small changes, big ripples. On customer service

An experience I had today reminded me of a recent post that was doing the rounds entitled ‘50 things your customers wish you knew‘

You’d like to hope that a list such as this was simple common sense and you wouldn’t have to spell it out:  unfortunately it isn’t.  And you do.

(warning, this story contains no actual technology content! It is though business-pertinent I believe.  And a small personal rant..).

Long story short was that I was shopping in Woolworths an anonymous supermarket in Australia and had gone to the ‘12 items or less’ queue with my basket of – approximately – 8 items.  It just happened that I’d bought all ‘big-stuff’ though, so even though I only had 8 items they included a big bag of flour, large tin on tuna, lots of oranges, giant margarine tub etc.

Having scanned all my items and piled them up in front of her the cashier asked me if I had my own bag.

‘No’, says I.

At this point we just sort of stood there looking at each other.  Eventually she sighed and said: ‘well if you want a bag you have to ask for one, we can’t just give you one’.

…’and that’s when I killed her, your honor’….

Err, well in reality I remained fairly calm (outwardly), but inside I was thinking ‘what the heck just happened?  Why I am being forced to beg for a single plastic bag when I clearly have too much to carry and when the regular checkouts right next to me will give me enough bags to carry each of my items in its own separate carrier if I was mad enough to desire it?’

Clearly the girl at the checkout was merely following orders, but why enforce a change like this?  Oh, sure, I can hear people crying ‘to save the planet, you idiot’, but I’m not talking about trying to save on plastic bags.  I’m talking about implementing a blanket policy that’s enforced so rigidly even when it’s patently ridiculous (was I meant to balance the items on my nose like some Cirque de Soleil act as I walked back to the car?).  Why not simply suggest that if someone has only a few small items the checkout staff merely ask if they’d like a bag or they’re ok to carry them?  Why not allow the checkout staff to use what common sense I assume they do have and let them decide to give out a bag if they need to?

The issue’s not about bags or checkouts though.  It’s the fact that not for one second did the genius who thought of this idea put themselves in the customers shoes.  Yes, I’ll bet they saved Woolies a few dollars but at what expense?

I could have left that business transaction as happy as when I joined it. Instead I came out feeling annoyed and angry that I had to almost beg to comply with someone else’s immovable process.

What are you doing to your customers that conveniences you, but not them?  And for the benefit of what exactly?  A few dollars for the sake of a longer term relationship?

Comments most welcome.

[note:  I'm not planning to boycott Woolies on the back of something as trivial as this.  It just got me thinking .. ]