Nickel and Diming: New motto at Druxy’s?

I was in downtown Toronto and wanted a cold beverage to quench my thirst.  So I decided to visit the Druxy’s location at the Zurich Life Building, 400 University Avenue, since I have visited there before.  I took a bottle of apple juice and placed it on the unattended cashier counter.  While waiting to be served, I noticed the pile of paper napkins in front of me beside the cash register, and took one in case of spills.  As I took the napkin, I heard several voices yelling from the other end of the counter.  A cashier rushed back to behind the cash register, screaming “no, no!” or something similar.  More screams were heard from where she came from.  When she finally stopped, she reached over the counter in an attempt to snatch the paper napkin from my hand, as if that napkin contained all her life’s hopes and aspirations.  Seeing this pathetic display of miserly embarrassment, I told the cashier “OK, OK, I’m not buying anymore!” and immediately left the premises, leaving my proposed purchase on the counter unpaid.

While Druxy’s paper napkins are unique in bearing the Druxy’s logo, I am certain that the cost of one paper napkin is tiny when compared to the profit Druxy’s would have made had I bought that bottle of apple juice.  The cashier’s unsuccessful attempt to deny me one paper napkin has resulted in me, a long time customer of several Druxy’s locations, to refuse to ever make a purchase at any Druxy’s again.

In other words, that one paper napkin – and the horrible attitude towards customers that it represents – is truly costly to Druxy’s.

Response from Loblaw (No Frills)

I received this email response from Loblaw regarding the No Frills incident.  I consider the response to be satisfactory:

“Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Please accept my most sincere apologies for the fact that you have not received a more timely resolution of your concern.

At Loblaw Companies, it is our hope that customers have a positive experience every time they visit us. This includes maintaining a store environment in which our customers feel comfortable while doing their shopping. I’m so sorry to learn about your recent experience at Michael’s No Frills. Please know that I have been in touch with James Chung, the Associate Store Manager at your No Frills, who also asked that I extend to you his apologies for any undue inconvenience the presence of these two individuals have caused, as well as for the fact that store colleagues did not alert management of the concern when you shared it with them. James informed me that the matter was brought to his attention and the solicitors were asked to leave immediately, as they did not have permission to collect donations in front of the store. Please be assured that James will certainly monitor this situation closely moving forward and asked that I invite you to speak to either himself, or Michael Lo Presti, the Store Franchisee, if you have any further concerns.

Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention. I truly hope you will continue to allow us the pleasure and privilege of serving you as one of our valued customers.

Sincerely,

Julie Dunham

Senior Customer Relations Representative

Loblaw Companies Limited”

Customer harassment at No Frills

I visited Michael’s No Frills (Silver Star Blvd., Scarborough, Ontario) recently. At the entrance were two individuals who were aggressively soliciting money, which they claim were for some charity. They were very persistent and were harassing customers who were entering or leaving the store. I informed the pharmacist about this, and she said “I don’t know” and did not do anything. I next informed the cashier in the lane nearest to the entrance (not the express lane, it was the lane next to the express lane) about this, and she also said “I don’t know” and did nothing.

I have two concerns about this:

1. Customers should not experience harassment when entering or exiting a No Frills store. If these two individuals were authorized by management to solicit funds at the store entrance, I ask that this authorization be revoked immediately. If they were trespassing, I ask that store management be more vigilant to ensure that such harassment does not occur again.

2. The “I don’t know” response from the pharmacist and the cashier were unacceptable. Security and maintaining a harassment-free shopping experience are the responsibility of every employee in the store. At the very least, employees should immediately contact management when they hear that customers complain about harassment. Saying “I don’t know” and doing nothing is absolutely wrong. In this case, the worst that could happen is customers be scammed of some money by a fake charity; if the situation were a pedophile abducting a child, would the pharmacist and the cashier also reply “I don’t know”?

I ask that store management take these events very seriously.

How Rona lost (at least) $50 in guaranteed sales

Recently, I was preparing to visit some friends who are in the process of moving house.  Knowing that they will have a need for home improvement products, I decided that a gift card from a home improvement store would be an appropriate gift.  So I went to my nearest Rona Home & Garden store, and asked to buy a $50 gift card.  When I took out my credit card to make the payment, I was told by the cashier that Rona only accepts cash or debit when purchasing gift cards, and does not accept credit cards.  I asked her if she is sure, and she insisted that a Rona gift card must be paid for by either cash or debit.  So I bid her farewell, and proceeded to a Home Depot store.  There, I quickly bought a $50 Home Depot gift card with my credit card, and was on my way within minutes.

My friends were happy to receive the $50 Home Depot gift card.  They told me that they do need to buy quite a few things for their new house – at least a few hundred dollars worth, if not a thousand or two.  With my gift card, they intend to visit Home Depot first.

In this case, then, it is obvious that Rona’s loss is Home Depot’s gain.