Rude workers lose their shot at repeat customer
By STEPHANIE ZIMMERMANN szimmermann@suntimes.com March 5, 2012 10:48AM
THE FIXER HAS SAVED YOU
$1,206,582
Updated: July 29, 2012 9:12PM
Dear Readers: Last week, we wrote about one reader who was refused admittance to a restroom at a restaurant where she was eating and another reader who was told to “shut up” by a cranky store owner.
Since then we’ve heard from lots more readers who’ve shared stories of unwarranted rudeness.
We’ve left out the businesses’ names, as some of these insults happened a while ago. But you can be sure the consumers never returned and also told all their friends. Call it the cost of incivility.
From V icki: I went to a bakery to buy some desserts, but when the cashier rang them up, the cost was substantially higher than I had figured. When I asked for an explanation, the cashier quoted higher prices than those listed on the little signs that were literally stuck in the treats.
She said the prices had gone up “a while ago” and that they had not “gotten around to changing the signs.” I politely complained that this did not seem right.
The manager came over. Her response was to rip the little sign out of a dessert so hard that the cake went flying across the display and landed against the glass window, all the time muttering about “cheap people.”
I should have walked out, but I was embarrassed and of course, they already had my money. The manager shoved a bag at me and I left, vowing never to return.
I complained on their corporate website and someone e-mailed me, promising to look into it and send me a gift card. They never did.
Dear Vicki: You told us this left a bad taste in your mouth for more than one reason. When you tried the treats later, they were stale.
