I live in a relatively small town where the shopping is not so great. Your choice, beyond the very expensive and independently owned stores, is Kmart. Trust me, I'm trying to contain my excitement just as much as you are.
Usually, if I need anything specific, I have to drive 41 miles (one way) to Missoula where there are a slew of outlet stores, a mall, Walmart, etc. Unfortunately, I don't always (in fact rarely) have time to make the trip. Which means, I'm forced to shop at Kmart, where the insanity is endless and the products you are looking for, are absent from the shelves.
Recently, I had to run down there to look for a Bridal Shower gift. I had not had the time to go to Missoula, so was left with our local Kmart. I ran inside and looked at an assortment of things when I came to their dish set aisle and display. I looked at a few of them that were in the display and saw they were priced at $65.99. Too expensive for a shower gift (in my book). However, the bottom two shelves of the display had dish sets with a sticker price of $35.99. This caught my attention. As I was scanning the available designs, I came across this set that had the exact design the bride had printed on her invitations. I thought, "Perfect! She will love this." I double-checked the price, before I grabbed the box, and it said $35.99.
As usual, I was in a hurry and running out of time, so I went to the shortest line I could find at the checkout counters. I now know it was short for a reason. The checker was an old (I don't mean to offend anyone, but she was elderly) woman and she was checking out a man (about her age) who only had a greeting card. She asked him about his "Rewards Card" and what his email address was, as she had to enter it into the system. Let me just say they both, desperately, needed hearing aids. "D"? No, "B". "M"? No, "N". "P"? No, "T", and so on and so forth. It was painful to watch these two try to communicate with each other. Finally, the customer had to write it out for the checker and she entered it one finger, one letter, one full breath at a time.
Tick, tock, tick, tock goes the clock people. Tap, tap, tap with my finger.
Finally, and I mean finally, she gets this man his $2.49 card and sends him on his way. My turn. She scans everything and reads my total. I looked at the receipt list on the computer screen and told her the price of the dishes was wrong. They weren't $65.99. They were $35.99. She said, "Well, I am going to have to do a price check." I thought, God help me. I do not have time for this. I smiled through gritted teeth, sighed and said, "okay".
She walks over to their intercom system and calls for a price check. Five minutes go by, no answer. She calls again and to my surprise someone answers. She tells them to do a price check on this dish set and gives them all the information. Five more minutes go by and here comes the price check person to personally look at the dish set. Then he leaves. Five more minutes and the intercom phone rings. She answers and then comes over and tells me that the dishes next to the ones I picked out were $35.99. The ones I had picked were $65.99. I told her I didn't want them then and she needed to take them off my order. This left me with the following items: a card, a ribbon and some wrapping paper.
I have now been in the checkout line for nearly twenty minutes. People who entered the store when I entered the checkout line were already leaving the parking lot in their cars.
Deep breath.
She took off the dishes and gave me my total for those three items. I paid her and when I went to leave, she handed me a bag. I looked at the bag and just shook my head in disbelief and annoyance. She put my stuff in somebody elses bag! I thought to myself, "I know its been like 15 minutes since you rang my three items through, but has it really been that long that you think I bought two shirts and some panties?" I interrupted her service with the next exasperated customer and said, "This is not my bag." She said, "It isn't?" I said, "No! This isn't my stuff. You put my stuff in somebody else's bag. I didn't buy this stuff." "Oh, I guess I did. I wonder where it came from?" I thought, "Well, how the heck would I know?" I grabbed MY bag, kept my mouth closed (tightly) and ran straight into the automatic door that didn't open fast enough. Nice, I thought. Their door functions just like their customer service.
As soon as I got to my car, I commenced counting to ten and did some breathing exercises, as I do every time I leave Kmart. You know, it just isn't fair that I have to literally lose minutes of my life due to the stressful shopping experience I inevitably endure every time I go there.
I seriously cannot stand this store and neither can anyone else I talk to. It is, by far, the most frustrating store around; and the thing is, is that I know they could do so much better. But, why try if you don't have to, right? Its still money in their pockets no matter how flustered we, the customers, get and how horrible your service is.
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