Fred Meyer customer service going down hill?

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Safeway has an EXTREMELY STRICT set of policies for their employees to follow regarding customer service, including professional secret shoppers. If you don't follow these guidelines, such as greeting EVERY customer with a smile and offer for assistance, you WILL get written up.

A lot of this actually happened because of the strictly enforced Safeway smile and eye contact requirement:
Dilbert.com - The Official Dilbert Website with Scott Adams' color strips, Dilbert animation, mashups and more!

Five female employees filed a Federal sex discrimination charge against Safeway which forced it to stop the policy.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by karlsch

A lot of this actually happened because of the strictly enforced Safeway smile and eye contact requirement:
Dilbert.com - The Official Dilbert Website with Scott Adams' color strips, Dilbert animation, mashups and more!

Five female employees filed a Federal sex discrimination charge against Safeway which forced it to stop the policy.

I tried searching for some information about this discrimination charge, but couldn't turn anything up. As far as I know, it's still Safeway policy. Smile, make eye contact, acknowledge the customer with a verbal greeting, offer assistance, and for cashiers, thank by name (it's on the receipt if they use a Club Card, or their check if they write one, or driver's license if you ID them), and place receipt in their hand unless they ask for it in a bag.

Fred Meyer technically requires its cashiers to smile and greet too, and to engage the customers, but it's not really enforced at all, let alone the way it is at Safeway.

But that cartoon strip sums it up. Everyone thinks Safeway employees are so wonderful and helpful... But it's because they have to be. Or else.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

I tried searching for some information about this discrimination charge, but couldn't turn anything up.

Safeway Employees Announce the Filing of a Charge With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by karlsch

Safeway Employees Announce the Filing of a Charge With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET

Interesting. That article is dated 1998, and I worked for them in 2008, when this policy was still enforced. If I remember correctly, it was a three strike policy. But, of course, you had to be the person who was targeted on the weekly "shop" to get a good/bad strike. And it wasn't usually you who got shopped... But the threat still loomed.

[2bpurrfect]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

I tried searching for some information about this discrimination charge, but couldn't turn anything up. As far as I know, it's still Safeway policy. Smile, make eye contact, acknowledge the customer with a verbal greeting, offer assistance, and for cashiers, thank by name (it's on the receipt if they use a Club Card, or their check if they write one, or driver's license if you ID them), and place receipt in their hand unless they ask for it in a bag.

Fred Meyer technically requires its cashiers to smile and greet too, and to engage the customers, but it's not really enforced at all, let alone the way it is at Safeway.

But that cartoon strip sums it up. Everyone thinks Safeway employees are so wonderful and helpful... But it's because they have to be. Or else.

you know, I'm glad they are. this is a good standard. I sometimes really hate those sourpusses at freddy's whenever you get one, it just makes you wonder what they have against you.

[2bpurrfect]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Which Freddie's do you go to? I find the employees to be very nice at the Hawthorne Fred's where I go.

ohhhh, yeah. i've been to hawthorne fred's recently, and it is an entirely different animal. so are its clientele. nowhere else do we see those long-handled little wheeled baskets going to the store on the sidewalks..... the store seems to reflect its neighborhood more, a walking neighborhood that is frequented by the nearby residents vs people just passing through.

but, on the subject of Fred's in general. I definitely noticed a slow downgrading of customer service to a point, and especially the demise of layaway. was that before or after kroger's buyout? I always use the self checkout, one thing i like. because I don't like the careless way they handle the food, and sneezing on their hands (thinking hand sanitizer will take care of it- yeah right) , grabbing the drink on its pour spout, etc. doesn't help. There seems to be a general disregard of germ awareness factors. Also i don't like the fact that now, a cashier cannot adjust or refund an item that you just bought, you have to go down to the customer service stand.
the food and other products are also much more commercialized and less healthy. Freddies in the 80's was trending towards natural, healthy, and real good deals on good housewares like water filters that actually fit, though less known brands. Now it's too many national brands and less actual health oriented or small-brand good quality, and less value in my opinion. yeah things seem too much like walmart, that is, huge amounts of a few national brands; and the really good stuff disappeared from their shelves.
but one plus is that now the customer service desk stays open longer, whereas it used to close at 8 or something. the ONE thing i like about kroger: their fake crab. it's actually better than others.

blame the owners who sold out to kroger. obviously they didn't care about being a great local store for the people as much as mr meyer and his successors did.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by karlsch

Safeway Employees Announce the Filing of a Charge With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET

I remember when this happened. Actually I got kind of tired being greeted by the same employee and his or her big phony grin five times as I wandered through the store.

After the lawsuit, things got better. They will greet you with a polite hello once and that's it. I don't feel bombarded by a herd of smiley's any longer.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by 2bpurrfect

you know, I'm glad they are. this is a good standard. I sometimes really hate those sourpusses at freddy's whenever you get one, it just makes you wonder what they have against you.

What they have against you is that you're a customer and they're probably having a bad day, because customers tend to treat customer service workers (whether in retail or otherwise) HORRIBLY. Fred's being more lenient about the fake nice means more likely the cashier will be able to express their frustration with the customers of the day, or their own personal lives being a mess because they work at a sh*tty, low-paying, high stress, physically demanding job.

Yeesh. I'm surprised I haven't gone totally crazy yet, myself. :-)

[TechmanOR]

I don't usually go to Safeway since I do my grocery shopping at Winco for the most part.

Have you guys been to the one in downtown? Customer service is absolutely horrible, quite possibly worse than Wal-Mart. Look up reviews and it doesn't score all that well.