My Customer Service Experience at Jared

My husband and I have been customers of Jared Jewelers for more than 10 years and during that time we've spent close to $20,000. Now that may not be a lot in comparison to others but, nonetheless, our hard earned dollars have gone there.

Today I went to Jared to find a birthday gift for my daughter. I walked into the store. No one greeted me. Then I walked over to the jewelry repair center. I figured since I was in the store I might as well have my platinum engagement and wedding rings cleaned. An employee walked over but said nothing. I finally spoke up and said, "I know you see me standing here." She said she did but she was assisting another customer. My response to that was, "You may be helping another customer but that shouldn't stop you from greeting me." She immediately went to find someone to assist me.

A woman, identified as Amy, came over. She had just finished wiping her nose. I wasn't about to shake her hand and I didn't want to give her my rings to be cleaned. I told her what I wanted. She said she would help me. She asked me was it time for my rings to be inspected. I told her I wasn't sure. I expected her to ask for my name and go look it up in their records. She did not. As a courtesy service, Jared does an annual inspection of your jewelry to make sure the diamond is set correctly, among other things. That courtesy was not extended to me. STRIKE ONE.

I gave Amy my rings reluctantly. I thought she would give them to someone else to be cleaned while she assisted me. Instead she left and came back in less than a minute claiming she had cleaned them personally. There were definitely NOT cleaned because her hands were not clean. STRIKE TWO.

After paying for my daughter's gift, I asked to speak to the manager. Mark Swink came over. I told him I thought my good customer service experience was lacking at Jared and he should know about it. After listening to me for about three minutes, he thanked me and shook my hand but never apologized for my bad experience. I expected him to at least acknowledge my feelings. STRIKE THREE.

Now at this point of the story, it would be easy to throw out the race card and say I didn't get good customer service because I was black in a store surrounded by a sea of white customers. I don't know for sure if that was the case but I am inclined to believe that. Or perhaps it was because I left with one small bag and spent less than $200. But whatever the case, Jared has now joined Kroger on my BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE list.

So what do you think? Do whites get better customer service than blacks or are there other factors that could come into play?

I almost fell in love with Kroger

I heard on the radio that Kroger was having a sale on grapes so I decided to go there to take advantage of the sale.

When I walked into the entryway, much to my surprise, there were carolers singing Christmas songs and employees passing out goodie bags along with the Kroger specials of the day. So far, so good.

Then as I walked into the produce section, I found my grapes--and plenty of them---red, black and green---on sale as advertised. And what's even better is I got to pick and choose which ones I wanted and put them all in the same bag. Shortly afterwards, I asked a produce employee where the chard was and instead of pointing me in the direction, he actually guided me to the location and explained the different varieties. Now, I'm impressed!

But then a not-so-funny thing happened at the deli. This particular employee (and fellow boomer) seemed less than enthusiastic about assisting me. No smile and he mumbled his words. STRIKE ONE.

As I moseyed on to the wine section, a smiling face (a millennial) greeted me and asked if I wanted to sample a particular wine they had on sale. It wasn't quite noon yet but I thought, "What the heck!" He said he was giving me a double portion. I wondered if I had "wino" tatooed on my forehead. Nevertheless, I tasted it and was SOLD.

The wine had me feeling pretty good when I went to the checkout line. That was until I had a not so pleasant encounter with the cashier, whose name was Sharon. I greeted her first. She didn't speak back. She didn't even smile once. Perhaps she smelled the wine on my breath and thought I was just some drunk housewife hitting the bottle a little too early for her. Or maybe she was upset because she couldn't have any while on the clock. WHATEVER! STRIKE TWO. And what's even worse is she bagged my seafood with my fruit---which even I know is a no-no. STRIKE THREE.

At that point I felt the need to speak to a manager so I went to the customer service desk. Another (boomer) employee asked if she could help me in a tone that made me feel less than welcome. Once again--no smile. Then she asked me why I wanted to see a manager. I told her I had a complaint. I was sure she would soften up a bit and do her best to turn my negative perception around but she did nothing but stand there stone-faced until the manager, Mr. Hinckley, came to hear me out. He offered me a gift card for my feedback. I declined it because I wanted him to understand my complaint couldn't be bought off with a gift card. I wanted him to understand that good customer service is still the key to good business and that's why Harris Teeter remains the cream of the crop.

The bottom line is good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and reduce prices to bring in as many customers as you want, but it's also about the "experience" a customer has while in your business.

Great customer service is all about bringing customers back and about sending them away happy - happy enough to pass on positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then visit your store and, in turn, become repeat customers.

I almost fell in love with Kroger today but they just can't compete with my Harris Teeter---at least not yet anyway