Waiting to be served

That was just so ridiculous of the stall holder. I hope she doesn't make any more sales. Don't worry. There's time to find the same thing elsewhere.

I was just about to start a new thread about something similar when I saw this. I went to our local post office this morning to send a parcel and get some stamps. There were 2 people serving and a short queue (three people in front of me, and one person behind me). One of the assistants finished serving her customer and then disappeared out the back. The other server was taking a long time with his customer who was filling in forms for something or other. So we stood and waited. The assistant who had disappeared reappeared and called to the other assistant 'I'm going out for milk, I haven't had a drink all day'. (It was about 11.15 this morning). She disappeared for a few minutes, came back with some milk, walked past the queue which hadn't moved, went out the back. We heard her clinking spoons in cups. She eventually came back, put a cup down for herself and gave her colleague a cup and then promptly walked past the queue again and went out for a cigarette! I was eventually served by the other assistant and left the shop. This woman was still puffing away outside. I had been in there for 15 minutes in all. Unbelievable!

Serves her right, so rude.
I probably would have said something alone the lines of "Do you want my business or would you prefer to continue your conversation"

It was probably the shock of having a customer. DD did a number of craft fairs with her vintage soft furnishings. Most of the time she didn't even make enough sales to cover the, usually very modest, exhibitor price. She wasn't alone. People pour into craft fairs to look rather than buy

I lost count of the number of times the people admired her cushions, throws and other household goods, and then said 'Ooh, I could do that. My Mum has got lots of embroidered tablecloths and I have some fabrics. We all they never would. After a couple of year she gave up crafts and started dealing antiques, at least we sell things and even make a small profit.

How very rude! I would have walked out too.

I hate that !

Its bad enough in a large store but at a small craft fair its lost sales as you proved.

What I hate more though is 2 assistants talking together while serving me and totally ignoring me except to tell me the price and hold their hand out.

argh...Im turning into a grumpy old woman!!!

Agreed, NananandGrampy. Once at an Asda checkout the assistant commented on the vase I was buying. I was about to reply when I realised she was calling across me over to her colleague on the next till. They went on to discuss it and give their opinions as to whether they would buy it, without acknowledging me once!

In PC World once I was served by a young lad who spent the entire transaction with his turned away from me as he carried on a conversation with his mate at the next till. He didn't even look at me as he told me the amount I had to pay. I did nothing. Eventually, he turned to me and repeated the amount due as if to a simpleton. I asked him if his induction had included any customer care training. He looked a little bewildered by the question, so I pointed out to him that he had not once acknowledged my presence, until he thought I needed reminding that I had to pay. He didn't apologise, so I told him that I thought he was extremely rude and he was lucky I wasn't reporting his poor behaviour to the manager.

Was it worth it? Probably not. He was just a kid trying to earn beer money. He didn't demonstrate any customer care because he actually didn't care. I wonder how long he lasted.

This happened to me in Debenhams when one assistant talked a customer into taking out a store card and went off to the end of the counter with her to complete the forms. There was a long queue and I commented that leaving just one assistant was very bad and there should be a desk for dealing with administration. When I got home I emailed Head office and they replied and asked if I would like someone to ring me to discuss it, they never did ring.

Would definitely have walked away from the craft stall and as someone who used to do a lot of craft fairs, the stallholder's attitude was plain stupid. I used to chat to as many potential customers as possible and my husband and I had a saying, 'sold not bought' when it looked like my chatting got a sale. Any friends visiting would immediately step aside if someone else came along.

As for the PO, well that's more difficult. I wonder who was the one in charge? My Postmaster bends over backwards for his customers, especially his regulars. He knows how vital customer numbers are to the business he is allowed to offer. It must be hard to get a break sometimes in a busy environment, so yes it would annoy me if she'd taken break, but what would annoy me more is her saying what she said in the hearing of customers. There's ways and there's ways. It's about appearing efficient. But at the end of the day, if it was the first time I'd seen her act that way, I would try to give her the benefit of the doubt in case she's going through a bad time. I know others will disagree, but I'm a lot more tolerant these days and try to remember not to sweat the small stuff.