Common Sense eCommerce

I would have thought no, not generally.  But today in the Wal-Mart I thought twice about that question.  I bought some groceries, and took the line that seemed to be reasonably short: 2 people in front of me.

Little did I know it would eat up about 20 minutes.  The woman who was being served, was a complex transaction. I’ve seen home loans approved in less time!  It was a combination of not understanding the rebate coupons, the discount coupon dates among other things.

A lot of the problem was with the customer, but there were also things the cashier did to prolong the transaction, such as having several conversations with the toddler in the cart and taking the long road to explaining that a coupon is expired.  Similarly, he engaged the lady in front me in lengthy friendly conversation when it was her turn. 

Now this clerk was just one of those ‘people’ persons who loved to engage people in conversation. Probably makes him a naturally good sales person.  But does that make a cashier?  One of the responsibilities of a cashier is to keep the line moving and in this case, the clerk seemed to just focus solely on the customer in front of him.  Instead he may have done better by balancing the need to converse with the line needing to move a bit faster.  

I’ll be looking to avoid standing in his line next time!

Tags: Customer Service, Slow Customer Service, Customer Complaint

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