Why is customer service so poor at grocery stores?

Answer 1

That's quite a generalisation! I'm not sure all grocery stores have poor service, but certainly in some cases they do.

It could be that in smaller stores, staff are busier and more stressed and have less time to be pleasant.

Answer 2

Why do people in a hurry go to the grocery store? It's not a quick shop. If you want speed go to the convenience store.

Why do people expect grocery store employees to walk with them while they shop? We don't have time for that, we have to get groceries onto the shelves and wait on other customers.

Why do people who have gone to a store, literally, for YEARS always ask the location of the items they buy regularly... soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, bread...?
We'd have MUCH better customer service if the retard customer would realize that at some point you SHOULD remember SOMETHING yourself.

Why do people pick up a frozen item, decide they don't want it and leave it with the potato chips? Perhaps if you weren't too LAZY to put items back where you got them, the employees would have to spend so much time putting up misplaced items and we'd have more time for customers.

Answer 3

Just look at the people they hire.

While some are certianly good people. The majority are total idiots, milking the cash cow for a paycheck.

The ones you are refering to, are usually the gutter trolls. They would perform poorly at any job. Simply because they are pi$$ed because they have to work at all.

But customer attitude can cause even the best person to lose it. Just remember, you may be the 100th person with an attitude to come through that line today.


Personally, I believe that if we legalized murder. The world would be a much friendlier place :) Namely because there would be VERY little crime....and NO rude people :)

Answer 4

i think it's because they're poorly paid and have to do alot. Also, i feel that most of the service staff may have started off really nice to people, but perhaps the customers didn't appreciate it, never bothered to respond. Eventually, instead of getting their feelings hurt, they stick to the technical part of their job, and ignore the social factor. They may not be nice on some days, but that doesn not give us the right as customers, to be rude, either.

Answer 5

Why pick on grocery stores? I have come to the conclusion that 90% of workforce has no clue what good customer service entails and how to deliver it. When I do come across service that is exceptional, I make sure to tip.

Answer 6

ill be happy to take this one on. i am the district manager of two grocery stores so i can speak from 35 years of personal experience. i think what you precieve as poor customer service is probably due to alot of misconceptions from the customers point of view. let me give you the grocers point of view.
1.) YOU PAY FOR CONVENIENCE. its not our fault if you dont want to take the time to make jello and dont like the idea that the six pack is about fifteen times more expensive that that box in the grocery aisle. thats a choice that you and the manufacturer made, not us and we dont gouge it.
2.)YOU PAY FOR SERVICE.... theres a reason that vons, krogers or whoever has warehouse pricing...the help is stretched razor thin. if you come shopping to a warehouse type store on a saturday afternoon, we can certainly appreciate you want good prices and dont want to wait, but everyone else has that idea too and we have little control over that.
3.) YOU PAY FOR INDIVIDUAL OR SPECIAL ORDER. the reason the corner grocer is dying off is that people seem to think they can have their cake and eat it too. in the grocery business, warehouse or wholesalers typically charge a mark up fee based on weekly purchases, meaning, if your a smaller store, your going to get tagged and cant really afford to have the amenities a big store has. youd be truly amazed how many people dont understand that concept. I have been approached many times in a store about three times the size of a 7-11 wondering why we dont carry everything from a salt lick(no im not making that up), to car batteries...yes car batteries.
4.)we arent responsible for how your day is going.
though i can appreciate we all have tough situations, lots of people will come to the grocery with a large chip on their shoulder and i really dont have the time or interest as an employee to figure out how to defuse it. we certainly try to organize and carry what sells and the implied quality therin but you still need to take the time to look and familiarize yourself with whats there and its truly amazing how many people dont want to or cant see whats right in front of them and read the lable.
by no means am i implying its the customers fault. what i am saying is respect our store and well respect you. take the time to look around and the minute you see someone dont just punch default.

here are some survival tips next time you go to the grocery to keep you and us getting along.

if you take it off the shelf and its frozen or chilled, for god sake put it back.
frozen bologna doesnt sell and it reflects in higher prices to all when we have to pitch it because you were in a hurry
fruit left behind the canned beans stinks when it rots and if you put it there and we cant see it...same thing as above

LOOK AROUND FIRST. we want to help you, but we have a job to do too and it helps if you use common sense as to where things are that you need, then if you cant find it ask.

GET YOUR CHECK OUT AND FILL OUT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN BEFORE YOU GET IN LINE....AGAIN WE CAN HELP YOU IF YOUR NOT READY.

CHECK YOUR MONEY AND FOOD STAMP TOTAL BEFORE YOUR IN THE STORE...youd be amazed how many carts we put back in a month from people who shop and forget their money at home.

READ LABLES AND CHECK DATES....we do but were not perfect and cant help it if we dont know if your diabetic and you cant read the sugar content of an item.

TALK TO US...alot of times we dont know if there is a new item or what you want unless you say something. there are approx 35000 items in a larger store, its hard to know them all to your satisfaction.

what i hope you see here is that its alot more complex than the average customer sees. all he or she knows is it didnt or did go well for him. we like em all to go well but we need you to understand customer service is a two way street.

great question and god bless.

Answer 7

because people don't care about service anymore.Especially in places like the grocery store.People who work there are so desensitized by people trying to get over on them or people pulling a scam, trying to return items that were not bought there or cashing bad checks..that people who work there or just burnt out.

Answer 8

In UK it is probably because the staff are poorly paid and are expected to work silly shifts without extra pay.

I saw a job advertised working nights in petrols station for £5.52 an hour when the minimum wage is - I think - £5.35

Answer 9

I left a basket of groceries at the front of one last night and walked out. They only had a few of their 22 lanes open and each had about 6customers in it. I suppose they were not expecting shoppers on a Saturday afternoon. :(

Answer 10

Fact is grocery stores staff expect you to self serve and therefore there is never enough staff to ask anything of ~~