Wednesday, May 13, 2009

My Parting Gift from Today

I was buying milk after clocking out when the cashier at the register behind me paged for my department. So, I turned around and said to Crazy Kate (the cashier), "Hey, I'm right here, what's up?"

CKtC: Hey, this customer wanted to talk to a manager about the coffee.
Me: Sure.
Customer: I was wondering why it is so difficult to buy coffee here.
Me: ...coffee?
Customer: Yeah, I'm not allowed to mix the coffees, and apparently you have to write down a 3 digit code so the cashier knows how much to charge? I don't have time for that.
Me:
Customer: Why is it so hard to buy coffee here?
Me: Well...it isn't.
Customer: It *isn't*?? It's all priced differently! Why? I can go down the street to Fresh...Fair?
Me: Fresh Market.
Customer: Yeah, I can go down there and buy and mix any coffee I want, and it's all $8.99 a pound. I BUY KONA THERE FOR $8.99. Why don't you guys do that?
Me: We have more single estate coffees than they do, and we pay a fair price to the farms, and it costs more depending on how far it travels and how much transportation costs.
Customer: They have Kona! Do YOU have Kona??
Me: No. It's a little expensive right now and the quality isn't as good as it should be for the price they're asking right now.
Customer: I just don't understand why you don't do what they do, and just make all bulk coffee one price. I had to put this poor woman through looking through her little book there, looking for the code for this coffee because she needs it to charge me correctly. How much is this coffee?
Me: I don't know, because "rainforest" isn't a specific coffee we sell.
Customer: It said it right on the bin!
Me: Yeah...that's a separate sign letting you know that that coffee is part of the Rainforest Alliance group. There are four different coffees with the same insignia. I'd have to know which of those four you have here.
Customer: WHAT? JUST PRICE THEM ALL THE SAME!
Me: I'm sorry. We want to be more truthful about the pricing, so they are priced individually based on their landed costs. Have you considered that while you're buying Kona for only $8.99/lb, Fresh Market is overcharging you for less expensive coffees at lower quality?
Customer: I buy *Kona*. For $8.99/lb.
Me: Well...I'm sorry you have to go to Fresh Market for it.
Customer: Here.

WTF? If you can't follow simple instructions, I do not know what to do with you, it's official.

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