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This whole "go to X store and pitch a fit/cause a scene so the manager will give you free stuff to go away" mentality used to be unthinkable...back when kids were raised to feel ashamed for such behavior in public. Nowadays? Not so much. When you are raised lacking self-respect, then your willingness to embarrass yourself in a public place like that just for "stuff" is entirely understandable. I just hope retailers will stop giving into these types of blackmail.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping. They had three different varieties of grapes on sale. The man in front of me proceeded to grab one or two grapes from each variety to 'test'. He then decided on which one he would buy and proceeded to enjoy the bag while doing the rest of his shopping. I know that people squeeze fruits to see if they are ripe; but we really don't like other people touching the food we eat. We also always wash our fruit good before consuming. But then there is the retail theft portion of this 'crime'. It is too bad our stores cannot hold these customers down for a stomach pumping for evidence!
Now now...that would be wrong. Then again....[/arches eyebrow]
I gain some self-satisfaction from knowing the 'grape-eaters' of the world might be eating something others have dropped on the floor or some kid sneezed on.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping. They had three different varieties of grapes on sale. The man in front of me proceeded to grab one or two grapes from each variety to 'test'. He then decided on which one he would buy and proceeded to enjoy the bag while doing the rest of his shopping. I know that people squeeze fruits to see if they are ripe; but we really don't like other people touching the food we eat. We also always wash our fruit good before consuming. But then there is the retail theft portion of this 'crime'. It is too bad our stores cannot hold these customers down for a stomach pumping for evidence!
I sample the grapes. I have ONE. If it's good, I put the bag in my cart and don't eat from it until I've gotten it all home and washed it.
I'm fine with people eating a whole bag of Cheetos while they shop as long as the cashier scans that bar code. Grapes OTOH are sold by weight, so you can't do that.
I sample the grapes. I have ONE. If it's good, I put the bag in my cart and don't eat from it until I've gotten it all home and washed it.
I'm fine with people eating a whole bag of Cheetos while they shop as long as the cashier scans that bar code. Grapes OTOH are sold by weight, so you can't do that.
The day after I spotted the one man, eating his way through all three varieties and all the way to checkout, I spotted another man doing the same thing. Maybe I was just looking a little harder? Maybe they were just hungry; but that is no excuse. Most of these stores have food drives for the hungry. Anything stolen from their bottom line eventually cost the customer.
None of us want to get stuck with sour grapes. Perhaps that is justification for the try one? There is one big difference between trying one and loosing one half pound or more before checkout. Anything can go too far.
It's been over 30 years since I last step foot in the retail environment. I'm not talking about being a customer but as an employee. Throughout high school I worked retail to save up for college. This was 1980. The mindset of customers have gotten greedier since the last time I works retail IMO. It's kind of scary to be honest. Before I get into that, I want to mention how I think it started. I think it started with a classic case of the Walmart effect. For example, a town has a Main Street with family owned businesses and small shops. During this time, Walmart comes to town and it forces these businesses to lower their prices. Over time it drives out competition. That alone has an ideology that treats everything as cost reduction. We see ourselves as consumers and think "What's in it for me?". It's a grumpy customerhood which dictates society's attitude towards everything else in life.
The problem is you keep giving them your money and expecting service the way you'd like to be serviced when a good portion of the time they're a private company who can do whatever they want. I hate customers self entitlement attitudes. The store doesn't owe you ****. When you walk into the store, they'll give you what they got and for whatever reason you don't like what they sell or you don't appreciate their service then don't spend your money. It's that simple.
Dude this is called consumerism. You can thank the Clinton era and China for that one. Cheap goods for low low prices and reasonable PM’s on volume levels. The big companies don’t care who sells their goods, just that they sell, and if it produced a self entitled culture of consumerism because now they have more options and lower prices then don’t hate the consumers, hate the game. Besides, Amazon is the real threat nowadays to smaller retailers when it comes to expectations. People are showcase shopping smaller retailers to see if they like a product then turn around and order online (guilty). The average consumer is 20 times more informed about a product today than before the information super highway gave birth. They just look it up if they have a question. The day of Sears Roebuck is extinct. However, this does leave opportunity for smaller companies to specialize in customer experience and incentives plans for people coming into stores. Some customers are loyalists because they want first hand testimonies of a product they are thinking about purchasing, or just enjoy giving feedback on something they purchased. You can’t really receive a personable experience like that online or at WalMart. Yeah, there are some smug people that venture in, thinking that everyone is going to cater to their every 2 cent need, but those people have no life. Anyways, If you are thinking of getting back into the world of retail then be prepared for a different game than when you were 19.
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