A Grocery Store Rant

It has been a while since I've posted a good old fashioned rant on here. And since ranting is part of what this blog is all about, I thought I'd share a recent email I sent to the good folks at County Market in Champaign. For those who are not aware, County Market is a grocery store located throughout the upper midwestern states in America (with some stores in Louisiana and Pennsylvania).

I went to County Market this morning to buy milk and cereal. While shopping I overheard a customer asking an employee for help finding an item, and was shocked when she blew him off, muttering that she was doing her own shopping. She was wearing her work uniform at her place of work. I registered the encounter, but didn't think too much of it until a few minutes later.

After making the purchases, realised I had grabbed the wrong brand of milk. County Market has an on-going program in which customers who buy 9 gallons of milk will receive a coupon for a free 10th gallon. These purchases are tracked through the County Market Max Card, which is a free rewards program, similar to those offered all over the place. This program works great when the cashiers and customers both remember to use the Max Card. I believe that the primary responsibility of asking about the Max Card should be the cashiers, as they should be offering to sign customers up if they don't have one. Alas, this did not happen today. Nor has it happened the majority of the time that I shop at this particular store. So I decided to send an email through the store's website. It may go directly to corporate, or it may go to the specific store. Last time I sent an email, it was to FedEx Office, and I was very pleased with the response. I'm interested to see how County Market responds. Here's what I sent them:

My wife and I use County Market for our shopping needs whenever we need to make a trip to the grocery store. We are generally satisfied with the products and the prices offered. We regularly shop at both the stores on West Kirby Avenue and on Glenn Park Drive, as well as other locations in the Champaign area. I have noticed that the cashiers at the West Kirby location never ask about using our County Market Max Card. I have never noticed this problem elsewhere, and it is a growing concern.

I am aware of the fact that I can just as easily provide my max card without being asked, but I feel like all cashiers should be trained to ask all customers if they have their cards as a matter of course. I was particularly disappointed by this lack of concern today when I went to purchase a gallon of milk, and was not asked about my card. As a result, my purchase did not count toward County Market's excellent "Buy 9 Get 1 Free" program.

Please remind all managers to train cashiers to ask customers for the Max cards.

Also, while shopping this morning, I witnessed a customer asking an employee a question about where a particular item could be found. She was in her work uniform and was pushing a shopping cart through the store. Rather than helping, she brusquely replied that she was no longer work, and that she was doing her own shopping. She then walked away from him. Surely an employee, even when off-duty, can take a moment to help a customer, particularly when the employee is still in uniform and on-site!

I'll let you all know if and when I hear back!