Another One Bites the Dust

Just when you think things couldn’t get any more bizarre in the retail world, they do. If I didn’t know any better, I would think there was a workshop out there for owners and managers on “100 Ways to Abuse Customers.” If a workshop like this existed, it would have been led by Orin Scrivello, the Dentist played by Steve Martin in the movie “The Little Shop of Horrors.”

Yesterday I was heading home from a business trip. I was near the end of a four-hour drive, when I pulled into town and I needed to use the restroom. I also wanted to pick up a couple of movies, so I stopped at the video store thinking I’d kill two birds with one stone. I walked in and went first to the restroom but the door was locked.

Thinking someone was in there a I waited for a few minutes, and then I noticed a sign taped to the wall about two feet from the door that read: “Ask for key at counter.” In my mind I was wondering why they didn’t put the sign on the door as I went to the counter to ask for the key.

After waiting in line for about five minutes while the clerk checked out two people ahead of me, I finally got to the head of the line and asked for the key. The clerk got a very annoyed look on his face, picked up the phone and called for someone to cover the counter for him. While waiting for his replacement the clerk told me he would open the door for me. Before I could ask, “Why not just give me the key?” his replacement arrived and he led the way back to the restroom. Along the way, he explained that he has to escort me; “company policy.”

Once we got there he knocked loudly on the door, and in a voice that everyone in the store and the next two stores could hear asked, “Is anybody in there?” After waiting about ten seconds he knocked again with all the subtly of a drummer in a marching band. Receiving no answer, he opened the door and walked in.

I was stunned because now I had to wait again. If I had gone to the gas station instead of the video store, I’d have filled the tank, got a newspaper and been half way home by now. But before I could leave out of frustration, he came out and in a booming voice announced, “I have to inspect it before I can let you in.”

After I finished in the restroom, I asked to see the manager. I wanted to let her know what I thought about the new policy. Unfortunately the store was short staffed and the manager was manning a check out window and there was another line in front of her and the last thing I wanted to do was to stand in another line I this store. So I wasted my time, didn’t get any movies and left.

My philosophy is that life is too short to suffer situations I don’t like. So I will make changes. I have heard about Netflix from a number of my friends. Up to now I haven’t looked into it, but I will right now.

I just got back from Netflix. I have very high expectations because it was easier than I thought it was going to be. Much more affordable than renting videos, and a bonus for me...NO LATE FEES. I think I am going to like this service a lot. I have completed my list and my first videos are on the way. And no public humiliation required.

What did this one episode of bad customer service cost the business? A lot.

I am not a very heavy user of movie rentals compared to a lot of people I know, but I rent two or three videos a week or between one hundred thirty and one hundred and seventy videos a year. My circle of immediate family and friends do about the same or more. Some a lot more. I know that once I start receiving my movies a lot of my friends and family are going to try it if for no other reason to avoid late fees.

Will my defection from the local movie rental to net movie rental be the triggering event in their demise? I doubt it. But my defection is going to have an impact on them once the ripple effect kicks in and the members of my circle of influence start to recommending the service to their circle of influence and the number of movies being mailed to our town escalates at a geometric rate. This has happened in our town in the past as Internet book buying helped cause several book stores in town to close.

Bad customer service at local stores (and the new customer service policy on "restroom access" at this store is a text book example) is the primary reason why the Internet Retail is growing at triple digit rates. Will this store survive the Internet? I don't know, and because of the way I was treated, I don't care.