Will Walmart ever fail?

[webny99]

Just like to me, when I complain at Walmart, when the 10 item of less is not enforced and a person comes into the express lane with a full shopping cart, I get a shrugged shoulder by the cashier waving the rule to that other shopper ... Yet, if I was the one entering the express line with a full basket and the person behind me complained about it, I would be told to go to the other check out lines or have the store manager say my money to them could be sacrificed.

Of course that is murphy's law syndrome ...

Haha, I was about to reply with "that's called Murphy's law (or 'just my luck')" before I saw your next sentence. 

... or told "You can't always get what you want and we can't tell another shopper that they can't buy items that make our company more profitable." when I complain about it.  ...

Have you actually been told that? I can't stop laughing trying to imagine a cashier saying that. 

[kphoger]

But the sad truth of the matter is that customer opinions do not matter to businesses.

That's true of many businesses, especially large corporations, but certainly not all businesses. Customer opinions do matter very much to many small and medium-sized businesses, who rely on better service, good reviews (both online and through word of mouth) and/or a unique selling point to attract customers away from those very same large corporations.

Heck yeah.  Just talk to any motel manager who's had to fight a bogus 1-star reviews on Google or TripAdvisor, left vindictively by someone trying to put the motel out of business because of some personal ax to grind.

[Scott5114]

Anyway if I'm not feeling up for dealing with the phone tree whenever I call somewhere, when they ask me to press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, I hammer that 7 button hard until the software gets confused by my input and crashes me through to a human operator.

– ... Hi.  I'm Julie.  What can I help you with today? ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ... "check my balance" ... "report an issue" ...

– Operator

– ... Sorry.  I didn't get that.  ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ... "check my balance" ...

– Operator

– ... Sorry.  I didn't get that.  ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ...

– OPERATOR!

– ... Please wait ... while I connect you to an operator ...

I usually will just spout some nonsense phrase, like "spangle me!", to force this behavior quicker.

But the sad truth of the matter is that customer opinions do not matter to businesses.

That's true of many businesses, especially large corporations, but certainly not all businesses. Customer opinions do matter very much to many small and medium-sized businesses, who rely on better service, good reviews (both online and through word of mouth) and/or a unique selling point to attract customers away from those very same large corporations.

Eh...I think I've had my opinion matter precisely once, and that was a small restaurant in Natchez, Mississippi, where I was the first person to order a new menu item, and my opinion confirmed what the cook had already suspected himself.

Owning a small business (as I do), you do get exposure to a lot of customer opinions...but I've ignored about 99% of them, because their opinion was that I should do something that I didn't have the financial resources to pull off, or simply was entirely impossible under my business model. Of the ones I've actually followed, I've been burned by several because they seemed like a good idea but the guy offering the opinion was the only person in the world who had that opinion. That's another problem with small businesses–you just don't have meaningful data to make a decision sometimes.

[roadman65]

Anyway if I'm not feeling up for dealing with the phone tree whenever I call somewhere, when they ask me to press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, I hammer that 7 button hard until the software gets confused by my input and crashes me through to a human operator.

– ... Hi.  I'm Julie.  What can I help you with today? ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ... "check my balance" ... "report an issue" ...

– Operator

– ... Sorry.  I didn't get that.  ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ... "check my balance" ...

– Operator

– ... Sorry.  I didn't get that.  ... You can say ... "pay a bill" ...

– OPERATOR!

– ... Please wait ... while I connect you to an operator ...

Yes, just like it asks you to say or enter your sixteen digit credit card number followed by the pound sign.

You choose the say option.  You say the first 8 numbers of your credit card and then the computer voice asks you to again to say or enter your sixteen digit credit card number followed by the pound sign.

Then you are in awe as it sounds like you haven't said a damn thing since the last time that message was said in which your half way through the sixteen numbers.  How can it not hear that you just cited 16 numbers?  Or at least heard some of the numbers as to miss all 16 numbers has to mean a major flaw in that computer or a major problem.   It should have heard at least 1 out of 3 of those 8 digits you spoke if it was a simple connection issue or communication issue.

[Scott5114]

The quality of existing text-to-speech tech is garbage and not anywhere near ready for prime-time yet, but businesses have found applications for it, so they'll charge ahead and use it anyway despite its flaws.

[kalvado]

But the sad truth of the matter is that customer opinions do not matter to businesses.

That's true of many businesses, especially large corporations, but certainly not all businesses. Customer opinions do matter very much to many small and medium-sized businesses, who rely on better service, good reviews (both online and through word of mouth) and/or a unique selling point to attract customers away from those very same large corporations.

Depends on how much dissatisfaction affects the business.
If you buy just some general purpose stuff at Walmart - toothpaste, bread or socks - chances are you don't really need any interaction.
What is the %% of such routine purchases? Probably above 95% for an average grocery store, >90% for Walmart but  <10% for wedding dress studio.  Hence difference in customer interaction standards. Loosing 5% of higher interaction business but saving 2 paychecks per store  probably makes sense for Walmart. 50% of business for a more specialized store? Maybe that is too much.

[webny99]

Eh...I think I've had my opinion matter precisely once, and that was a small restaurant in Natchez, Mississippi, where I was the first person to order a new menu item, and my opinion confirmed what the cook had already suspected himself.

That may be the only time that your opinion/feedback was actively sought, but there's probably a whole lot more businesses that would care about your feedback if you had offered it, especially if your feedback was negative.

And of course, it works both ways: you're less likely to have a negative experience at a small business in the first place, because that business probably cares enough about its customers enough to have implemented customer feedback in the past and/or taken steps to make the customer experience as smooth as possible, precisely to avoid more negative feedback. So if you didn't have any negative feedback to give, that in itself is likely a sign that the business cares about its customers.

Owning a small business (as I do), you do get exposure to a lot of customer opinions...but I've ignored about 99% of them, because their opinion was that I should do something that I didn't have the financial resources to pull off, or simply was entirely impossible under my business model. Of the ones I've actually followed, I've been burned by several because they seemed like a good idea but the guy offering the opinion was the only person in the world who had that opinion. That's another problem with small businesses–you just don't have meaningful data to make a decision sometimes.

Even just having exposure to customer opinions is a lot more than could be said of the owners/upper management in many large corporations. Of course, there are lots of times that customers don't understand the reasons why something wouldn't work for a particular business - time and financial resources both being big ones. But for small businesses that have multiple decision-makers and/or employees, there's often processes for not only getting feedback from customers, but also reviewing new concepts and ideas and putting them into action if they're deemed viable. I'd even say that for many businesses, this is an integral part of staying relevant and competitive in a constantly-changing business environment.

[Bruce]

For me the value of buying at Walmart isn't outweighed by the hassle it is to shop there.  I rather pay nominally more to have an easier shopping experience and not be treated like a criminal like Walmart does to all their customers.  The slow cashiers and unresponsive staff drove me away from Walmart a long time ago, the security theater just affirms why I opt to stay away.  But those are all subjective measures, the average consumer might be willing to put up with more for perceived "value"  than I. 

My general impression is that the younger generation doesn't really care about their "experience" while shopping.  I'm like you, in that I'd rather go somewhere pleasant, even if it means spending a few more dollars, but maybe we're a dying breed?

Millennials are more likely to be online-only, while Gen Z are more likely to mix and match between online and brick and mortar, according to McKinsey, a major consulting firm.

[kphoger]

Millennials are more likely to be online-only, while Gen Z are more likely to mix and match between online and brick and mortar, according to McKinsey, a major consulting firm.

When they do go to brick & mortar stores, though, does it really matter what the "experience" is like?  I have a sneaking suspicion they're more likely to care what color the carpet is than how the workers treat them as a customer.

[Scott5114]

In my experience, millennials and Gen Z are usually more accommodating with the staff and less likely to cause a fuss whenever something goes wrong, most likely because we're more likely to have been in the position of working customer service in a post-2008 corporate hellscape. Boomers generally graduated to back-office roles when expectations for customer service employees were different, and thus don't tend to empathize as readily with the impossible situations front-line employees can find themselves in nowadays. Gen X can go either way.

[abefroman329]

In my experience, millennials and Gen Z are usually more accommodating with the staff and less likely to cause a fuss whenever something goes wrong, most likely because we're more likely to have been in the position of working customer service in a post-2008 corporate hellscape. Boomers generally graduated to back-office roles when expectations for customer service employees were different, and thus don't tend to empathize as readily with the impossible situations front-line employees can find themselves in nowadays. Gen X can go either way.

There is absolutely some kind of generational thing about the way Boomers interact with restaurant staff and I'm not sure where it comes from.

This Gen-Xer generally reacts with empathy, but there have been some egregious and inexcusable incidents (the time we checked into the Hinckley Hilton with our then-four-month-old son at 3 pm and they didn't deliver his crib to our room until 1 am springs to mind).

[zachary_amaryllis]

I know customer service is dead especially on the phone.  I'm probably the only person who would really wants a human being to transfer my call than wait for all the forthcoming menu options.  Plus now with the operator function being depressed and then the voice activation system wants you to give a brief description of what you want to have done for you so the right person can be transferred to, is another bad customer service move.

We all know that they only have one set of operators that can handle all concerns. It's a gatekeeper to keep operator interaction to a minimum and make you think that you can handle your problem without human interaction to keep labor costs way down so the CEO can make 20 more grand per month in his bonuses.

Of course the most common excuse is " It's the way of the world"  and people feel that we are to evolve which is why no one will stand up for what they believe in anymore.  Beliefs are discarded now and life is disposable.

However I feel that if enough people believed like I do about automated menu options on the phone, it would have been gone years ago.  I know if I was not on the Spectrum, I would be more vocal , which makes me think that if a non Spectrum individual is not standing up against jobs being eliminated promoting customer services and ridding us of automated phone systems, it shows me people are quite comfortable living without customer service.

In my job, I both drive pizzas, and answer the phones when I'm in the store. I refuse to be a robot. Phone customer service is a little more difficult, because it's harder to 'read the room' when figuring out how to talk to someone. If you call my store and I answer, you're not going to get the 'script' from me. Pizza time is happy time, and I talk to you like the human you are. Same goes when I get to your house, except I have a better chance to read the room. Obviously, a house full of partiers gets a different experience than the little old lady.

What bums me out, is this 'push buttons, make stuff appear' mentality that started around the time of COVID starting. A good half of my deliveries are requesting 'no contact', and ordered via DoorCrash, GrubHump, or our local one, and they just say "leave it at the door". Cool, but don't bitch when your stuff is cold because you couldn't be bothered to put down the xbox controller. I get some people might not want social interaction, but c'mon, man. Think about the humans in the loop that made it happen for you.

[jeffandnicole]

But the sad truth of the matter is that customer opinions do not matter to businesses.

You've run your own business, right? Have you accepted everyone's opinion and changed your business operations to accommodate everyone? If two customers voice opposite opinions, such as one only wants to talk to a computerized system and the other wants a human to answer the phone immediately, it would be almost impossible to accommodate both of them.

In most cases, alternatives don't readily exist that will accommodate what some people want, and some people can't easily get rid of what they have and switch. 

[Stephane Dumas]

Slightly off-topic but I wonder how this Wal-Mart at Central City menaged to hold on despite then there's no interchange where it's located (where US-62 pass under Western KY Parkway(Future I-369). https://goo.gl/maps/TLXppzVrh8W7fFoq8

Did Wal-Mart put there in the anticipation of KYDOT to built a interchange?

[kalvado]

Slightly off-topic but I wonder how this Wal-Mart at Central City menaged to hold on despite then there's no interchange where it's located (where US-62 pass under Western KY Parkway(Future I-369). https://goo.gl/maps/TLXppzVrh8W7fFoq8

Did Wal-Mart put there in the anticipation of KYDOT to built a interchange?

Thinking of walmarts around here, they are not paranoic about being right at the interchange.

[Bruce]

One of the smallest Walmarts in the Northwest just closed because it was apparently unprofitable.

https://twitter.com/seattletimes/status/1517728349027721216

[GCrites]

In my job, I both drive pizzas, and answer the phones when I'm in the store. I refuse to be a robot. Phone customer service is a little more difficult, because it's harder to 'read the room' when figuring out how to talk to someone. If you call my store and I answer, you're not going to get the 'script' from me. Pizza time is happy time, and I talk to you like the human you are. Same goes when I get to your house, except I have a better chance to read the room. Obviously, a house full of partiers gets a different experience than the little old lady.

What bums me out, is this 'push buttons, make stuff appear' mentality that started around the time of COVID starting. A good half of my deliveries are requesting 'no contact', and ordered via DoorCrash, GrubHump, or our local one, and they just say "leave it at the door". Cool, but don't bitch when your stuff is cold because you couldn't be bothered to put down the xbox controller. I get some people might not want social interaction, but c'mon, man. Think about the humans in the loop that made it happen for you.

The Xbox thing is so bad RE: food delivery now is at least partially due to online gaming that cannot be paused unlike offline. It's like, if you're having someone come to the door just play offline for a bit so that you can pause. Something so simple like that and people won't even do that over food. Meanwhile 1800s people spent all day every day securing food.

[Scott5114]

I've mentioned before in other threads that I have a problem with DoorDash drivers who assume the "order delivered" message on the phone is sufficient notice that the food is there. For me, it's not. My wife often orders the food and then takes a nap (with her phone on silent of course) and I'm the one responsible for getting the food inside and waking her up when it gets there. We put in the order notes specifically to ring the bell but it's a crapshoot whether they actually do it or not.

[vdeane]

I've mentioned before in other threads that I have a problem with DoorDash drivers who assume the "order delivered" message on the phone is sufficient notice that the food is there. For me, it's not. My wife often orders the food and then takes a nap (with her phone on silent of course) and I'm the one responsible for getting the food inside and waking her up when it gets there. We put in the order notes specifically to ring the bell but it's a crapshoot whether they actually do it or not.

Plus if they got the wrong address then it could sit there for who knows how long, if the person it was for ever finds it and picks it up at all.  I've had multiple times where I've gone out the door in the morning only to find that Door Dash had mistakenly left food at my door for someone else within the past 24-48 hours.  Worse, I can't even deliver the now-cold food because the bag doesn't have any information on who it's supposed to be for.

This happens with non-Door Dash deliveries too, but at least something shipped USPS/UPS/FedEx has address information on it and I can usually figure out where it needs to go (or at least ask my landlord).  It's usually elsewhere in the building (delivery drivers tend to be confused by some apartments having exterior entrances and others having interior entrances, so with my apartment number matching the building number they assume I'm the entrance to the building), but not always.

[thenetwork]

Customer service, to me, means things like this:
— ability to easily return items
— helpful employees
— responsiveness to phone calls

It has nothing to do with "goods value" at all, in my understanding of the term.

Great Customer Service is anticipating and acting on potential negative events -- being proactive!

The Kroger brand of stores has some sort of system you can see on monitors near the check-outtcustomer service areas that shows how many full-service lanes are open and how many should be open within the next 15-30 minutes. 

It's also when you see a quickly building line at check out or customer service and managers quickly open up other lines or temporarily add an extra person or two to the mix to limit delays -- kind of like opening up more toll booth lanes (when possible) to keep backups and driver frustrations to a minimum.

I once worked for a certain big box store company as an assistant manager.  I once got reamed by the GM because I jumped in and opened up another checkout lane to ease a brief 5-7 person customer backup.  The reason why was HIS boss (Mr. "Happy", the District Manager) was in the store and preferred me watching the one-way entrance door to make sure nobody snuck out the wrong door (rarely happened as the electric sensor did not open for wrong-way traffic).

Either the GM was afraid I was going to run the front end better than him in the presence of his boss or it was because "Mr. Happy" cared more about less-important SOPs than making the customer experience the best it could be at that time.

Going to businesses with short-handed departments, while there are other employees who can easily pitch-in to assist in a situation but instead are told to stand around and do nothing is not good customer service.

Granted, in the post-COVID employment environment, there are real shortages in some areas (hospitality,...), but good customer service is like a good baseball team -‐ just because you are the team's designated ace pitcher doesn't mean you only throw balls on the mound, sometimes you have to cover bases or pop-ups in the shallow outfield.

[hbelkins]

Slightly off-topic but I wonder how this Wal-Mart at Central City menaged to hold on despite then there's no interchange where it's located (where US-62 pass under Western KY Parkway(Future I-369). https://goo.gl/maps/TLXppzVrh8W7fFoq8

Did Wal-Mart put there in the anticipation of KYDOT to built a interchange?

It wasn't built to serve passing traffic on the parkway, but to serve the local residents. It's situated midway between the two largest towns in the county (Greenville and Central City).

The US 431 interchange is one of the original ones on the parkway, as evidenced by the cloverleaf design (a toll booth was there). A new exit was built in later years just west of the US 62 bridge, and it's signed "To US 62" and Greenville is one of the destinations.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I've mentioned before in other threads that I have a problem with DoorDash drivers who assume the "order delivered" message on the phone is sufficient notice that the food is there. For me, it's not. My wife often orders the food and then takes a nap (with her phone on silent of course) and I'm the one responsible for getting the food inside and waking her up when it gets there. We put in the order notes specifically to ring the bell but it's a crapshoot whether they actually do it or not.

While I don't drive for doorcrash (I work for a regional chain), I personally pay close attention to instructions like that. But I'm also the oldest person in the store, and I suspect a lot of the kids don't. Deliveries like this, I'll usually sit there for a minute to make sure you get your stuff, unless you acknowledged my text. If it's super cold outside, I'll send the text when I'm a block or so away, so your food doesn't sit out in the cold too long.

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I usually have much better luck with places that employ their own drivers, even the chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's. Our Pizza Hut's no-contact delivery during the worst of the pandemic was like clockwork–they sat the pizza on the brick wall surrounding our porch (there's a perfectly pizza-box-sized column on either side of the sidewalk), rang the bell, and then by the time I got to the door they'd be standing by their car. When I got the pizza they'd wave and get into their car to leave.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Yeah, I usually have much better luck with places that employ their own drivers, even the chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's. Our Pizza Hut's no-contact delivery during the worst of the pandemic was like clockwork–they sat the pizza on the brick wall surrounding our porch (there's a perfectly pizza-box-sized column on either side of the sidewalk), rang the bell, and then by the time I got to the door they'd be standing by their car. When I got the pizza they'd wave and get into their car to leave.

I have a marked disdain for leaving people's food on the ground, unless there's just no other option. I'll use a chair on the porch, a column like what's on your porch, anything I can find. If it's not immediately visible from the door, I'll send a picture so they can find it. There's a big difference between being "a" pizza guy, vs. being "the" pizza guy. The kids that work the rush hour are doing it for beer money. I'm doing it for a living.

[NWI_Irish96]

I've mentioned before in other threads that I have a problem with DoorDash drivers who assume the "order delivered" message on the phone is sufficient notice that the food is there. For me, it's not. My wife often orders the food and then takes a nap (with her phone on silent of course) and I'm the one responsible for getting the food inside and waking her up when it gets there. We put in the order notes specifically to ring the bell but it's a crapshoot whether they actually do it or not.

While I don't drive for doorcrash (I work for a regional chain), I personally pay close attention to instructions like that. But I'm also the oldest person in the store, and I suspect a lot of the kids don't. Deliveries like this, I'll usually sit there for a minute to make sure you get your stuff, unless you acknowledged my text. If it's super cold outside, I'll send the text when I'm a block or so away, so your food doesn't sit out in the cold too long.

I do instacart orders for groceries. There is an instruction for the driver to pull into our driveway and leave the groceries at our side door. Total of 3 feet of distance from the driveway to the door.

About 1/3 of the time, the delivery person will pull up on the street and carry everything the 50ish feet to the front door. I tried to make it easier for them..