I don't mean to come across like a ramrod, but if we don't wrap up this thread in a timely manner, it increases the likelihood of crossover with the next GC angst thread.
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Guitar Center at it again
- Thread starter ethikz
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- guitar center
Well if they are in your cart and you are still inside the store and have not paid for them by going through the checkout and paying. Then the steaks, basses, beer, or whatever else is in the cart technically still is store property and they can take it, or the whole cart if they so choose. Doesn't matter what the product is. If you don't have a paid receipt, the stuff isn't yours.
From a customer retention perspective, would it be good business practice to do that? Probably not but the fact remains that the cart and everything in it belongs to the store until you check out and it's paid for
When steaks and beer have serial numbers and are also available for sale simultaneously online and in person then grocery stores will have to contemplate a resolution to this issue.
Yeah, I don't really get the complaint either.
They offer items for sale online as well as on the wall. They are pretty clear about this, or you can figure it out yourself just by viewing their website for a few minutes.
If someone buys something first, you have no right to it.
so you're saying they're improving? good for them!
That must be why all the frowny faces when I open the bag of cookies and eat half of them before I get to the checkout.
Nope. It's totally fair. Because putting customers first is a universal philosophy in business. Issues will arise is a universal truth in pretty much everything. It is the businesses choice on how to deal with and improve its systems and policies ...or simply ignore those issues when they come up.
Jason expercienced issues in his business. He had disappointed customers (I was one, I assume there were others) who ordered odd gauge strings that were not in stock often. Since that time, he has constantly improved his website, ordering has gotten easier and when I've odered piccolo and 12-string bass strings since then, they've been in stock! He is proactive and he cares about his customers.
Ok. So, GC has an issue here. Certainly the sales guy who took it out of his hand knew he was a frustrated customer. Right? Well, we don't know if he has enough training to spot upset customers or is empowered to do anything for them to lessen their complaints. We don't even know if he has enough training to spot there's a possible business issue here and report it to his manager, or if that manager is empowered enough to bring the issue up into corporate levels of managment so there can be a solution crafted. We don't know if they do that, I suspect they don't, but they COULD do that if they wanted to. Other large businesses DO.
It's not like the issue is unsolvable. I posted one thing they can do by posting a disclaimer notice and that was just the first idea off the top of my head. They could take the concept a step further. Here's what the actual definition of the issue is:
To the walk-in consumer, GC seems like just another very big brick and mortar music store. In-reality GC is also a large online marketplace and situations can occur where a unique product is being sold in 2 places at once.
Proposed solution: Make the sales floor environment more integrated with the online environment so that it is obvious to our consumers they are shopping in a world-wide marketplace.
* Video monitors that display and scroll through photos of products for sale in all stores.
* The same monitors can also flash and pop up photos of products in that store the moment they are purchased online.
* The sales staff will be responsible to log in and remove the pop up and remove the item from the floor.
* Web cameras can be installed so that online visitors can see see the sales floor of the product they are looking at.
* The same cameras can be used by sales staff to demo and provide close up images of products to web customers.
As a bonus, this would put a mild pressure on customers to not wait to buy because the item they are thinking about could be purchased by rival consumers elsewhere.
Is it a perfect solution? not likely. Is it the only solution, not likely either because surely they have smarter people working for them than me. And I have not even given this any serious concentrated thought.
I'm just posting it to illustrate that the situation that the OP experienced doesn't have to be like that. GC can choose to do something about it and improve their business model. But most likely, they are going to shrug their shoulders and keep doing what they do.
Good post, too many good points to acknowledge, so I'll be selective.
GC has a system in place similar to the one you outlined. No, the sales staff doesn't walk around with tablets and bar code scanners waiting for on-line sales alerts. But from what I've seen they do make an effort to avoid this situation.
Everything in this world can be improved upon. Can this situation be completely eradicated when you have two avenues of purchase? Like you said, who knows? Is it in their best interest, does it make business sense, when companies are relying more and more on internet sales? And let's face it, this is a relatively very rare situation and coincidence. How much money and training should they realistically invest on a contingency plan? On the surface it sounds like they are willing to let the on-line purchaser who "sees and purchases it first" have the preference rather than make a huge investment to avoid an extremely rare scenario and make the futile attempt to please everyone over an anomaly.
Meanwhile, it still smacks of nit-picking to me, and a lot of speculation about what GC could or should do about this rare situation. I would even go so far as to say anyone who is turned off of GC by this story probably already had a bias against GC/big box stores/corporate America et. al., and I believe GC is not for and can't possibly please everyone, and probably never will no matter how many changes they make. If a customer finds it to be a bad fit, they should shop elsewhere. Even with good companies that make the effort, there comes a point where they have no choice but to shrug their shoulders and accept it.
Realistically, the thing we should be discussing is what a manager could do to make it up to OP in the form of a freebie or discount on his next purchase. If customer relations is the point, I think something like that would be perfectly in line.
YMMV
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Horrible analogy. Why not use one that is actually possible?
Unless the guy was at the counter completing the puchase, the item is still for sale.
Awesome idea, except that would cost millions to install and maintain.
That cost would then be passed on to customers, meaning prices will go up.
Not a sound business idea to solve a very rare and small scale issue.
From the initial post in the thread it would seem like they check status at the point of sale facility, so I would hope that selling your bass from under you would be unlikely. As noted it reduces cost (relabelling things four times a day) and costs of failed sales. Maybe in a few years there will be smart labels updated over WiFi but there are so many potential failure modes.
I'm glad you got your bass. You would hope that had you not they would have been honour bound to find you another and charged you more for it
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
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I see that you call the person in the store "my customer" or "my client". What do you call the person who is purchases the merchandise online? "My second class customer"?
Video monitors showing stuff in other stores would take an age to update so pretty pointless in an age when a lot of people have the internet in their pocket. A QR code on each instrument and a facility on the website to show similar items would be sufficient and maybe a sign for those without a smartphone to ask a sales assistant to look things up.
Fortunately nobody got screwed. I've had nothing but good experiences at GC, both in person, and over the phone. But they do sometimes have immature employees and/or employees that have poor customer service. Though fortunately, I have always received great service.
I know right. I'm just a random dumb-bassist out in the world without a business or marketing degree.
Imagine what they could do with a professionally educated business person who actually thought about the problem.
Alright I keep seeing reference about me throwing a tantrum because I didn't get the bass. While it is assumed it is that way that is not the case.
The issue at hand which I didn't make clear previously is my fault. That point is the crappy customer service.
The bass was pulled out of my hands because it sold, whatever but is was the fact that they said:
"Bass was sold online" no specifics, ok it could have been right then or earlier, whatever.
The salesman didn't try to get me to buy anything else, just grabbed the bass and walked away.
Is it GC or the salesman? I like to think both because the salesman is obviously crappy and GC hired that person, so the manager of these tore obviously had a face to face meeting and hopefully vetted the potential employee.
That is what I meant by at it again, is the awful customer service.
This issue at hand about who bought first is irrelevant because if it was bought immediately in store and someone tried to check out online they would have purchased it to be refunded because it sold in store. It happens especially when you have 1 of something, one of us was going to made mad, just so happens it was me in this case who lost the bass. Again whatever, basses come and go, awful customer service should be one of the most paramount practices of such an establishment but it seems not the case or maybe it is but the stores individually don't care.
Either way everyone has their own opinion and this thread can go on forever because of that reason so might as well just let it go.
The issue at hand which I didn't make clear previously is my fault. That point is the crappy customer service.
The bass was pulled out of my hands because it sold, whatever but is was the fact that they said:
"Bass was sold online" no specifics, ok it could have been right then or earlier, whatever.
The salesman didn't try to get me to buy anything else, just grabbed the bass and walked away.
Is it GC or the salesman? I like to think both because the salesman is obviously crappy and GC hired that person, so the manager of these tore obviously had a face to face meeting and hopefully vetted the potential employee.
That is what I meant by at it again, is the awful customer service.
This issue at hand about who bought first is irrelevant because if it was bought immediately in store and someone tried to check out online they would have purchased it to be refunded because it sold in store. It happens especially when you have 1 of something, one of us was going to made mad, just so happens it was me in this case who lost the bass. Again whatever, basses come and go, awful customer service should be one of the most paramount practices of such an establishment but it seems not the case or maybe it is but the stores individually don't care.
Either way everyone has their own opinion and this thread can go on forever because of that reason so might as well just let it go.
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I would have said, "I didn't want your stupid old USED bass anyway!" and then stormed out!
I love how they keep a stock of deadest strings in existence to put on their used instruments.
