Have you ever shopped at Fry’s? Am I crazy, or is shopping at this store a total nightmare? A uniquely rotten experience? (Clue: I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy.)
The very first time I shopped there, over 9 years ago, is etched in my memory forever. As I waited in line to check out, voices were raised, and a loud, ugly argument occurred. An angry couple that couldn’t agree on what to have for dinner? No. A shopper confronting another shopper who had cut in line? Nope. It was the checker in my line, arguing and yelling at the customer. I don’t remember the specifics of the argument (I’ve tried hard to erase the whole distasteful incident from my mind, mostly unsuccessfully), but it was definitely loud, nasty and involved lots of name-calling. Mostly on the side of Your Friendly Fry’s Employee. Sadly, as I shopped there regularly, I realized that that was typical shopping day at Fry’s.
Over the years, things got a little better—there are almost no loud arguments any more (by the employees, at least)--but the employees remained surly and rude (“Having a good day today?” “Oh, yes, it’s going great,” I respond with a smile. Only to be met with a glare by the checker; she was talking to the bagger.). And they remained true to their unspoken promise to always open two fewer lines than are needed.
They pretend like they have improved that last little issue. Because they now give us a choice: We can wait around forever in the one line that’s open in order to have a surly or maybe just disinterested checker ring us up, along with a bagger who’s paying no attention to what he’s doing. Or, for our convenience, we can just do all the work ourselves. Because they’ve so nicely installed about nine or ten self-checkout lines. Are they kidding? Now I have to do all the work that an employee is paid to do? And I don’t even get a discount? The real puzzler is that I seem to be the only one who minds. People are like sheep! my mother used to say. And there are all the sheep in Fry’s, waiting in line to do the work they’re paying someone else to do. Sheep, I tell you.
But I suspect this has all been part of Fry’s Master Plan. The long con, if you will. (And in case you’re not versed in the world of the con, there are two kinds of cons: the short con and the long con. The short con is where you take someone’s money quickly, like a fraud that uses sleight of hand—a shell game, for example. The long con involves a plan and lots of people. Think The Sting. I learned all about this stuff when Steve and I started watching this British TV show called Hustle, about a group of con artists playing the long con. I recommend it! The TV show, not playing the con.) Anyway, back to Fry’s. I’m thinking they decided to make the checkout experience so unpleasant that customers would do anything, just anything, to avoid it. They started it years ago, with the yelling fights. Then, just shy of losing all customers due to their fear of shopping there, Fry’s toned it down by just having routinely unfriendly and rude employees. Next, they taught all their baggers a fun little system that involves any number of short cons: making each bag as heavy as possible (I once weighed my bag when I got home: 17 pounds); or putting just one thing in each bag so that you may find yourself unloading 15 bags into your car; or cramming the warm chicken in next to all the frozen items; or that tired old con, putting the strawberries underneath the gallon of milk. They’ve beaten us down so far that all we want to do is get out of the store without having any contact with any employee from the time we enter to the time we push out little basket out through the door.
Lately, they’ve stepped up their game and this time they’ve gotten nasty. Well, nastier.
Because this time they’re playing on their certainty that no one is going to complain about an employee doing a poor job when that employee is…slow? retarded? special? mentally disabled? mentally challenged? What is the correct term these days? Let’s say mentally challenged. (I realize that even acknowledging that such a state actually exists is, these days, offensive in itself). At any rate, my Fry’s now apparently has a program where they employ the mentally challenged. Right on, I say. I’ve seen McDonald’s do it for decades with great success, in my experience. But Fry’s has a little different take. Instead of using their skills to their best advantage, Fry’s has decided to use them as…baggers!
Oh no, say it ain’t so! Haven’t I just suggested how very complex the art of bagging is? It was bad enough as it was, with the villainous baggers and their calculated mis-baggings. But now, ever since they’ve started using the mentally challenged for this complicated feat? Well, virtually every time I come out of Fry’s, I have to re-distribute all the groceries before I load them into the car to make them carryable, to balance them out, to get rid of the unnecessary bags, muttering to myself like a crazy person all the while. One time I had to go back in the store when the bag with the eggs, which was perched precariously on top of the cart, came crashing down around me. This involved waiting at the service counter while those ahead of me bought lottery tickets, bought their tickets to the Van Halen or Ted Nugent concert, bought their cigarettes, complained about bad service, and the various other thousands of things one can only do at the “customer service” desk.
I admit I've fallen prey to their plot. I have succumbed to the self-serve checkout line once or twice. But I’ve concluded that I’m just not smart enough to handle this job. The little lady’s voice is constantly telling me I’ve done something wrong. Many things wrong: “Please place items on pad. Please remove items from pad. Please remove item and re-scan. Please insert your Fry’s card. Please enter code before placing items on pad. Please call assistant. Please call assistant!” So by the end of the nightmare, not only have I weighed my own vegetables, hunted down various produce codes, and done my own bagging—but I’ve had to get the help of the “assistant” (shhhh, she’s really a checker!), anyway. That would be one assistant. For all ten checkout lines. And I’m not the only mentally challenged customer there; it appears that virtually everyone needs her assistance. So then I wait 5 minutes or so for Your Friendly Fry’s Assistant to come rescue me, once she’s rescued every other self-checker. And I had to wait in line to do it all. And all for the same price I would have paid in a real checkout line, with that wonderful surly gal to wait on me. Oh, how I long for her sneer right about now, I think as I’m waiting for that darn assistant.
So I may think Fry's is evil, but really maybe they're the smarties, after all. Because I think they’re winning on all fronts: I still shop there. More and more sheep are using the self-checkout. Prices are not getting any lower. And they can hire fewer and fewer employees. Voila, we’re conned! Baaaaa.
But, hey, that's just my humble (but always correct) opinion.
But, hey, that's just my humble (but always correct) opinion.
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3 comments:
I love your idea about the self service checkouts and how we should pay less to use them! They were new to me when I came back to the UK from Malaysia. Over there they have people who believe in service, a seemingly strange notion in the UK. Still it gives me something I can aim to do better in my own business...
I've twice in the past written complaint letters to the management of a UK chain (Wilkinsons) about the way staff have spoken to me - the first time I received a written apology and the second time I received shopping vouchers.
It's a great shop but unfortunately in the past seemed to recruit some people with low levels of people skills. I got to a point where I was ready for a verbal confrontation when I went in.
Over the past couple of years, however, I've noticed a real improvement in staff attitude (they're not the same staff so I wonder if there's been a change in recruitment or training policy).
Quite often in organisations like this it's due to a 'blame culture management style' and the customers are on the dirtiest end of the stick.
I thoroughly recommend writing complaint letters when you get mistreated - they sometimes send you vouchers!
I’ve never shopped at Fry’s because:
1. I’d have to drive pass 3 perfectly great grocery stores before I’d get to a Fry’s.
2. 12 years ago, I had an appalling experience in a Fry’s. My background is in plants. I was looking for employment in just about any plant-related field I could find. This Fry’s had an extensive Garden Department. Interviews were held on a particular day and time. I, along with 20 or so prospects were herded to a large storeroom and asked to fill out applications. About 10 minutes into it, the management put on a ‘performance’ for us. A fake boss started verbally abusing a fake employee. If my interpretation was correct, they hoped to bait a prospect into intervening. The whole thing was distasteful and insulting. I didn’t stick around to witness the outcome but I SHOLD HAVE because, based on your experiences, Kathy, poor interpersonal skills are hallmarks of Fry’s and they were actively recruiting bullies that day!
I agree with Carl. Writing a complaint letter is (mostly) satisfying. I remember a great, funny complaint letter you wrote to the circulation department of The Arizona Republic. Do you still have a copy of it? I'd love to see it!
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