In the rush of the Powerball jackpot yesterday I noticed a customer working through each copy of That’s Life we had on display, looking for copies which had cash – as part of the weeks giveaway with the magazine this week. My initial thought was to go and ask her to stop. However, I decided to not approach her until it became a problem for other customers. She was not damaging the titles and was careful about putting them back neatly. Also, I did not know her financial situation. I reasoned that if I stopped her I’d need to take action on the many browsers we see each week reading magazines. I don’t want to be that newsagent who barks at browsers. I like people reading magazines and enjoying our retail space while they do it.
Thinking about it now, I’d like to know her story. It’s a brazen and potentially embarrassing thing to do – to hold the money wallet to the light looking for a note.
It is amazing what you see in a newsagency some days.
Wow. Did she know she was being photographed?
Yes, very cheeky. But at least she would have bought a copy if she thought it had a note in it.
Unlike lowlifes that write down lotto results without buying the paper, rather than go to any lotto agency. And have the hide to argue when it’s politely pointed out that if we dont’ sell lotto, why would we post results to save them buying a $1 paper when lotto agents post them up for free??
I don’t care what their story is – nothing redeemable there.
People’s stories were my job for some years in the health and welfare sectors. About the only instance where I won’t consider someone’s reasons for attitude/behaviour (apart from violence or theft) is the likes of the lotto one above.
That doesn’t mean that I’ve never been heard to mutter “…and don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out” under my breath…
All this also reminds me of that Ralph (?) cover a few months back, where there was a provocative invitation to break a perforated flap to see a let-down. Appealing to typical readership, but rendered useless for sale, the instant a typical readership browser couldn’t resist a peek. Clever marketing, or outsmarting themselves?
Mark,How many customers did you lose as they saw her going throught the mags and think I’m not going to buy that mag now that I don’t have a chance to win. The whole point of the promo is to buy the mag and then open the prize.
You bogged here earlier about stopping people going through the select footy cards looking for special packs but now you have a bleeding heart. This person is just showing you and your other customers no repect at all.
Its the same as people busting open the bagged magazine until they find one they like and leaving the broken packs on the shelf.
I never thought of looking, before this topic. I had a look this morning, but without an interrogation-strength bulb to hold them up to, I’m guessing none or all of ours have notes in them….
We didn’t lose any. If this was likely I would have said something.
How do you know you did not lose any Mark? If I walked into a shop and saw someone doing this I would simply walk away and not bother making a fuss. It is the silent majority you need to be aware of not the vocal minority.
Melinda, not all newsagents are the same. I can understand why they would be frustrated and angered by people who only read and don’t buy. That said, as retailers we need to get over these humps and embrace all browsing.
Allow me to clarify.
We are not a lotto agency.
The lowlifes I refer to are those who come in here, knowing we are not a lotto agency, and simply going to the newsstand, writing the numbers from papers for sale, and walking out. They know we don’t do lotto, because we don’t have the numbers on display, and we don’t have ‘lotto’ paraphernalia all over the shop. When it’s pointed out that this is not our brief, they have this over-inflated air of entitlement that we should provide this information for free, even when another shop has profited from their buying a ticket in the first place. We are not their friends – weve never seen them in our lives before they come and take what others pay for.
If you do this, then yes, you’re a lowlife. If you really want to know, you can spend a dollar either on a paper, or you can spend it on driving further to a lotto agent and finding out for ‘free’ exactly how many numbers you lost by. Or you can wait for the news on the telly. Best of all, you can haul your tail back the shop that did profit from your ticket purchase.
Browsing is one thing. No dramas there. Stealing info on the other hand is, at best, cheeky. But technically it IS stealing and it makes you look cheap.
Is there a brick wall smiley??
wow some of the attitudes of the people in this blog amaze me.I wonder how many potential customers are scared off. If “stealing” lotto numbers makes a customer look cheap what does whinging about someone not spending a dollar make a store owner look like??
Some people clearly should not run a business dealing with the public.
Also if I saw someone looking for a winning magazine i would not walk out I would just laugh and feel sad for their desperation.
Knowingly doing this stuff is off. Choosing to knowingly do this kind of stuff reflects one’s ethics.
A “few seconds” of my time I’d give gladly, but Melinda, dear, that argument really struggles for relevance.
Mary, Mary quite contrary.
You really are a piece of work, sweety.
We are still waiting for Golden Casket to approve our application and so are yet to get lotto. This morning I had an elderly gentleman come in looking to check his ticket, after explaining we haven’t yet got lotto he kindly asked if I had the numbers. In this situation I was only too happy to provide them to him. However another rude gentleman came in, gruffly said “where are your papers?” took down the numbers and left. This on the otherhand annoyed me to no end.
Customer service is something we provide, it is not a right but a privillage and good customer service can only be achieved when there is a mutual respect between the customer and the service provider.
The elderly gentleman extended the courtesy and respect to ask and so in return I was only too happy to assist, I have no doubt he will return in the future and may become a regular customer. The other gentleman bought nothing and I doubt whether he will return. This I do not believe is a reflection on my customer service level as I maintained the same friendly disposition as I did with the first customer.
I don’t expect every customer that walks through my doors to purchase something, I do however, expect that they show respect.
Well said G. You nailed it! 🙂
Typo duh! I meant “B”
And the “smiley hitting head against brick wall” is a frustrated smiley trying to get a point across/achieve something.
Mary, I wondered about offering to help in some way but didn;t have the guts to make the move.
B.
Right on, Brutha.
A few seconds is gladly given, along with whatever the person needs at that moment.
Im with Melinda and Mary on this (suprise suprise).
“Some people clearly should not run a business dealing with the public”. Too right.
Reading this its easy to see where the term “Grumpy old men” comes from (although I don’t limit that term to one gender).
Jarryd,
It is not about “Grumpy old men” as you so quaintly put it.
It is more about respect for the business owner & his/her property. To make assumptions as to your rights/privileges as a customer, as described by a few here, is just plain off.
Don’t expect “respect” unless you are prepared to give it.
Jarrod, Melinda, Mary if you want to run your business a certain way then good on you, but don’t get on your high horse and say others should not be in retail. If you allow customers to run amok in your store and do what they like and this makes you a living then thats great, we would rather attract customers to our store that are respectful of other peoples property. We have operated our business for 20yrs and would argue that we are doing something right to have flourished over the yrs. The blog was about a woman who rats through all the mags looking for the one with cash in it, and in my opinion this is disrespectful of others.
Is that a photo of mary or melinda??
Cool, Jaz. Whatever you say.
How about I use the following analogy, assuming you don’t have a vested interest in the footy, weather or fisheries information. If anyone can come up with a more effective one, bring it on.
So, I’ll send a few mates down to write down all the weather, tide times (just pretend it’s applicable if you’re landlocked), and footy results from papers you have for sale, without any form of request, or acknowledgement of them being your property until sold. Hey, let’s not allow them to acknowledge anything or anyone else but their mission. They will not buy the paper or other relevant publication. Rather, they will just walk out with what they came for without giving you so much as the smell of a sock.
I’ll get different people to do it on a weekly basis.
Then, and only then may you get some idea of how off that is – and it might just make you a wee bit testy.
After that, if you’re a good boy, I’ll send someone down who will explain that they’re either in a genuine hurry, or otherwise validly excused for nicely asking for the information.
Then you can tell the class which one you’d prefer.
Grain is certainly being sorted from the chaff, today, isn’t it?
I bet you didn’t expect such a little photo would create such a debate with 23 comments
Jarryd, you must have some insane tolerance of people. If someone crapped on your shop floor and wiped their bum with a newspaper and put it back, you’d approve?
Well surely you could not judge the person he may not have known he could not crap on the floor let alone not use the paper to finish off . …….hat was pretty funny michael
Jarryd, I have to say it does surprise me that you seem so excessively conciliatory in terms of customer behaviour. And I for one do see where you’re coming from – even though I’m laughing my ample rear end off at Michael and SHAUNs.
It surprises me because you seem to come across so warm and fuzzy (soft?) for customers, but are the exact opposite when it comes to peers and their respective business ethos. In fact I think you are extremely rigid and aggressive on that front, at the expense of any kind of middle ground. So, I’d even venture to suggest that much of the grumpiness has actually come from you when you are wearing your businessman hat, as opposed to your furry shopkeeper hat.
Merely observations. No offence intended.
How about the guy flicking through Just Cars/Just Bikes/ Just Parts and then inputing numbers in thier phone.
Or the Friday special, on queue 7.30 friday, going through the Sportsman for a tip…
Y&G,
I would say that is a fairly accurate depiction of my stance. I’m soft on customers and hard on (no jokes please) business.
People get grumpy all the time. It’s natural. I tell our team just one thing whenever they are grumpy … ‘fake it’ (again, no jokes). I don’t mind if people are grumpy. I am often grumpy (as is often evident here) but I don’t let customers see it.
Max,
Im not talking about ones “rights/privileges as a customer”. Im talking about what action is best for the business and its bottom line.
The day that rude customers out number the lovely customers we now have is the day to hang up our boots.
When the bottom line is the only focus you have in life I think it is time you took stock of what is really important.
Every day we open our doors we make ourselves vulnerable to what people waht to do in our space. If you don’t want browsers, why open at all?
Embrace the browsers, welcome them to your home, make it easy for them. better to have a shop full of browsers than an empty retail hall.
Browsers are fine by me, but when they take extreme advantage of the privilige, like some of the incidents mentioned by other’s here, it becomes disrespectful and annoying.
Correct, Michael.
i agree with michaels last comment, i don,t mind customers brousing through mags if they are regular customers who buy, but i do get annoyed when i see people like one i had last week come in and go though the classifieds looking for a job, spent a good 10 minutes reading then turned around and walked out with out even a thankyou.
Max,
It is unrealistic and non-sensical to not look at the bottom line as one of the most important things in business.
I find it interesting that some consider the customers to be ones who have “privileges”. It is the business who has the privilege of having customers. We need the more than they need us.
If the retailer offends a customer, what does anyone gain?
Jarryd
The customer that was offended by the retailer is the customer that the retailer does not wish to have in their shop – ipso facto – the retailer gains
G,
Then they are a poor retailer for not wanting that customer. As Mark has said … “better to have a shop full of browsers than an empty retail hall”
If you want a full shop of browsers Jarrod why do you not just open a library?
A customer is someone who spends money not just browse, people who read mags or fill in time while waiting for something else are not customers they are at best potential customers and you cannot bank potential. We focus on the people who are genuinely interested in shopping, yes it is a fine line to manage but we are going well at it. We are not rude to anyone but I’m not here to let people fill in time and make a mess because they have nothing better to do.
AHA! So you’re the agent that has the “This Is Not A Library” sign outside your shop…
😛
LOL
lol Luke. Arpoo (Simpsons) comes to mind “excuse me sir, this is not a library”
I don’t have any signs up saying anything negative to customers, I’m here to make money boys, mayby you guys should do the same. My comment was if Jarrod wants a full shop of browsers then he should open a library. Surely it is not that early in the morning you guys cannot read.
I’ve gone back and read the original post and seen how much off topic we have got, the original post was about a woman that was holing mags up to the light trying to find money, not about people browsing mags.
Seems a few here are lacking a sense of humour.
LOL means laugh out loud.
Tongue out ( 😛 )means just joshing. Jeez louise.
Surely it’s not too early in the morning that your SOH hasn’t woken up yet.
Guys I have seen many newsagencies with signs up telling people not to look. I have even visited one agent who used to give customers about 20 seconds to look at a mag before giving them the move on.
Yes it is off topic but over 50 posts re: browsers/scabs/poor people/and newsagents who are seeking zen. I have seen many other more topical posts that get 1 or 2 comments and they should have sparked the same debate.
We treat EVERY person who walks in the door as a potential customer. Browsing and interacting with product leads to sales.
Who stated that the customers had to earn respect, Melinda?
I can’t speak for others here but I treat every customer with respect & an open friendliness until such time as they show they don’t deserve it. 95% of the customers we have are lovely….the remainder are served in a manner that is NOT disrespectful but efficiently so as to move them on quickly (& hope they don’t come back…LOL)