I have to go to Kmart today to return some pants I bought Junior. I’m not looking forward to going there – our local Kmart has become a real armpit. I realize that for many people, ANY Kmart is an armpit, but this one used to be decent. The way some kids hang out at the mall? We used to hang out at Kmart, because it was a ten minute walk from my house.
It used to be clean and well-staffed. The shelves were all stocked, and the cashiers knew how to ring up orders.
WHen I went in there to buy these pants I was apalled at how filthy it’s gotten. Stuff was on the floor, shelves were trashed (i.e. half-empty with stuff out of places). There were three cashiers and the brain trust on the ONLY register that took debit cards couldn’t figure out how to ring up two shirts and several bars of soap. I swear to God, I stood there for 20 minutes. I finally spoke up and made a suggestion for how the woman should approach her task, because she was frozen into inaction by the fact that she’d had to void out something but it didn’t actually void. So she stared at the screen. And stared at it. I finally said “Why don’t you void the whole order and just start over” through clenched teeth. “Oh, ya!” So she does that and the woman says “well, what about my $1 coupon for the soap?” “Oh, that’s in the drawer, I can’t get it.”
Are you freaking kidding me? You think that’s an acceptable answer to this customer? It’s not HER fault you shouldn’t be allowed to work a register. Twenty minutes, no lie, so this woman could buy two tank tops and some soap. It actually started being funny.
So now I have to go back and I’m scared. SCARED I tell you!
