part to vent, but also to give some props to the manager for how he handled it. I think that's all most people want when they have a customer service complaint: for the manager or whoever they're talking with to listen, apologize, and promise to do something about the problem.

wirenut

True, but it would be even better if they actually followed through

Handling complaints well is how small businesses differentiate themselves