Circuit City offered the easiest product return, according to a survey of five electronics retailers performed by the Wall Street Journal. Apple scored in the middle of the group, although the reporter who visited two Apple stores had some gripes about the lines and employees. The newspaper also tested Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart, returning HDMI cables or earphones at the outlets. At the SoHo (NYC) Apple store, the reporters said, “Our clerk gabbed with colleagues while handling the return,” and had to be interrupted for questions. At the Fifth Avenue (NYC) store there were 30+ persons in line, “with purchasers and returners lumped together.” But the line moved quickly, and the reporter was eventually pulled from the line by an employee with a portable computer. “The entire process took 10 stress-free minutes.” Target scored lowest, because the reporter encountered a 20+ line that wasn’t moving, then came back the next day and was initially denied a refund . [Story not on-line.]
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People don’t want to pay for customer service, they don’t get customer service.
I worked at a store that did give customer service. About once every two months someone would call and say that they were at Costco (or some other big box store with no customer service) and ask which ink cartridge that they needed. We would say that we have that in stock, come right over. They would actually get mad and again tell us that they were at Costco. We would politely say that they were not far away and could buy it from us. “I’m trying to buy it at Costco. Would you just tell me which cartridge I need.” Sure, come on down and we will show you. They would either hang up, threaten to to never shop with us again or say that they would complain to our manager about the rude service. And if they did complain to management, the fact they were not being customers would not come up, so who was blamed.