Is this a social event or a BlockBuster?

I swear if you work in retail, you just can't win.

If you have a friendly conversation with a customer as you're rining
him or her up, then you have a bad work ethic. After all, you are
there to work, not to socialize.

However, if you don't greet every customer that comes into the store
and ask them how they are doing, then you are rude and unfriendly and
have bad customer service.

Can't win, don't try.

Why are some of you saying she was eavesdropping? How many of you have
stood in line and the customer and employee were talking? You're going
to hear what they're saying. It doesn't mean you're eavedropping. I'm
sure you all heard conversations by others while standing in line.

I still say it's a fine line when you're helping customers.

I do want to add however that I believe she jumped the gun with the
manager.

The nerve of that manager, being sociable to a customer! I think she
should be publicly flogged. Everyone knows the "get em in and get em
out" approach is best. Don't bother with the personal touch and let
customers know you value them by having an actual conversation with
them! Honestly, were you absent the day the teacher presented this
lesson in kindergarten-wait your turn and be quiet.

what a way to disguise the fact that you are upset they took a few
minutes to attend you. guess what the one doing the talking was first
and in real life you have to wait. if the maanger did not talk in a
nice way then there would be another letter stating how rude and cold
the manager was while this person was there for 15 minutes waiting for
his new card. there is no way to please people. i too suggest netflix,
that way you will not encounter people and you will always be first.
unless of ocurse the postman is talking to your neighbor for 15
minutes before dropping the movie in your mailbox...

You are absolutely right. In a perfect world, if a customer wanted to
chit-chat with a manager (or other employee), said employee should
tell the customer to shut up and move along. It's good for business.

Good call, Barbara.

Eavesdropping and complaining about it. I like this letter a lot.
Three customers in the store and this rises to the level of a
corprorate wide "briefing"? How does one rate friendliness needed to
satisfy you on a scale of one to ten.
I found it nice that management and employees got a few moments to
regroup and connect on a human level while waiting for the stampede
that comes around rush hour. Was the store neat and tidied up or was
it a mess? Guess who straigtened and cleaned the store moments before
your unannounced arrival and eavesdropping incident? Yep You guessed
it.

I'm wondering how long it took you to "look and choose your movies"?
If you were looking for new releases, most likely you went directly to
them, aligned in alphabetical order with guaranteed copies in stock.
It would have taken you all of 2 minutes, if that.

Even if you're like me, and walking around looking for something that
sounds good, there were TWO employees checking out customers. What
was the other employee doing during this time?

I know that when I go to Blockbuster, or any other video rental place,
I can expect a short wait. Sometimes new members are signing up.
Sometimes people want to know if something has come in and is not on
the shelf. Sometimes they want to know if a movie is on the
"Pre-Viewed For Sale" list. At the video rental place closest to my
home, the employees have to call me if my kids want to rent ANY video
on my account(not rated R or PG-13, but ANYTHING. And they're going
in with cash.)

It's called service. Customers expect to be able to ask employees'
advice, and to receive it. It could be that the cashier called the
manager to handle the new account so that he/she could handle the
other customers in line.

I remember waaaaaaay back when I signed up at Blockbuster. They
required a major credit card and driver's license. I honestly don't
remember how long the registration process took, but basically they're
lending someone a special copy of an expensive video or DVD. A place
that rents copies must pay higher prices than you or I would if we go
to Target or amazon.com to get the same thing. They pay for a special
license to purchase it, so that they can then earn money by renting it
to you. If you can pay $15.99 at a discount store for a home copy, a
rental place may have to pay $80 or more for the exact same thing.
They're paying for the license so they can rent out the video. Check
out the FBI warning at the beginning of any video you've ever seen.

How "social" was this conversation? Weather, jobs, people that they
happen to know in common?? For me, it can be "Where do you teach?",
which can be a conversation ender, since it's in a juvenile detention
center and that info is quite confidential. However, a cashier can
ask general questions about my job, which I can answer. Or
uncomfortable questions about their niece or nephew's case, which I
have to answer in an uncomfortable manner.

But by looking at my address, a cashier can ask, "Do your kids to go
____________ School?" A cashier may connect my last name with my
kids' name, and ask questions while a transaction is processing. My
last name is not particularly common in my community, so it would give
a cashier something to bring up while a transaction is pending. This
could be the "social" conversation you witnessed.

Exactly how long did you have to wait? I'm guessing it's not a really
long time. So you had to look around at the stuff near the checkout,
and read the back of the box thorougly. Big deal.

So basically you ease dropped on someone elses converstion, real
polite. Maybe your mommy needs to brief i before e in this case,
about how it is not proper manners to ease drop on someone's
conversation.

Barbara W.,
Tough audience these commenters are.
You have to admit they saw right through your letter.
While the Manager may not be picture perfect..he was on the front line
with his troops with his managemnt, cashier and salesman hat on. Beat
the office...
Bill R.

I want to make sure I understand the problem here. The manager,
while actively waiting on a customer, talked with that customer about
non-Blockbuster related topics.

That's outrageous! How dare she even THINK about anything beside
her job while clocked in? Truely, I am ashamed of this display of the
American work ethic.


Seriously? I'm not trying to be snarky, and I wouldn't usually tell
someone to 'just get over it'. because we all have our issues and
they're all valid and yada yada yada. In your case, however, I am
compelled to tell you to just get over it.

Might I suggest Netflix as an alternative to Blockbuster? That way, no
one has to talk at all!

It could be that it was the customer that engaged the manager in
conversation. It's a difficult spot to be in. You want to help the
customer and the rest but how do you get the one your helping out the
door?

It's a tough one. You don't want to be rude to the one your helping
but you also don't want to be rude to the ones behind them.

My first thought is that you don't work outside the home - - right?
And I'm also assuming that you interpret "work eithic" as kissing your
feet. You don't mention in your complaint that you had to wait very
long (3 people in line at Blockbuster is not unusual) or that anyone
was rude to you - - you just didn't like it that a working stiff who
was put on this earth to serve you was having a "social conversation"
with another customer when they should have shoved them out the door
so they could wait on you. I can't believe that someone actually took
the time to fire up their computer and write this letter.

What you really want is a robot behind the counter that can be
programmed to your liking.

You better be careful what you ask for. That may become a reality
sooner than you think.