(Thanks to Harleycat who inspired the title)


Why is it people are so afraid to talk to managers when they have a complaint? Is it truly the ease of taking "abuse" from an inadequate employee (whether it be actual or perceived) then waiting until you are home to voice your discontent to a faceless, judgeless computer monitor? Why the heck should you be unwilling to actually speak to a human being? Have we gotten to the point that it is easier to interact with machines? Or, is it the case that people nowadays think that they are so important to the company that they won't waste their time on a lowly location manager, but rather take their complaints to the huge company itself? I don't get it. Really. Just talk to the freaking manager. What's the worst that can happen, they pull out a gun and shoot you? If you truly have a legitimate complaint, the manager at the location there has the most clout and pull to be able to actually do something at that very moment. They can also fix the possible situation so that hopefully it won't happen again. A manager cannot fix a problem unless they are aware of it. They can talk to the disgruntled customer, ask relevant questions, find out the info they need to know and dispense recompense (sp?) immediately. They can discipline the errant employee or dispatch someone to fix the broken thing, whatever the problem may be. Hearing complaints second-hand lessens the power the manager has over that situation. They don't know for certain what happened, as very few customers include all the necessary details and information the manager may need. They aren't given the option or ability to observe the problem first-hand and take the correct course of action. What's the corporation going to do? Send you a coupon or a gift certificate and move on. Whoopdedoo. Guess what, the location manager can do that and so much more. Ideally, by skipping the location manager completely, the customer is actually losing out on things they could have gotten, and maybe deserved. Face it, who doesn't like to have their butts kissed now and then? (heh).


Please, people, I beg of you, take but 5-10 minutes out of your busy lives and bring your complaints to the manager on duty. This is your way of improving customer service in stores.

Thank you.