Leave Me Alone, Mr. Thumb!
Let’s make a deal, Tom Thumb grocery store. Let’s stipulate that “I’m fine,” so you don’t have to ask me, and if I’m not fine, I’ll stop and tell you.
I ran into the Tom Thumb this morning in Preston Center. In the space of five minutes, count ’em, five minutes, I was asked seven times “How are doing, sir?” Three of these inquiries came from employees who were within hearing distance of their colleagues who had just asked that question and been asnwered. This is not friendliness, it is merely an absurd corporate directive to pretend to be friendly.
I was so intent on avoiding eye contact and scurrying through the store as fast as possible that I forgot one of the items on my list. Enough already!
Charles, I have to take issue with you on this one and say “Bah, humbug!” The same thing happens to me at every neighborhood Tom Thumb and I always find the store manager and compliment them on their team’s friendliness. Heck, they even made a PA about it in the NW Highway store a few months ago. Given the cruddy state of the economy and what a beatdown it probably is to work in a grocery store where plenty of customers are short with the help, I really appreciate their positive attitudes, even if it is just the result of a corporate directive.
Was the item you forgot coffee?
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Agree with Charles. Same thing at Blockbuster. Enough, you are checking out another customer, focus on them. I heard the manager with a trainee say these exact words:
“You drop everything you are doing and say Hi from anywhere in the store when someone comes in. It doesn’t matter if they are in a conversation or on the phone or you are helping another customer, you always say hi. Most of the time everyone hates it, but the higher ups want to make a point so just do it.”
Doesn’t make me feel special or that they actually care.
Thank you, Avid Reader, for your support. My feeling is that this is not actual friendliness at all, but the illusion of friendliness. Once or twice, maybe, but it has become a blind ritual at Tom Thumb.
But, MK, if it makes you feel good, who am I to deny you?
It’s just that my perception of the staff at Central Market, for instance, is that they are just as friendly and helpful, without being assaultive.
And I may be grumpy this morning, too, but that’s beside the point! Ahem.
There’s a difference between corporate mandated positive thinking yeah! and genuine good manners.
Happens to me too, and it drives me nuts. After being asked that question by every employee in the store, by the time I get to the checkout line, I’m in a foul mood. So when another inane question is posed, like ‘did you find everything you were looking for?’, I’m more inclined to respond with a miffed ‘no’.
I heard somewhere that Safeway corporate sends in undercover shoppers to count how many such greetings they receive.
My favorite recent “directive”, or at least, I think it is an upper management directive, is the waving school crossing guards on Mockingbird. I think it’s a pretty smart, cheap, and effective way to slow down the vehicles passing through HP. If in fact, it is the directive from HP’s chief, then kudos to him. If not, then HP hired some pretty smiley, friendly crossing guards.
I’m with Charles on this one. It is oppressive to have to explain your state of mind to 15 people who may or may not really care. The best customer interface, (besides Plaza Health Foods of course), is at Elliott’s Hardware. You explain how you are currently feeling only once to the greeter at the door, then all the other associates keep it to something simple and natural like “Let me know if I can help”.
I’ve noticed the same thing at Tom Thumbs in Dallas and Arlington. It’s definitely a directive to all employees. It’s nice, but can get annoying after three or four times.
Charles, I’m with you and I’ll go further: I don’t like their announcing my name to everyone after I check out. They can thank me without reading my name off the receipt, especially since it’s often read wrong.
And like many other grocery stores, they have their cashiers ask if you found everything OK, but usually do nothing when you actually answer them and tell them what they were out of. So it is an illusion of helpfulness.
Can I pile on here with another Tom Thumb complaint? I want the cashier and the bagger to QUIT asking me my name at the end of the transaction. This is so they can say “Bye Mrs. So & So”. So first everyone in line gets to hear me answer with my name. Twice. And then they get to hear my name twice as I am told goodbye. I really prefer to live much more anonymously than that. Great! Now that guy that kept standing too close to me throughout the store gets to know my name too. It really gets on my nerves. Particularly when it precedes the whole “How much do you want to donate to the cause of the week?” Then everyone is treated to my name and how generous I am feeling that day.
Agree with Charles. I now wear my ipod earbuds every time I enter Tom Thumb in hopes of not being harassed as I try to buy my OJ. One greeter at the front door is sufficient. If I look lost you can ask if I need help. Otherwise, please leave me alone!
@citygirl–if you get a Reward card your name will print out on the receipt and they won’t have to ask you your name, they’ll just read it off the receipt. So you can sign up as “Mrs. F-U” to get a chuckle at the end of your shopping trip.
I agree, it’s incredibly fake. I randomly shop at the Thumb across from Northpark, the Village Thumb off Greenville and the Preston Center Thumb, the onslaught of faux-friendliness started several months ago. “HI! HOW ARE YOU DOING? FINDING EVERYTHING YOU NEED? CAN I HELP YOU FIND ANYTHING?” You can’t get thru the store without having to speak to at least five people, several more than that is possible, it’s obnoxious.
I do have to admit that it still beats the terrible service that the Mockingbird Kroger has – just awful, never shop there any more.
Another annoying TT corporate directive is asking me if I would like help carrying out my groceries regardless of what I buy. I think I can manage to carry that one bag that weighs all of 5 ounces by myself, thank you.
I don’t mind any of the above that much, but I really hate when they ask if I “want help carrying that out?” It’s a case of beer that I carried from the aisle to the checkout, which is actually farther than from the checkout to the car in some instances. I’m younger and more able than the bagger half of the time, so why even ask?
That question should only apply to little old blue hairs with 2 weeks of groceries in paper sacks.
Instead, management should focus on keeping the shelves full. It’s not uncommon that Thumb is out of 7 of the 5 things I came in for. While I’m venting, what happened to the 24 oz bottles of Diet Pepsi? Pepsi still makes them so it’s not one of those faux price increases (reduce the size but keep the price the same). Probably takes marginally less shelf space. Bring on the Simon David with the bigger footprint!
i worked at tom thumb as a florist for a short while.
you are required by the corporate offices to greet EVERY customer. there is a secret shopper program and if you don’t greet every employee you get lectured by the store manager and you get docked points. it was so ridiculous. there are about 7 steps of customer interaction that are required.
half the reason i quit was because of this ridiculous program.. i felt bad bothering every customer.
@kmom. Guess I luck out at Kroger Mockingbird. Have to ask for help, but easily find someone nice to help me.
I’ve adjusted to the “how are yous” and the “did you find everything,” but what I cannot stand is when the cashier won’t even attempt to read my name and first asks me how to pronounce it. Hey TT management: I should not have to tell a cashier my name as a condition to complete the transaction. Grrr.
By the way, as of this week, no more American Airlines miles from Tom Thumb. One more reason to shop at Kroger. I also have had good service there. And they carry 10 types of Pringles in case Merritt needs another can.
You hit a nerve with this one, Charles. I don’t need the distraction of every employee in the store talking to me when I’m trying to remember what was on my shopping list.
When my son was younger we used to frequent the TT at Preston/Forest & loved to visit with a couple of the guys in the produce department who always recognized us. One was a big guy and my little boy always called him “my buddy.” He looked forward to going to Tom Thumb to see his buddy, who always had a stick of gum for him as we came through his department. Those were genuine conversations with people I had come to know, not these pretend conversations that TT is now forcing on their customers.
And you would not believe the number of times that one of their cashiers has handed the receipt to me and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Crap.” Seriously. Who says that without double-checking the spelling first?
Agree with Charles, I’m fine, let me get out of here. No, I don’t want to tell you that I couldn’t find my favorite item that you stopped stocking 3 months ago. I want to get out of here. And Now, you’re going to ask how to pronounce my name? WHY? are we going to be having a continuing relationship? does it matter if you get it wrong? I don’t care nearly as much that you get my name right as that I get out of here QUICKLY. at this point I am holding my bags and you are staring mystified at my receipt. why does corporate Tom Thumb not understand that getting out of the store quickly is customer courtesy?
1. How quickly we forget: http://www.parkcitiespeople.com/blog/the-guy-bagging-groceries-at-tom-thumb-do-you-really-know-him/
2. The Preston Center TT (the Hyer store), the Highland Park Village TT (Bradfield/Armstrong) and the Snider Plaza (UP/Armstrong) are like old time neighborhood stores. I appreciate the fact that when I go to the Hyer store I get to see people that I may not be able to interact with as much, such as the moms and dads whose kids might have been on one of my kids Y athletic team or tribes. Those of you who seek anonymity may be better served by going to one of the flagship stores.
3. I am usually greeted by one or two people I know each time I go into the Hyer store. Why shouldn’t the employees of Tom Thumb greet me by name or send me on my way using my name as a friend might?
I’m just saying
I agree it is annoying being asked how I am doing each time I round a corner (especiaaly by somebody that doesn’t even wait for an answer). However, I found yesterday’s experience at Tom Thumb far more irksome.
I was just walking up to two rather long lines when I heard “lane 5 is open for checkout” over the PA system. I looked around and nobody seemed to be making a move, so I headed that way and managed to be first in line. I happily said something to the checker like “wow it paid to be listening.” I was greeted with a scowl and the response, “they were way out of line calling me over the PA like that, there aren’t that many people in line.” Umm, I just meant yay for me I don’t have to wait in line? Then, the manager came over to her and asked her to turn on her light which prompted more protests regarding her annoyance. Again, umm do your job? And thanks for making my day happier.
Of course unlike the happy checker, I never uttered a single word my first . . .
P.S. Ten + people waiting in 2 lines in a tiny store DOES warrant another line being opened.
I neglected to mention that I was at the Snider Plaza store which years ago was the friendly local store. Now, I usually manage to leave grumpy and bitter like most of the people working there.
Because James……they don’t really care what my name is, they never remember anyway and I don’t want everyone else in line hearing what my name is. As someone above said saying my name out loud shouldn’t be a condition of the transaction.
I must have a lot more positive attitude than I thought! None of this ever bothers me and just kind of goes over my head! I actually even asked the nice bag boy his name (Charles at the Preston Center location — or Hyer store as James calls it!) and now say “Hi Charles” almost everyday when I come in! Maybe, because Im friendly and almost there every day, they even remember my name without looking at my slip! My only complaint, and God bless that poor manager who always has to listen to me about this, are all the D%&@ people who park in the TT parking lot and walk over to Taco Diner to eat. Circling the lot 3 or 4 times or schlepping $250 worth of groceries down Wentwood …. now that’s something to gripe about!
P.S. @ Khaki … When I shopped at Snider Plaza the other day and was clueless about where anything was … I was very impressed by how nice two of the employees were. They helped me find everything on my list. When they asked if I was finding everything ok …. I said no and they proceeded to help me find everything!
I feel compelled to butt in here again to say that I prefer the approach of Central Market, which is that their staff is always nearby, but rarely do they initiate the conversation. When I have asked them, though, about a product or where to find something, their response is immediate, helpful, and, above-all, well-informed. They really know their products.
In some of the responses above, I notice that TT customers praise the friendliness of the employees whose names they know and with whom they interact on a regular basis, to which I say: exactly! That’s real friendliness, as opposed to a formulaic, faux-friendliness.
@citygirl, the way to stop them from saying your name at the checkout counter is to not use a Reward card. Oh wait, that means you won’t get the good discounts. Maybe that means there is an exchange going on…TT gets to know your name and buying habits and you get the good deals. Sounds like a mutually beneficial transaction.
James they DO have my reward card AND my credit card info. But they still ask me how to pronounce it. To add to this my cards are all in my maiden (and still legal) name but around the community I am known by my married name. So when people that know me from the schools etc. hear my old name they are confused and then THEY ask me about it. I am fine with them having all my marketing info just leave the public introductions out of it.
Hopefully this will make you laugh….my reward card is an original going way back. It came with 2 cards and I gave one to my then boyfriend. Now he is my husband and still has the same card which is in my maiden name. Often when he uses it they say “Thank you Mr. My Old Name” And then our friends and neighbors in line are really confused!
@citygirl, You should have new cards made with your own special, easy to pronounce name just for TT. Something like C.T. Gurl. That way you would leave the check-out line smiling!