Key Concepts:
Accountability
Feedback
Safety
Situation:
Fall 2012, holidays are just around the corner and it’s late Saturday night. I’m on my way to the local Rite Aid (drug store). I checked online and they close at 10:00p (It was 9:30p when I checked). Looking to get TheraFlu or equivalent so I can have a couple of good nights sleep to ensure I am able to work on Monday (wait, did I just say that?). We are nearing the busy holiday season and being sick was not an option.
By the time I pull into the parking lot, it’s 9:45p. I spy a scruffy/scrappy gentleman, fiddling with a bicycle near the entrance. The parking lot is virtually empty save the man at the entrance as I proceed to the entrance. As I approach, I pick up on two things.
One the man is securing his bicycle and fiddling with stuff in bags hanging from the handle bars.
Two, there are two employees standing at the front entrance watching the man.
As I approach to enter, one of the two employees says, “Sorry we are closed.” The automatic door was clearly locked. I said, “No, you don’t close until 10p.” I verified the operating hours on the sign next to the front door and check my phone for the time which is ~12 minutes prior to 10:00p. The employee apologizes and says, “Im sorry, but our manager says we are closing early.” I was a bit incredulous, a brief discussion ensued, I failed to Jedi mind trick the employees to open the door for me.
At this time, the man at his bicycle overheard what was going on and started to complain (somewhat loudly) stating he just got here, he had a list of things he needed. I piled on stating that I only needed one thing and I’d be less than five minutes. They were steadfast, not offering any alternatives (there is a Rite Aid open 24 hours a few miles away which could have been helpful to me, but not the guy with the bicycle). They kept a professional/apologetic tone with me. I noticed that they somewhat ignored the other man.
I left, not wanting to deal with the situation anymore. I went to my local grocery store, a little further away but open later, I probably paid more and had to make two trips but got what I needed to get some rest over the weekend.
Outcome:
In the end, I got what I needed at a minor cost and inconvenience to me. The following day I filled out the email web form on the Rite Aid website to provide feedback for the incident. I never received any follow up, nor was I really expecting any. I did my duty as a consumer who was “wronged” by the service provided by a business. The feedback provided is up to the business to review and respond as they see fit. Since this situation, I make a concerted effort to not spend money at Rite Aid, even moved my prescriptions from Rite Aid to Target after my company was acquired by Target the following year. My total annual Rite Aid spend went from ~$200-400 to less than $50.
Feedback/Discussion (please respond in the comments!):
Safety – For discussions sake, I put safety first as I recognize that of the possible reasons for closing early, this is an acceptable one for me. If the manager made the decision because of the safety of the employees with the presence of the scruffy/scrappy man parking his bicycle at the front entrance. I get it, if that is the case I don’t mind being inconvenienced. Who knows, perhaps they have a history with the man from previous visits.
Accountability – Business hours are clearly stated online and at the front entrance. How much accountability should businesses have to stick to what they say they will do? Business hours are just one example of being accountable for word or deed. In our call center environment, we often would keep the inbound phone system opening and closing times 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after our posted business hours. That way a customer can reach us even if their time piece is a little off. I don’t know if Rite Aid managers regularly close early at their discretion. Certainly as mentioned above if the safety of employees or customers involved it should be done. But if it was simply a slow night? Do they close early to save overhead? If do, why not let one of the two other employees go home early instead? In a contact center environment, when shifts are slow the management team has full authority to manage the day to day, including releasing folks early from their shift, calling folks in if it is busy. On certain holidays we’ll often close early based on volume. However, we would never close early just because.
Feedback – I provided feedback of my experience. Not sure what if anything was done with it, but after I hit submit, the rest is Rite Aid’s business. That said, this type of feedback is a perfect opportunity to engage customer with a “Surprise and Delight” option. It would have been satisfying to receive a response let alone some type of appeasement for the inconvenience. Would you have responded in this case? Is so, how would that response have read? Now in my case, regardless of response I still would have moved my prescription to Target just because of the employee perks went along with it.