Associated Foods (on Myrtle) - Their Customer Service SUCKS!

Is it just me or is does anyone get annoyed by the fact that the cashiers at the Associated on Myrtle couldn't be phuqing bothered to greet you when step up to their register and they are even less inclined to say "Thank you" after you've completed your transaction?

Don't they realize that with seemingly each passing day there are more and more grocery options opening in the neighborhood?

Right now Associated seems to have other places in the neighborhood beat on price but with all other things being equal I will go to the store that has better customer service. I'd complain to the management at Associated but they just don't seem to give a shit about providing any sort of positive customer service.

How friendly do you really expect someone to be when they are making $7 an hour handling very often not friendly and whiny complaining rich clientele? Sometimes its not all about you! You have to consider the other persons side sometimes.

I make more than 7 dollars and hour and I never want to say hello to this person. So that just blows your theory out of the water.

If I worked for $7 an hour on long shifts with few or no breaks, I probably wouldn't be the friendliest person on earth either.

Try it some time. Standing for hours on end, no break, no rest.

It's actually not as pleasant as it sounds.

ive never once had a poor experience there!

Ive been there maybe 10/12 times and was always treated well...i didnt get any red carpets, but people seemed pleasant enough...

Sounds like someone didn't take their meds today. The people as Associated are cashiers not concierges.

I understand LimestoneKid's frustration. But cranky, apathetic, unfriendly cashiers are a fact of life in Brooklyn. One of my former neighbors in Prospect Heights wrote this essay about one particularly cranky and vindictive cashier at the Met Foods on Vanderbilt (a cashier I also used to dread):

She scowls at every item that rolls towards her, and then regards me with an icy stare and spits, “Give me $35.17,” like she’s mugging me. And oh, when I tell her I’m going to use my debit card! The sighing and the rolling of the eyes! “Cash back?” she growls, and then looks at me like god help you if you say yes. If she could get away with balling up the receipt and hucking it at my face, she would. She is not a nice person.

http://finslippy.typepad.com/finslippy/2005/04/why_i_should_pr.html

For anyone who has shopped at a Met/Key Foods, this is a must read, and one of the finest pieces of humor verite you are likely to encounter.

I thought that some dialogue from the cancelled show "Terriers" was the best response to those who believe that its' totally acceptable for the cashiers at Associated to completely ignore you when you're passing through their check-out line:

You know what I miss? Small talk. Greases the wheels of human interaction. Nobody does that anymore.

You know what I miss? A minimum wage that pays more than $15,000 a year.

If you prefer to pay $6/lb. for free-range asparagus and a smile from the cashier, there are places for that in the neighborhood. I'll stick with surly and cheap.

As you can well imagine I can barely contain myself about the fact that Associated is now open until midnight!

That means that you can receive the same crappy customer service for three hours longer. Let the bells ring out.

On a serious note I'm quite surprised by this change. It must mean that the new bodegas & markets (i.e. Mr. Coco's & Khim's) have cut into Associated's share of the market. How is the fruit market across the street from Associated holding up?

Daily Heights, I know exactly which cashier you're talking about, but I really like her. Granted, her sense of humor is more arid than simply dry and she tends towards being really cranky, but she's actually quite friendly in her own curmudgeonly way. Granted, it's clear she would rather be anywhere else and she clearly looks forward to her cigarette breaks, but hey, I don't blame her.

I think the key to "breaking through" to her is to often be as short with her as she is with you. Then when you have a history of terse responses and grunts you can toss in a crabby remark about someone or something or generally complain about something and all of a sudden you two have a very good working relationship.

I shopped there for about 7 years and whenever I would pass her having her break outside we would nod or say hi or complain about the weather etc.

Kindness is NOT the way into some people's hearts, and frankly, it's viewed with suspicion by some.

Hope that helps anyone's interactions with her.

Can we next talk about the lovely woman who runs the laundromat on Vanderbilt near Dean? No one bothers to try and understand her attempted English through heavy Chinese, but when you do, oh boy does she appreciate it. Speaking of which, I should go and introduce her to my boyfriend, she was always really concerned that I was never going to get a good one.