I am a firm believer that the money you spend on supplies and goods should be spent in the small businesses and the community that you live in.
Keeping the money "In house" so to speak, serves multiple purposes.
Just to name a few;
1. Helps the City's income from the tax base you helped generate and it betters your services in the long run.
2. Promotes the small businesses and creates community jobs.
3. Helps keep the "Mom & Pop" stores from being taken over or shut down by the big corporations.
4. It saves you money on gas by not driving all the way into the big city.
5. It encourages other small businesses to pop up in your town.
6. Lastly, you know where your money is going and it is not masked by high paid executives who promote the gay lifestyle.
Even if I have to pay a few cents more for an item, I still try to buy it from the local stores. Not only are the people working at these places you neighbors, they are your friends and sometimes even your family. That makes the customer service at some of the local businesses unmatched.
I say all this because yesterday I went into town to get the lumber for the breeder pens. I decided to stop off at the local hardware store to check the prices and to see if they had what I needed. I did not want to drive all the way to the city just to save a couple of dollars on a few boards. Plus the gas would have made it not worth the trip.
Let me tell you, the 2x4s I needed were $1.50 more per board. I have gone to this place a least a thousand times and every time, I do not get good customer service. To be blunt, they are just rude and they always have been. I asked the guy, who should know me by now, if they could come down on the price a little because I did not want to make the drive all the way to Lowe's. He just snubbed me, mumbled something and walked away.
I have said it before but this time I mean it, my shadow will never darken their door again. I have tried to support them for years now and they just won't let me.
I don't know if they act that way because they are the only dog on the porch or they really hate their jobs that much.
The end result was, I went to Lowe's, expected bad customer service and got it.
With gas included, I ended up saving about $50.00 by shopping and supporting a company I really don't like.
Bummer, Redneck. Kind of puts a damper on your mood. We try to support the locals and for things like hardware and lumber, we come out pretty good. But I also won't put up with rudeness. Poor customer service or none at all is an annoyance, but rudeness is a deal breaker for me. At least you didn't end up spending $50 MORE after you figured in the gas ...there's your silver lining, such as it is.
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WWRWH,
ReplyDeleteIt was just on mind today. I cannot understand some people. If I had a dieing business then I sure the heck would not run people off.
We have a tire shop here in town and the owner has robbed people for years. They are closing the doors because they cannot get business, but yet wonder why.
This is true in more arenas than you think. I've worked for a federal agency for 23 years. Time was, if you needed to check on your retirement, insurance or apply for a job, you went down the hall and talked to the HR person. Or if you computer was acting up, you peeked around the corner and asked Bob, the IT guy, to take a quick look at it. Those days are gone. Now our HR dept is in Albuquerque, NM. Our IT dept is handled mostly by contractors scattered all over. Most issues are left up to the employee to figure out by visiting a ton of web sites or staying on hold forever only to be told someone will contact you within 3 business days.
ReplyDeleteFace to face interaction is dieing. Small businesses can't survive with large box stores, where everything sold is made in China. Check the plywood next time you are in Lowes....not made in USA.
We used to own a small business in a small town. A lot of times people would come in and ask if we could lower our prices. Sometimes we could, a lot of times we couldn't. The bigger stores have lower prices because they buy in bulk. Sometimes they actually sell the product for what WE could buy it for. So when people would come in and say that they could get it cheeper at the bigger stores, my dad would tell them to go to the bigger stores. It really got old after so many years. But, all of that said, no excuse for plain rudeness.
ReplyDeleteI fully understand about them not being able to lower the prices on things and I don't have a problem if they just tell me no. I can also understand a bad day or two, but this has gone on for years.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you why I even asked. A few months ago I had bought some landscape timbers from Lowe's and forgot a couple of things when I left. On the way home I stopped by the local hardware store to get the needed items I had forgot and just for the heck of it I asked what the price was for their landscape timbers. They were just a little higher but the guy told me he would come down on them if I bought enough.
So from that day on I checked to see if they would do the same thing on other stuff. That day was the only time they were civil to me.