I haven’t posted anything for awhile however this morning something happened that I just have to share.
Driving home this morning from taking our grandkids to swim team practice my husband suggested we stop and get some fresh donuts. And although we live in a small town we do have 2 donut shops and we were going to pass 1 on the way home.
Since I’m always in the mood for fresh donuts I agreed.
When we went in a kid around 10 years old offered to wait on us. I asked him if they had any blueberry donuts since those are my grandson’s favorite and he said they had 3. I then said I would take a mixed dozen and wanted to start with the 3 blueberry donuts. The boy got the 3 donuts and before I could say anything else he had put 8 donuts in the box.
I stopped him and asked if he had to give me a certain type of donut. He just gave me a blank stare.
The boy’s father who had been seated at a table eating breakfast with a customer came to the counter and told the boy to continue to fill the box. He then looked at me and asked if there was a problem. I repeated my question about if I had to get certain kinds in my box of donuts.
I was informed in a very stern tone that I could get any kind however because I didn’t know what I wanted and had ordered a mixed dozen the boy knew what to do to fill the box.
Now when I went in I thought I knew what I wanted since I always get 6 glazed and mix the other six with 2 - 3 blueberry and chocolate for the rest. However being told that I didn’t know what I wanted in a not very nice way caught me totally off guard.
I did manage to get them to exchange 1 donut that I knew no one would eat for a chocolate one. However we left with a dozen donuts like I’ve never gotten before.
Now I realize that it’s silly to get upset over a box of donuts but I am. Not because of the strange assortment and not because of the price.
I am upset because of the way I was treated!
You see, as a donut loving customer I knew what I wanted and in addition to the box of mixed donuts I usually order some of the more expensive items. But when I was told, “You ordered a mixed dozen and don’t know what you want” in such a rude way, I paid for the donuts and left.
As my husband I and I got in our car we agreed that we would never visit that particular donut shop again.
Am I wrong for being upset? Do you think I or anyone should be told they don’t know what they want by a merchant when they go to buy something?
As an online business person I would never think of doing such a thing. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the customer isn’t always right.
What do you think?
To Your Success,
Susan
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Nope, I agree that in this instance at least, the customer is right. The boy should have been taught that if he “thinks” the customer needs help, he should offer suggestions. Not to just throw donuts in the box. It doesn’t matter what they’re selling. There’s no need to be rude to others.
Comment by Pam Triick — May 26, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who thinks there’s no need to be rude and that offering assistance is better than assuming you know what’s best for the customer.
Susan
Comment by SusanCarroll — May 26, 2009 @ 11:53 am
Personally I would have informed the man he was an idiot and I would never set foot in his donut shop again and would inform family and friends of his rude behavior and advise them not to shop there either. Well maybe calling the guy and idiot wouldn’t have scored any likeability points but at that junction who cares? Having worked in retail as an assistant manager and then manager, I learned the customer is always right (to a point) and to go out of my way to assist them. I also learned that humor oft times diffuses upset customers more than confrontation does.
Short lesson: I used to have a women come in everyday at lunch and get a small bag of chips and a soda. She was always quite mean and nasty about the whole transaction. One day I asked her if this was her bag of chips and she replied “of course fool”, so I proceeded to smash the chips in the bag and then rang it up. She just stood there with her mouth opening and closing, gasping for air till I handed her a gift certificate for McDonalds for her lunch. She then burst out laughing and we where best friends after that.
Comment by Dan — May 26, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Thanks for the comment and telling us your story. Glad to hear it worked out and you two became friends.
As for my story, I don’t think I was being rude, angry or upset when I asked the question - just puzzled since every other time I had ordered a mixed dozen at any other shop they had always waited until I told them what I wanted.
And no, I didn’t say anything to the man or the boy after they exchanged the 1 donut except to say “no thank you” when asked if I wanted anything else. However, you better believe that I’ve told my family and friends what happened!
Word of mouth advertising can work both ways. And in this case I don’t think it’s going to help his business.
Comment by Susan — May 26, 2009 @ 9:21 pm
[...] see a good example of what I’m talking about read the comment Dan left for my article “Unacceptable Customer Service.” After reading the comment we all know a little more about Dan and his business philosophy. [...]
Pingback by How to Use Online Social Networking to Market - Where The Traffic Comes From | Get Unique Internet Marketing Tips from Susan Carroll — May 27, 2009 @ 9:38 am
Hi Susan,
You are much to kind, from your description of the rude employees of the donut shop. First I would have told the boy to correct the problem he created. Then I would have asked the father to butt out, until the boy did what I requested. I believe it is against the child labor laws to have a 10 year old behind the counter working in the first place.
I would have informed the father,, that I will certainly report this incident to the proper authorities to take action. I would also make sure that the owners were notified of this incident. I would then, after they had corrected the problem, left the donuts there without paying of course. Then gone to the next shop and hoped for better luck, otherwise saved a lot of calories if my luck was the same.
You didn’t mention what nationality they were but, I bet my bottom dollar not American, probably wore turbans and stunk like in all of our donut shops and gas stations. Have a great weekend Susan.
Comment by Blaine Means — May 27, 2009 @ 9:52 am
Dear Susan,
It was not nice to be treated that way.Hope you enjoyed the donuts any way.I shoped at Dollar Tree,
here in New Jersey.Had such a Blessed experience,the girl named Kate could not do enough,
for us.What a Blessing!she was so sweet.God Bless!
Love your Articles.
Sincerely,
Judith&Judith Ann my daughter May28,2009
Comment by Judith — May 28, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
Glad to hear you had a good experience at DollarTree Judith. We don’t have one of those in our small town.
And Blaine we don’t have any people of the nationality you were referring to in our town either. Since the donut shop is a local (not a franchise) the man who talked to me was most probably the owner and the boy was his son. I didn’t report him to anyone since I don’t know that having your own child work in your own business is a crime. In fact I think it’s not.
And while I can’t state for sure that this is the case I do know that most of the locally owned business here are owned by people who were born and raised in this small community. And since we are transplants so to speak I can also state that unless some of these people have known you since childhood they have 2 ways of dealing with people - 1 for born locals and 1 for “outsiders.”
Comment by Susan — May 29, 2009 @ 3:05 pm