Prince George's County Customer Service Experience (Bowie, College Park: Home Depot, unemployment rate, schools)

[justtitans]

One of the biggest knocks on PG County is the service you receive in a lot of places. From restaurants to grocery stores to even the schools, there is a high variance of good and bad customer service. What is really surprising to me is the large amount of complaints about the restaurants down at places like the National Harbor or even the Bowie Town Center. I have spent many times on yelp.com reading about how rude waiter and waitresses are, or how long the wait is, or how the seafood places down at the National Harbor taste like the food came off of a truck from New Jersey. All in all there have been some bad reviews. I myself have experienced some bad apples here too and I admit that I actually avoid most of the establishments in my area as a result. But it is true that there are good places as well. I have found quite few quality spots here in this county like Wegmans, any of the Chick-Fil-a's in the county, and some other various spots.

My questions for you all, what has your overall experience of customer service been like in this county? If you have found problems, what do you perceive to be the issue?

What places have you found (include names and the towns they are in) that have good service? bad service?

[bowian]

It seems that lately, a lot of businesses in PG have stepped up their game in customer service. I don't know if it's the Wegman's effect or the result of customer complaints. I noticed good customer service at Giant on Rt 450 in Bowie (although it's been pretty decent all along), the local Home Depots and Lowe's stores (very helpful employees), the Safeway on 450 and Fairwood Parkway in Bowie, Costco in Woodmore Town Center, and both Targets in the Bowie area. Even the notoriously bad CVS pharmacy in Greenway Center Plaza in Greenbelt is improving (but still has a ways to go). Hmm. I hope this trend continues.

[adelphi_sky]

It's not just PG County. It's all over the D.C. area. Even out of town. The younger generation just doesn't seem to care. In addition, it's not like they are getting paid adequate wages. My wife are foodies and eat at dives to five star restaurants. Admittedly, the higher the bill, the better the service, but I'd argue that PG is not alone in bad service. It's everywhere.

[boreatwork]

My experience with customer service:
Me: "let me a get so, and so and so"
Cashier: "ok thats $10.95"
Me: "Man, let me give u this $10.05"
Cashier: "ok"

[HurricaneDC]

I've never really shopped in PG County outside of College Park. I've been to a Sunoco at the intersection of 193 and 214 and the guy in the convenience store was kinda fine, nothing spectacular or awful.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by meatkins

One of the biggest knocks on PG County is the service you receive in a lot of places. From restaurants to grocery stores to even the schools, there is a high variance of good and bad customer service. What is really surprising to me is the large amount of complaints about the restaurants down at places like the National Harbor or even the Bowie Town Center. I have spent many times on yelp.com reading about how rude waiter and waitresses are, or how long the wait is, or how the seafood places down at the National Harbor taste like the food came off of a truck from New Jersey. All in all there have been some bad reviews. I myself have experienced some bad apples here too and I admit that I actually avoid most of the establishments in my area as a result. But it is true that there are good places as well. I have found quite few quality spots here in this county like Wegmans, any of the Chick-Fil-a's in the county, and some other various spots.

My questions for you all, what has your overall experience of customer service been like in this county? If you have found problems, what do you perceive to be the issue?

What places have you found (include names and the towns they are in) that have good service? bad service?

You have to take the rantings of folks on Yelp.com with a grain of salt. Human nature is such that folks generally only get worked up over negative experiences.

I've always had positive experiences at the Wegmans except for the one time the deli guy was a little too surly for my tastes.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by bowian

It seems that lately, a lot of businesses in PG have stepped up their game in customer service. I don't know if it's the Wegman's effect or the result of customer complaints. I noticed good customer service at Giant on Rt 450 in Bowie (although it's been pretty decent all along), the local Home Depots and Lowe's stores (very helpful employees), the Safeway on 450 and Fairwood Parkway in Bowie, Costco in Woodmore Town Center, and both Targets in the Bowie area. Even the notoriously bad CVS pharmacy in Greenway Center Plaza in Greenbelt is improving (but still has a ways to go). Hmm. I hope this trend continues.

I think you're on to something about the Wegman's. I used to have horrendous experiences at Giant. To the point that I would only go there if I needed something really bad since it's by my house.

I recall a couple of incidents where a worker was mocking me for being too dark in their eyes and one time I was walking behinds some teenage worker who was walking slowly, another worker mentioned a customer was behind him his response is I don't care.

All of these workers have vanished. I've noticed managers bagging groceries when the line backs up, opening up registers and just being a lot more pleasant.

[HurricaneDC]

Perhaps it's new management that's making waves? Considering the unemployment rate, especially in poorer parts of the DC area, you'd think employees would be clinging to their jobs dearly. But when management doesn't give two ****s, employees won't either.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

You have to take the rantings of folks on Yelp.com with a grain of salt. Human nature is such that folks generally only get worked up over negative experiences.

I've always had positive experiences at the Wegmans except for the one time the deli guy was a little too surly for my tastes.

I agree that not all of the reviews are reliable but I have found quite a few of them to be accurate. Prime example, is Carolina Kitchen in Largo. The food is great there but the service can be poor, at least from my experience. It's like some of the workers there don't care. I hate supporting businesses like that. If you look on there, there is a number of people who say this, but there are some who actually love it. It all depends, but usually I try to see if there are common complaints. If there are more than 3 people complaining about the same thing, then there is probably some truth to it.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by HurricaneDC

Perhaps it's new management that's making waves? Considering the unemployment rate, especially in poorer parts of the DC area, you'd think employees would be clinging to their jobs dearly. But when management doesn't give two ****s, employees won't either.

Exactly! That's why I'm leery about certain establishments. For example in Giant, when I see that a store constantly runs out of items, the employees are rude, there are only two lines open during a busy time, and the store is not well kept, I know exactly what the problem is. Managers who care and show that they care, I give them the benefit of the doubt if there is a bad employee or not, but if I see other signs, I put them on my 'do not support' list