Do you get ignored when shopping? (conversation, graduating, engaged, adults)
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Having worked in retail back in another life I have scant tolerance for poor customer service. Yesterday I was in Petco to purchase a new, auto-feed system for our three rescue cats. I remembered where they were when I bought the one five years ago that finally failed but inexplicably they'd had the temerity to move them and after 10 minutes of searching and not being approached I went in search of someone to help. One clerk was having a nice, non-pet-related chat with a woman he'd been talking to for the entire 10 minutes (I could hear them) so being a grumpy old man I rather loudly said I needed some assistance. The looks on his and her faces were priceless but I got the assistance I sought. It shouldn't have required being pushy. I did at least start out with, "Excuse me."
Interesting thread. I live in Vegas and we have lots of retired folk here. And don't forget I'm old too. Many older people feel invisible and truth be told many service workers don't like helping older people. Why? We have a reputation for being cheap and poor tippers. We don't make impulse purchases and tend to spend wisely when prices are at their lowest. They can't 'sell' us anything. And unfortunately those poorly paid workers at Best Buy perceive older customers to be Luddites who will take up their time but never understand the products well enough to make a purchase.
I agree with you to a point. However, Best Buy makes a big deal that they don't pay commissions to their employees so why should they worry whether I buy anything from them??
I agree with you to a point. However, Best Buy makes a big deal that they don't pay commissions to their employees so why should they worry whether I buy anything from them??
Because they also have tasks other than sales. If their tasks frequently aren't done and they don't have any sales to show for it, they don't keep their jobs.
Nearly everybody in retail runs when they see lonely, garrulous customers with a reputation for buying nothing or buying cheap.
Sort of along the same lines, but not electronics shopping, has anyone else felt ignored or discriminated against on seating in a restaurant? Here's what happened to us last spring while away from home dealing with family business in another state. We went to a restaurant that is a well known franchise across the country that is probably better known for the younger set, you know, big bar area in the middle of the place. We were seated way in the back even though there were plenty of empty booths along the side and towards the front. As we ate, we noticed another "older" couple, as well as a family also seated back in our area, still plenty of open booths up front. The bar area was hopping as it was during the hockey playoffs. As we left we made a comment about the appearance of age discrimination, and basically got a blank stare from the hostess. It did make us wonder.
Did you ever think that maybe they were being considerate? Maybe they thought you'd prefer being away from a "hopping" bar area, which I presume was pretty noisy? Maybe they should have asked but that IS a possibility. Try going again when there's no big sports 'stuff' going on. Older people and families usually appreciate not being seated in the middle of things like that. Were you able to state a preference or mention you really didn't want to sit that far back? I would have. And I'd be willing to bet that age discrimination had nothing to do with it.
Did you ever think that maybe they were being considerate? Maybe they thought you'd prefer being away from a "hopping" bar area, which I presume was pretty noisy? Maybe they should have asked but that IS a possibility. Try going again when there's no big sports 'stuff' going on. Older people and families usually appreciate not being seated in the middle of things like that. Were you able to state a preference or mention you really didn't want to sit that far back? I would have. And I'd be willing to bet that age discrimination had nothing to do with it.
Very good point I hadn't thought about. Hadn't realized there even were playoffs going on, or even think to ask about sitting elsewhere. It's not in an area, out of state, we frequent other than to see family so doubt if we will be back. You do have a good point.
I go to Best Buy frequently and get great service. People there greet me immediately and in most cases they take me to the item(s) I'm looking for.
Fry's electronics is a different story.
Very good point I hadn't thought about. Hadn't realized there even were playoffs going on, or even think to ask about sitting elsewhere. It's not in an area, out of state, we frequent other than to see family so doubt if we will be back. You do have a good point.
The only reason I thought of it is because of my many years working in restaurants and, sometimes, playing Hostess. I probably would have seated you the same as they did, with the exception that I would have probably asked if you had any objections.
For the past six months, I have been shopping for a laptop to supplement my desktop and my Surface.
I go into a certain large electronics big box. I am looking for help. I stand there for 10 minutes and can get no one to answer any of my questions. I have gone through this at three locations throughout the US.
So I adopted a new strategy. I bring my 19 yo nephew with me. Within 30 seconds, we have not one but two people ready to answer my questions.
Does anyone else experience this when shopping for technology?
No, I go and stand right next to one of them if they are busy with another customer and I don't leave but I don't say anything until they are finished with the current customer.
To take the discussion a bit beyond the issue of shopping in stores/eating in restaurants, whether people "get ignored" depends on their perceived importance/relevance in a given context. For example, if an older person is the boss and a younger person is a janitor going about his tasks, we are less likely to ignore the presence of the boss. But in many work situations, older people are on their way out, or at least perceived to be, and so may be ignored by some (perhaps many) of the younger workers.
A personal example: seven or eight years ago, a supervisor brought me back out of retirement for a temporary, but critically important project. He valued my contribution, and his secretary had noticed that. She paid attention to me and showed a lot of active respect, always greeting me by name. Now, several years after that, same secretary (but different supervisor) and I am back once a week as a volunteer. For that secretary, I no longer exist and she looks right through me. Our connection had never been personal and we had not actually worked together beyond rather superficial contacts. I am now just some old has-been who is completely irrelevant. But other former colleagues with whom I had been in the trenches together still greet me warmly, as we had been sort of like friends.
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