Yep, I finally quit...

I'm getting more hours at the pharmacy I work at, so I've decided not to go
back to Target. I've been on leave for the past few months during this past
semester and it's felt great.

So my expertise in Target's policies may soon be outdated. Oh well.

Now that my semester is over (has been for a few weeks now) and I'm less
busy, I suppose we could roll out a new Compliment Week. I'm not exactly
sure when this week would be but it's been too long since the last one.

Thoughts?

I was on lunch when this happened, but it's still pretty funny.

Some guy bought some sort of hair cut kit that came with an electric razor.
Apparently it didn't work. Instead of coming in to exchange it, he goes to
get a haircut wherever, then comes to return the razor and says he wants to
be reimbursed for the haircut he *had* to get because the razor that Target
sold him did not work.

Um, no.

or are there not as many letters coming through PFB at the moment?

I would love to see more compliment letters in the Top 25, I wonder what
could be coming up to change that? ;)

Stay tuned!

Include the word Target somewhere in your letter.

Yet again, we have some people complaining about "mean" commenters here.
Heck, you could even say I'm one of them (one of the "mean" ones, that
is).

So here are my thoughts on why people can be more harsh on the internet
than in everyday life:

First, there is always the anonymity of the internet but I don't think
that's the main cause here.

What I know for me is the big reason is that we can't "retaliate" while we
are working, and the customers know this. Some even expolit it. So when we
are here, we don't answer to anyone but ourselves. I think that takes the
breath out of some complainers because they are (finally!) being told like
it is. Then, when someone is "mean" to them, their only course of action is
to attack the opposing opinion. They can't (easily) get anyone in trouble
and some struggle with that. Their "power" is gone.

I can say that if someone did something that really made me mad at work,
and then someone wrote in with a similar situation, I would go off (and
have gone off) on them.

I just don't see this ending until everyone treats everyone else with
respect. And being in retail and seeing how some people act, I can safely
say it will never end.

On the Today show, they did a story about Romney and his religion and how
it was affecting his presidential campaign. Well, if you don't know
already, Romney is a Mormon.

Well the Today show asked republicans if they would vote for a Mormon for
President. What scares the hell out of me is that 41% said no. Simply
because of what his religion he is, not taking ANY account of what he has
done or will do. That is sad.

Then Huckabee is playing the "I'm a Christian leader" card. So his little
gang is there to "support" him.

How shallow are people to only vote for someone based on their religion?
Apparently very.

And this is in NO way endorsing any of the republicans. I'm voting democrat
in the next presidential election, but I'm sure you could have already
guessed that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22152482/

This is a story about a Christian "scientist" who was fired because he
wouldn't accept evolution, saying that the bible creates a true account of
how life started on Earth. Now he's sueing, of course.

The fact is that you cannot be a scientist if you believe what the bible
says about the creation of Earth. There is simply no way. Scientists have
to use the scientific method for ALL research and this includes forming
hypotheses and looking for evidence that either supports or rejects that
hypothesis.

Religion isn't science because you cannot test it. One is simply told to
just believe. That is not the way science works. Science is everchanging,
religion is not.

The case has already been thrown out once because the center he was fired
from focuses solely on evolutionary research. But he's trying again, and
I'm sure if he recruits other Christians with the idea that Christianity is
under attack (similar to this supposed War on Christmas) it will be quite
the story.

How I wish for an educated world...

So I was working at the pharmacy the other day, not the Target one (whole
other story!), and someone called looking for a specific pharmacist. I told
her that the one she was looking for wasn't working, and she then asked if
I was a pharmacist, and I told her, "No, sorry, I'm just a student intern.
Would you like to speak to (other pharmacist working)?"

She says,
"Don't say you're 'just' a student intern, you're getting there!"

Made my day.

It is to know that there are understanding people out there.

After the recent troublesome episode on PFB, I'm hoping everything returns
to the way it was before the situation arose.

That being said, I have a new gameplan for myself.

I am going to try being more empathetic to letter writers, as this will be
a key tool in my future. I do know I need to work on this. However, I can't
promise I will always be this way as there are a lot of unreasonable
statements in letters. After seeing so many ridiculous letters, some just
start to wear on you. But, I will try my best to see the other side of the
situation, and explain my side as well.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004003599_planb09m.html

A judge has ruled that pharmacists can withhold the dispensing of the
morning after pill due to their religious beliefs.

This concerns me because one's religious beliefs shouldn't affect someone
else's health. The person that requests the Plan B pill has a right to get
the medication (prescribed or over the counter) that they need. Will this
open doors to other refusal of any services due to religious beliefs?

Pharmacists (speaking as a "soon" to be one) are there to fill
prescriptions and ensure that medication is being taken correctly to ensure
the overall health of the patient. Nowhere in there eludes to injecting
your own personal beliefs in there.

Now, this isn't to say that everyone who dispenses Plan B agree with it.
There are better methods of birth control, but it isn't my place to dictate
what someone else uses.

Plus, if one doesn't want to dispense Plan B, how big of a leap will it be
to other methods of birth control? A foot is in the door, and we'll just
have to see how far this goes.

This really doesn't pertain to anyone, I'm just writing it to vent.

When a business has a per-situation policy, or a policy that is loose
enough to have most likely a manager apply the policy as they see fit,
there is unfairness. When a policy is bent for someone, that person usually
isn't grateful because the next time they are in the situation, they will
expect to get the exception again, and when they don't, they complain. What
most people don't know, is that when they complain, they are shutting the
door on themselves because the business will get other similar complaints
and scrap the whole exception thing altogether.

Examples (at Target even, wow!):
The Salvation Army. Other groups wanted to solicit, but weren't allowed, so
they closed it for everyone.
The return policy. Exceptions were made. People exploited this. Loopholes
closed, and you can all see the results.
Gift registry. Used to have unlimited returns as long as it was on the
registry. People exploited this. Loopholes closed, and you can also see the
results.
Soon to be added? Coupons? If they get enough complaints, they will
restrict the coupons they will take.

Now, I'm not saying to not complain, as I believe things should be applied
fairly across the board. But people don't want to be treated fairly. They
want the business to view them as special and not like others, and get
upset when they aren't treated as such. You can't have it both ways. You
can't complain about getting exceptions one time and not another AND
complain about being treated fairly across the board.

Done!

Some people are quick to jump on someone else when they are being "mean".
People often complain that some of the commenters here are just here to
insult letter writers. I can say that from what I've seen that I have not
seen one person here who is only "mean" to letter writers. Everyone has
their moments, and some things just strike a chord more forcefully with
some than they do with others. If you think they are being "mean", have you
asked the person why they feel that way? They may have a view you may have
not considered.

I can say that I haven't been the nicest at times, and I'm pretty sure that
also goes for a vast majority of everyone here.

But everyone can't agree with the letter writer all of the time. It's just
not possible, especially when the letters are completely ridiculous and/or
unfounded in their claims.

With everything, people have different motives. It's the same thing for
PFB. Some are here to write legitimate letters, some are here to scam, and
some are here to make a joke out of this site.

That being said, what are you here for?

I'll start.
I am here to provide a voice for the employee on the other side of the
situation, one that most people would never see.
I'm also here to recognize compliments because I know what it feels like to
make a difference in someone's life. Hearing someone appreciate the work
you've done can mean the world to you.

Because this is the place to get it.

I notice "someone" is going out of their way to try to piss me off by
posting a comment to a certain company that trash-talks 2 departments I
work in. And it so happens that it comes from a recent post of mine on my
profile.

Could you possibly think someone is fishing for my response?

Keep trying! ;)

A few compliments have popped into the Top 25, mine included. Nowadays it's
nice to see something *ahem* reasonable to read.

Great job to all those reading and responding!

So the chat I had with my manager wasn't so bad. She just told me I would
be working photo lab one night and Guest Service one morning per weekend. I
asked about the pharmacy and she said that I could get over there she just
needed me to write a schedule of what I was working at my other pharmacy so
she could schedule around that.

So, it's not as bad as I thought it would be...
For some reason in the back of my head, I thought I was going to get fired.
I know it would never happen, but it got in there.

And they were also gonna give me every Saturday off. IN RETAIL! That's
nuts! I opened my big mouth and told them I could work every other one
opposite to the other pharmacy, but then she said she was going to tell
that to the Target pharmacy. So that's good. I feel kinda bad because I
have Target all screwy over my schedule, but whatever. ;)

And I actually had a fun day at work today, so that helped! I had to do the
closing announcements and I almost said SuperTarget instead of regular ol'
Target!
"...Thank you for shopping at Sssss... Target and have a nice evening."
haha! People were probably wondering what was wrong with me. Oh well.

Thanks to all those who read and responded!

Here's an entire post in my blog dedicated to you!

Any other insults you'd like to sling or any other things that I say that
you want to blast me for? I'm all ears!

So ever since I moved to my new city and transferred to a different Target
store, I have always been under the impression that I would be the next
person to move over to the pharmacy in the store because that's what they
told me.

I've been at the store now for almost 2 months and have heard very little
about it. I've been asked if I'm still interested and I say yes, and that's
all I've heard. No one has said a word to me since, not one word. So
imagine my surprise when I see a new person training over there. I haven't
seen my manager for almost a month now and she's the one that was going to
get me over there. I know I don't have the best availability to work over
there much, but no one has said anything to me about anything. I'm just mad
because I'm being strung along with my hopes of working at the Target
pharmacy.

I'm going to talk to my manager the next time I see her and I want to know
why this happened. Why was I promised to be the next person over there only
to have a new person get hired without a word to me about anything?

If it's not a good answer with a valid reason, I don't know how much longer
I can stay. It sucks to say that because I truly love working there (most
of the time). I'm just not OK with being a 22 year old cashier/Guest
Service person at a Target store when I have so much potential to do so
much more. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being a
cashier/Guest Service as I could do it for the rest of my life if it paid
well. I just wanted to grow with the company and here they go and hire a
BRAND NEW person where I've been with the company for almost 5 YEARS. I
would need LESS training than the new person because I know how the
register and the store operates. I think the new person is even in my
class, so it's not like we're terribly different.

This doesn't help the fact that the store I'm at now isn't "fun." It's too
boring. The people aren't fun. My old store was full of awesome people that
made it worth going to work. The only thing keeping me at this store was
eventually getting to work in the pharmacy. But now that it's been pushed
back, I don't know how much more I can take.

I don't mean to sound conceded, but I don't think my new store appreciates
me. I got a fuckin' "Excellent" on my last review, and the store has to
contact corporate for each one they give out, so they don't give them out
often. I was the store's "Spotlight on Training" employee because I
cashier-trained about 90% of the new employees for last year's holiday
season. Essentially ALL new employees have to be cashier-trained regardless
what department they worked in. I had been training a group of 2-6 people
every single week for a few months.
When I visit my old store, they say they miss me and want me to transfer
back during winter and summer break. My new store could care less. The
whole store is just blah and views it only as work. The employees at my old
store made work fun, here not so much.

I'm just at a crossroads right now, and I'll plan my next move after
talking with my manager. I'll let you know how it goes...

Any thoughts?

A little update for everyone about me and my school work.

So as everyone knows I'm in pharmacy program. Well, I'm about a month and a
half in so far, and things are going well. I was nervous coming into it
because it was new EVERYTHING for me: new school, new job, new town, new
friends, new living arrangements, and I was thrown right into the middle of
it. The university isn't too different from back home, it feels the same,
just without anyone I know in the classes. I wasn't too concerned about my
"new" job because it's just Target and the system is the same, I was just
worried about the people and how my new store ran things. New friends
because there are only 85 of us in our "level" of the program and we are
getting to know each other better. Not to say I don't miss my old friends
like crazy because I do. With time, everyone will see how awesome I am. ;)
My living arrangements are new because I live by myself in an apartment. I
kinda like my alone time, but at times I get so bored.

About 3 weeks ago is when we really started to get into our school work.
It's not so much of homework as it is studying. We have at least 1 quiz and
1 exam a week, and so when you're done with one, you start studying for the
next one. I guess it keeps me out of trouble. ;) And I'm doing quite well
in school. On Friday we had an exam that I totally blanked on so I ventured
my best guess. Turns out I got an A on it, so that made my weekend! I just
keep pleasantly surprising myself.

We have a once a week lab that is in a "concept" pharmacy. It's pretty
cool. It's basically a set-up pharmacy where we practice doing stuff. So
far we have only been doing dispensing and consultation. And each week we
have a quiz on the Top 200 drugs of the year. We have to know the generic
name, brand name, and the indication for 200 drugs. Yeah. But, they make it
nice for us by breaking it down to about 30 or so each week so we don't
crap ourselves any more than we already are. ;)

We had our White Coat Ceremony about 2 weeks ago. That's where we got
our...you guessed it, our white coats. Our families came for the program,
and we listened to a few speakers and recited the Oath of a pharmacist to
polish it off.

Things are going very quick! I can't believe it's already October! Then it
will be November, then December, then winter break! And pretty soon (in the
grand scheme of things, really in 4 years) I will graduate. Sounds like a
long ways away, but I'm just taking it day by day, and it's going quick.

I can't think of anything else to add right now, so if you have any
questions, feel free to ask!

As Compliment Week comes to a close, I would just like to thank everyone
that helped out with Compliment Week whether it was writing letters,
commenting on letters, or even just reading them! It all helped!

Now just because it's not Compliment Week anymore, doesn't mean we have to
stop acknowledging compliments. Keep writing, commenting, and reading about
great employees and businesses. Just look at the list of links a few posts
down, those were all of the compliments that were written in just over a
week!

So thanks again to all of those who made it a great success, and we will
see Compliment Week in another 6 months!

Scroll down to find links to compliment letters to comment on and feel free
to add more!

And I think it would work out best if we truly ignored the complaints by
not posting ANY comments on them, but only on compliments. Just a
suggestion.

Thanks again to everyone that is a part of Compliment Week even if you're
just reading the compliments because there are great businesses and
employees out there!

I got a new job! At a pharmacy too! It'll be a great experience for me
during my education. The manager said she was "very impressed" with me.
Yeah, I still got it. haha ;) I can't wait to start!

If you're looking for Compliment Week info, SCROLL DOWN! Thanks!

That way they can be found in the same place to make it easier to comment
on!

September 23-29!

We're gonna do this thing again after the great success of the first one,
and that I'm getting sick of all the complaints. :) Like usual, we'll need
everyone's help to pull this off.

So spread the word! That way we can get a LOT of people helping out!

If you want to post links to compliments here, that would be great! They
would also all be in the same place and easier for everyone to find.

(We should continue to have Compliment Week twice a year!)

It's just getting to be too much. All this back and forth arguing is just
adding to my unneeded stress levels.

So I'm gonna take a week off from PFB. I'm just tired of people bitching of
mostly stupid things.

See you next Thursday!

Attempt Number 2:

I was walking on campus today, on my way to class, and up ahead I notice
the bible-pushers. Now for those of you who aren't familiar with the
bible-pushers, let me tell you a bit about them. It seems like once a
semester they are at very busy places on campus handing out bibles or it
seems like pushing bibles onto people. This pisses me off firstly because I
hate when people shove their religion down other people's throats. But what
pissed me off even more was what I witnessed. In front of me a girl walked
past them (there was someone at each of the 4 corners of the busiest
pedestrian intersection on campus so you couldn't really avoid them, I
tried) and the guy asked her if she wanted a bible and she politely said,
"No thanks." The guy says, "Oh my," in a condescending tone. Um, excuse me?
Are you really offended when someone refuses to take your holy book? But
doesn't the book you are passing out say not to judge others and yet you
do?

Another thing, why do I only see them on college campuses? I've been to 2
different universities in 2 different cities and I've seen them only on
campus. Does the bible pushing not go over as well in other populated
areas, such as sporting events or malls? Or are they just trying to capture
what they assume to be nave minds to their religion? Or do they view
college campuses as a "hot spot" for sin and think we're in the most need
of "saving"?

Either way it pisses me off. If I wanted a damn bible, I know where to look
to get one. If I want to be a part of your religion, I know where to go.
Leave me the fuck alone when I'm in my everyday life. I can understand if I
went to a religious event to pass them out, but I am at college to learn
logic and not faith, thank you very much.

So as I am walking by, I don't have a chance to say a thing. He hands me a
bible and says, "Have a nice day!" Thanks, but you just killed a sapling
because I have no need for a bible. None. The thing just creeps me out.
Needless to say, I threw away my mini-bible. Looking back I should've told
him no thanks and kept walking but I feel I might have started a scene.
Just a few days ago, we had a local crazy on campus preaching that Jesus
will save us from hell. How nice of him. The student paper wrote that there
was someone arguing with the "Jesus enthusiast" saying that their 1920s
tactics on recruiting people aren't working anymore and that the religions
feel threatened because they aren't getting the people they can change.
Thankfully I'm not alone.

The creepy thing about the bible I was given is that on the inside cover,
there was this verse that read something like, 'I am thankful that God sent
his son for the sins I have committed' or something like that. Then it had
a place to sign like it was a fucking contract or something. Religion
sounds like a cult to me, and really it is a socially acceptable form of a
cult. The thing I really hate is the tearing down of self-esteem by calling
normal everyday life functions sins and then making them feel bad about it.
And of course the only way to build yourself back up is to accept god.
Break 'em down and rebuild them to do what you want, sounds like a cult to
me!

Even worse is when people only see you as a title/stereotype/sin and don't
see there is another human being in front of them. And then to judge
someone on their "title" alone to speak for the whole person? If you
believe in the bible, it says to let god do the judging. So really, you
shouldn't care if someone doesn't believe in the bible, if someone is
homosexual, if someone wants to have an abortion, etc. because god
supposedly does all the judging. So quit being uptight pricks about it. Let
people live their lives. Would you want to be judged simply because you are
left-handed, look a certain way, act a certain way, etc.? Would you have a
problem with non-believers, homosexuals, and abortion if they weren't in
the bible? Or is it just because you are a follower of what a book says?

I'm not here to change anyone's minds about their religion. If you have
made the decision that's best for you, then that's great. But don't try to
change others. Let them make up their own mind. I find it HIGHLY offensive
when someone tries to push their religion on me because they obviously
think I can't make decisions for myself. No one but me knows what I've went
through to get to my current stance on the topic and it's downright
disrespectful to come in and insist that I can't make decisions for myself
and should change beliefs. No.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, that I'm destined for a life of
bad things. Great, I've already overcome some horrible things and I'm sure
I can take them. Because I'm a non-believer doesn't mean I'm a horrible
person. I still have ethics like most other people. I know what's right and
wrong. If you assume otherwise, that's your problem.

I typed out this whole rant about something and I guess I got timed out. So
it's gone. I don't even feel like retyping it because I spent a lot of time
choosing my words carefully. I realize I should have copied it just in case
but still. My words as they were cannot be truly replicated.

Now I'm even more angry...

People are already bitching about the Salvation Army and Christmas
advertising? Is this still an issue?

I don't care if I have to reply to every single person, I'm going to report
the truth.

I'm sick of being "that" person. It seems like all I do is defend Target,
but it's not quite like that. I'm more about defending the principles
behind the policies, and since I have experience in this, that this is the
way I can get my point across. Does that make sense?

I predict that Target complaints will increase dramatically in the months
to come as the new policies are in place effective today.

It only affects no-receipt returns and gift registries, so as long as you
have a valid receipt you are (still) golden! :)

Any questions? Feel free to ask!

I'm getting sick of hearing about how some consumers want compensation
simply because they were inconvenienced. It's not a valid excuse.

For example, let's say you bought a blender and when you got home to use
it, you found out it was defective. You don't demand compensation for
driving back to the store to exchange it for a new one. The store didn't
know it was defective when they sold it to you, so why should they give you
money?

My point is, life is full of inconveniences. You can't be compensated for
all (or most) of them. Are you going to ask for compensation when road
construction makes you take a different route? I would hope not.

Life isn't perfect. You're going to be inconvenienced all throughout life.
Why is it someone else's fault?

Ok, I'm all for doing some all out explaining on any part of my side of the
Target quarrel going down. Want me to specify, speculate, or answer
anything? Here's your chance.

This frustrates me because people are seeing one tiny part of the company
that they are swearing the whole company off for.

What people fail to mention/see is how incredibly easy it is to return
something with receipt. There's far more people impressed with how quick
and easy it is, than there are complaining about the no-receipt ordeal.
What about the help to employees give to both guests and the community?
It's hard to be insulted by a guest saying we're awful when I just made
another guest's day. I don't know if any of you know how hard it is to work
at Guest Service. I don't wish it upon anyone. I do it because I love
helping people even if it does mean being treated like absolute garbage.
When I truly make someone's day, it makes up for everything that's been
said to me.

Again, I'm not here to change your opinion because even I think Target
needs some improvement in some areas. All I'm asking is for some
understanding when it comes to my viewpoint.

Why is it that whenever someone disagrees with you, instead of attacking
what you say, some attack you personally?

I don't mind when people attack me personally because it just goes to show
that they don't have a valid argument, and they have to resort to
name-calling. I just consider it a "victory" on my part.

It's just funny to see that some people resort to such immaturity.

So if you are going to argue with me, focus on the argument at hand.

Since it's been 10 years since the Flood of '97, I just wanted to reiterate
the thank you that is coming from both Grand Forks and East Grand Forks for
all of those who helped us in any way during the flood.

Viewing all the old footage, and going through it myself, makes me lucky to
be part of such a great country. We got plenty of donations and many people
came from around the country to help us get back on our feet.

It was the largest evacuation in the history of the United States at the
time, now surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. Some people lost everything,
but all were affected.

If you would like more information, I recommend Googling "Grand Forks Flood
of '97" and looking at the pictures of the blizzards leading to the flood
and the flood pictures. It's quite a sight.

Now for my story:
My family and I moved to Grand Forks in November '96. Pretty much right
before the winter got bad. We missed quite a few school days because the
blizzards were so bad. And here it has to be really bad for them to call
off school. But the blizzard that pushed us over the edge was Blizzard
Hannah. (Yes, we named our blizzards) It's the only I remember most
vividly. It sounds like such a clich but you couldn't see your hand in
front of your face. Most people lost power, us included. Now I don't know
if some of you can imagine losing power when the high for the day is below
zero. I just remember wearing multiple layers of clothing and we even had
to put a sweater on my dog. After the blizzard everything was coated with
ice.
I also remember sandbagging. They even called off school so that more
people would be available to help. We went down to one area and helped to
distribute sandbags. There were so many people there, but being a 6th
grader and my brother a 3rd grader, there was only so much we could do with
throwing sandbags to each other. But we helped.
I don't remember where I was when the dikes broke, but I was with my dad,
not in Grand Forks. All I remember is my aunt and uncle went there to help
my mom move out some of the bigger more valuable stuff. We lived in the
bottom part of a duplex, so what they didn't take was ruined. The one thing
I do remember is they set our air hockey table on top of our daybed, so the
machine part of it was about one foot from the ceiling. It got up that
high. A lot of things were ruined. Since we rented, we had to wait to go
back home. We stayed with my grandparents in Thief River Falls, MN. Since
the dikes broke April 19, 1997, we were still in school. Grand Forks called
off school for the rest of the year for obvious reasons. So we were given
the option of finishing school at another school or just not going. My
brother and I chose not to go. We had just started at a new school (in
Grand Forks) 5 months previous and so we didn't really feel like entering a
completely new school again.
After about a month or so, we were able to go back. The town was still
rebuilding. There was so much garbage on the berm (it's the Grand Forks
term for the land between the sidewalk and the street) and I remember how
gross some of our stuff looked.

The one great thing is that there were no casualties from the flood. That's
pretty impressive when the two cities have a combined total of around
60,000 people.

Ten years later, we have grown. It's still a never-ending process, but it's
hard to tell that there was an event that caused so much damage. What
doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.

I'll end this with what Bill Clinton said about our spirit when he visited
a few days after the dikes broke. "Water cannot wash that away. Fire cannot
burn that away. A blizzard cannot freeze that away. And if you don't give
it away, it will bring you back better than ever. And we'll be there with
you every step of the way."

And for that, I thank you.

In the Horrible stay letter, I was told to go find a plot and stop
breathing. Anyone know of some good plots? Maybe some close to where the
companies toss the horrible letters so I can still get a good laugh.

I was getting concerned because Target hadn't had any complaints for over a
month, but then they popped up! And they are doosies!

And...

I GOT IN!

Yep, I will be attending NDSU College of Pharmacy starting in the fall. I'm
so excited!

Now I have to move from good ol' Grand Forks down to Fargo where I don't
know anyone, but I'm still excited. The funnest part is that in September,
we have our "White Coat Ceremony" where we get our (you guessed it!) white
coats. Fun!

So yeah, I just thought I would update you all! Thanks for all your well
wishes!

P.S. This means I'll be leaving retail, at least as far as I know. It'll be
bittersweet.

So the SIOUX! are in the NCAA Frozen Four for the 3rd year in a row. Too
bad our last NCAA championship was in 2000. Will this year be any
different? I hope so! Our own Ryan Duncan is up for the Hobey Baker award
this year, and is the only one still playing this season.

And I have to rub it in to the Gophers, haha! I see the broom we left in
Minneapolis (for our sweep!) was transferred down to Denver! Maybe next
year Gophers, that is if you can beat us!

Funny joke: Did you hear about Frazee? (Gopher's goalie) After the game he
tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus. Too bad the bus went
right between his legs!

Go Sioux!
April 5th, 7 central on whatever network decides to watch us win!

I found this at
http://positivesharing.com/2006/07/why-the-customer-is-always-right-results
-in-bad-customer-service/
and I believe it highlights MANY of the letters that are in the Top 25,
imagine that. Anyways, if you disagree or have anything to add, feel free
to do so.

When the customer isn't right - for your business

One woman who frequently flew on Southwest, was constantly disappointed
with every aspect of the company's operation. In fact, she became known as
the "Pen Pal" because after every flight she wrote in with a complaint.
She didn't like the fact that the company didn't assign seats; she didn't
like the absence of a first-class section; she didn't like not having a
meal in flight; she didn't like Southwest's boarding procedure; she didn't
like the flight attendants' sporty uniforms and the casual atmosphere.
Her last letter, reciting a litany of complaints, momentarily stumped
Southwest's customer relations people. They bumped it up to Herb's
[Kelleher, CEO of Southwest] desk, with a note: 'This one's yours.'
In sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, 'Dear Mrs. Crabapple, We
will miss you. Love, Herb.'"
The phrase "The customer is always right" was originally coined by Harry
Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge's department store in London in
1909, and is typically used by businesses to:
Convince customers that they will get good service at this company
Convince employees to give customers good service
Fortunately more and more businesses are abandoning this maxim - ironically
because it leads to bad customer service.
Here are the top five reasons why "The customer is always right" is wrong.

1: It makes employees unhappy
Gordon Bethune is a brash Texan (as is Herb Kelleher, coincidentally) who
is best known for turning Continental Airlines around "From Worst to
First," a story told in his book of the same title from 1998. He wanted to
make sure that both customers and employees liked the way Continental
treated them, so he made it very clear that the maxim "the customer is
always right" didn't hold sway at Continental.
In conflicts between employees and unruly customers he would consistently
side with his people. Here's how he puts it:
When we run into customers that we can't reel back in, our loyalty is with
our employees. They have to put up with this stuff every day. Just because
you buy a ticket does not give you the right to abuse our employees . . .
We run more than 3 million people through our books every month. One or two
of those people are going to be unreasonable, demanding jerks. When it's a
choice between supporting your employees, who work with you every day and
make your product what it is, or some irate jerk who demands a free ticket
to Paris because you ran out of peanuts, whose side are you going to be
on?
You can't treat your employees like serfs. You have to value them . . . If
they think that you won't support them when a customer is out of line, even
the smallest problem can cause resentment.
So Bethune trusts his people over unreasonable customers. What I like about
this attitude is that it balances employees and customers, where the
"always right" maxim squarely favors the customer - which is not a good
idea, because, as Bethune says, it causes resentment among employees.
Of course there are plenty of examples of bad employees giving lousy
customer service. But trying to solve this by declaring the customer
"always right" is counter-productive.

2: It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage
Using the slogan "The customer is always right" abusive customers can
demand just about anything - they're right by definition, aren't they? This
makes the employees' job that much harder, when trying to rein them in.
Also, it means that abusive people get better treatment and conditions than
nice people. That always seemed wrong to me, and it makes much more sense
to be nice to the nice customers to keep them coming back.

3: Some customers are bad for business
Most businesses think that "the more customers the better". But some
customers are quite simply bad for business.
Danish IT service provider ServiceGruppen proudly tell this story:
One of our service technicians arrived at a customer's site for a
maintenance task, and to his great shock was treated very rudely by the
customer.
When he'd finished the task and returned to the office, he told management
about his experience. They promptly cancelled the customer's contract.
Just like Kelleher dismissed the irate lady who kept complaining (but
somehow also kept flying on Southwest), ServiceGruppen fired a bad
customer. Note that it was not even a matter of a financial calculation -
not a question of whether either company would make or lose money on that
customer in the long run. It was a simple matter of respect and dignity and
of treating their employees right.

4: It results in worse customer service
Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further.
CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put
The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch'em kick butt.
Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the
customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work.
Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because:
They care more about other people, including customers
They have more energy
They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with
They are more motivated
On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with
customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that:
Employees are not valued
That treating employees fairly is not important
That employees have no right to respect from customers
That employees have to put up with everything from customers
When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that
point, real good service is almost impossible - the best customers can hope
for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: corteous on the surface
only.

5: Some customers are just plain wrong
Herb Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about
Southwest Airlines shows:
Herb Kelleher [...] makes it clear that his employees come first even if
it means dismissing customers. But aren't customers always right? "No, they
are not," Kelleher snaps. "And I think that's one of the biggest betrayals
of employees a boss can possibly commit. The customer is sometimes wrong.
We don't carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, 'Fly
somebody else. Don't abuse our people.'"
If you still think that the customer is always right, read this story from
Bethune's book "From Worst to First":
A Continental flight attendant once was offended by a passenger's child
wearing a hat with Nazi and KKK emblems on it. It was pretty offensive
stuff, so the attendant went to the kid's father and asked him to put away
the hat. "No," the guy said. "My kid can wear what he wants, and I don't
care who likes it."
The flight attendant went into the cockpit and got the first officer, who
explained to the passenger the FAA regulation that makes it a crime to
interfere with the duties of a crew member. The hat was causing other
passengers and the crew discomfort, and that interfered with the flight
attendant's duties. The guy better put away the hat.
He did, but he didn't like it. He wrote many nasty letters. We made every
effort to explain our policy and the federal air regulations, but he wasn't
hearing it. He even showed up in our executive suite to discuss the matter
with me. I let him sit out there. I didn't want to see him and I didn't
want to listen to him. He bought a ticket on our airplane, and that means
we'll take him where he wants to go. But if he's going to be rude and
offensive, he's welcome to fly another airline.
The fact is that some customers are just plain wrong, that businesses are
better of without them, and that managers siding with unreasonable
customers over employees is a very bad idea, that results in worse customer
service.
So put your people first. And watch them put the customers first.

I despise being the cart attendant. I feel like it's the lowest rung on the
retail ladder, at least at my store. They are expected to do carry-outs,
clean up spills, and clean bathrooms all along with bringing in carts. This
job alone is bad enough, but then you add in the customers. Enter in the
worst part of the equation.

Now I've only done cart attending about 3 times out of my whole 4.5 years
and I know enough to hate it. My main problems with cart attending:

1) The carts are not garbage cans.
-I don't care if you have to walk back up the the front of the store to
throw away your garbage, that's what it is there for. I especially hate
dirty diapers. Do you realize that you JUST used your cart to hold food and
that your cart did roll fresh off the assembly line!? And if you are going
to leave a diaper in a cart, at least make an attempt to close it. If I
have to pick up a dirty diaper and it falls open, you will have about 10
billion cart dings on your vehicle. That darn wind.

2) Don't get in front of moving carts EVER.
-These things are not easy to stop once you get them moving. I don't care
if you're the fastest person on Earth, if you fall, you will have about 500
wheels run over you. And if you are in your car, don't try to outrun the
carts. It won't work, it never does, and yet it's still the cart attendants
fault.

3) Put the carts in the corral. The way they are supposed to be.
-It's not that hard. It's not too far away. If you are going somewhere else
leave your cart with our store. If you can't carry it all, buy a car. And
when you do put the cart in the corral, put it in the correct way. It's a
pain in the ass to have to take time to take out upside-down carts because
someone thought it would be funny. It isn't.
One way to combat this is to use automatic locking carts past a certain
distance AND by using quarters to use the carts and to get them back by
returning them inside or to a corral.

I'm sure there are MANY more, so feel free to add your own.

I haven't much wrote about my personal life on here, but this is an
exception.

I'm applying to the Pharmacy College at NDSU, and have gotten past the
first round (I've at least made the 110 out of 145) and on Saturday I'll be
interviewing to actually attend. They are only going to pick 85 out of the
remaining 110, but I still like to think that I'll be accepted.

I seem to feel like I'm going against the current because after all I'm not
a NDSU student and have no real experience in a pharmacy. But I do have my
grades and similar work experience. (Guest Service does have many things in
common with working at a pharmacy, looking at the basics)

So on Saturday we have to be there by 7:30 am, so I have to get up extra
early to drive from Grand Forks. The whole program will go until 12:30, and
it will include a tour, "testing" (which I assume will be
ethical/pyschological), and a 15 minute interview where they ask everyone
the same 5 questions. I should know within a week if I'm in or not.

So while I am excited, I'm also nervous. This is a life-changing ordeal.

I'll keep you all updated...

As Compliment Week wraps up, I would just like to thank everyone that got
involved in any way; writing letters, commenting on letters, and even just
reading them all helped.

Just because Compliment Week is over however, doesn't mean that we should
stop writing compliments. It felt good to us seeing all the great letters,
but imagine how the business/employee felt when someone went out of their
way to recognize their great effort.

Again, thanks to everyone that participated!

Don't see a specific compliment in the Top 25? Post it here to show
everyone where they can help officially bump the letters into the Top 25.

We can also comb through the RSS feed, or even on the PFB homepage select
an industry and search for compliments.

Post everything here! Let's make this Compliment Week Central!