Helloooo??? Customer Service anyone??

OK - before I really get into this, I have to be honest and tell you that I HATE grocery store "self-service". I hate it. Why do I hate the self-service lines? I'll tell you why. If I am going to a store every week and every week they are getting $100 or more of my money....I want someone with a smile to stand there and wait on me. I want to see my money in action.

Personally, I have enough jobs to do and hats to wear., I have a job - more than one actually. I do not need to be the cashier and bagging clerk at Wal-Mart or Albertson's. I am also not in the mood to play "cashier". If I wanted to do that, I would not have gone to college and worked all these years at a career....I would have gone to work at "Stop & Shop" or "Star Market".

So, on the night in question, I left my Mary Kay business meeting and stopped at Albertson's to pick up some lunch drinks for my son. I also found a couple of other items we needed. I then headed for the check-out. I walked right past the self-service lanes for reasons I have explained and will expound on later. I went to Aisle 5 where the light was on. No one was there - when I looked around, I saw a number of clerks standing around doing nothing - then the check-out supervisor told me to move to Aisle 7 - which I did. The clerk who was there, took a look at me, and walked away. So, I went picked up my things and moved to the Self-Check lane - understnadably irritated. I will not go to Albertson's again.

As far as I am concerned self-service has gone WAY too far. First, it was pump your own gas...save .10. Well, I still liked the option of paying more and having someone else - some nice gentleman - stand in the rain and snow to fill my gas tank. I paid for it.


Then, it was the ATM machine. Wait on yourself at the bank. "Oooh, try this Mrs. Jones...it is so much faster"...then, "Oh, and don't worry one little bit, you will pay a service charge for using the ATM, but it will save you so much time". Yeah right. You give your money to a machine and the bank gets more profit. Nice.


Now it is the grocery store where we are supposed to help ourselves. What we are doing is working for the store - for free. That way, they can keep hiring low - and executive profits high. I don't like doing any kind of "work" for free. That is why they call it work. Hmmmm...makes you think.


Another thought that occurs to me as we walk down this path of more and more self-service is that we are taking jobs out of our economy. Now, we all hear from "economic analysts" that the U.S. is becoming a "Service Centered Economy" - that means that we are all serving some customer. Well.....where is the "service" for the American citizen? Are we exporting it all? Are we sending all of our politeness and customer service skills overseas?

The scariest thought about the spread of the "do it yourself" service industry is....what's next? Are the Insurance Companies going to get on the bandwagon? "Oh, go ahead Mrs. Smith...you can do that Pap Smear yourself...just follow the directions and stick the swab..." or will it be more like "take the scalpel...now are you sure your husband is under the anesthesia...?"

So, when I get on my soap box here and rant a little about my experience last week at the Albertson's in Lewisville, you need to understand where I am coming from.