And the winner of the Bad Customer Service award for 2008 goes to: Karen Ellis, co-owner of Lighthouse Tile and Carpet on Mildred Street in Ranson, West Virginia.
Now this is a small store that I'd done a fair bit of business with before, both in making improvements on my house and using them as a UPS shipper.
But today--9/22/2008--Karen Ellis just guaranteed that I won't be back in there again for either purpose.
It all began when I walked in with a package to ship out UPS. I usually ship from this store, both because it's convenient and because I'd rather give my money to the local businesses than to the UPS hubs or the franchise shipping stores that are springing up all over. I have thus far purchased my kitchen and bath flooring materials here for the same reason, even though I could get the stuff cheaper at either Home Depot of Lowes. But apparently, when I walked in, Karen didn't recognize me as a repeat customer (or she didn't care), because when I innocently asked for some tape to seal my box up, she gave me a nasty look and said rather snidely: "Well OK, but I shouldn't do it since you're using a pre-paid shipping label."
I apologized, and began to tell her that the person receiving the package had sent my the label and that I didn't have any say in the matter, but she cut me off, withdrew her tape roller (which she'd already began to affix to the box) and told me in a very nasty tone: "You know what? There's a UPS store over by the Weiss store. I think that you should just take this over there." And then she turned her back on me and walked away, back towards the back of the store.
"Wow!" I said, surprised that she could be that rude for no reason at all. I mean, I'd just walked in, said "hello" with a smile, petted the store dog...this was totally inappropriate.
But she wasn't finished yet. "I'm just sick of you people coming in here, not paying for anything, and expecting me to provide the tape!" she said from behind her counter back in the rear of the store. "I could have charged you a dollar for it. Tape costs me money, you know."
I was shocked and more than a little insulted. I guess that she's forgotten how every other time I've ever shipped from her store, I've paid the shipping costs, including her surcharge. I guess that she's forgotten the tile and floor mats that I bought not even two months ago, too. Well she can definitely forget about the tile and rugs that I was going to buy to do my other two bathrooms and my kitchen, that's for damned sure. I can't believe that I was actually dressed down just for walking through the door with a (gasp!) pre-paid UPS label and asking for a couple of strips of tape off of her tape roll. I guess I didn't think that a bit of tape would have put her out to such an extent that she felt the need to disrespect and insult me, and had she even asked nicely for a dollar I'd have paid it without a problem just for the convenience of getting the package sealed and off my hands. But the nastiness in telling me to take my business someplace else, and the turning of the back to walk away from me, and then throwing the "I'm just sick of you people..." at me from the cover of her back counter was just too much. This is undoubtedly why the store is always devoid of customers and why the merchandise and samples are all covered with dust. (Yeah, Karen, it wouldn't hurt you to clean the place once in a while...it's not like you're actually busy waiting on people, are you?) The prices aren't that good compared to the big box stores, but I'm one who will deal with local businesses every time just to keep the money in the community...well that is, unless I need any more tile or rugs. Home Depot's right up there next to the UPS store that she told me to take my shipping business to so I'll spend my money there from now on.
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