I recently decided to buy a futon for my spare bedroom/craft room and wanted something decent, but didn't want to spend a lot of money since it would be rarely used. I stopped by several places in Chillicothe to compare quality and prices, and was told that Beds 'n' Stuff on Bridge St (formerly the waterbed place, recently moved next door to Kroger) had a good selection.
They did have quite a few futons to choose from, but the prices were higher than what I was willing to pay. Even if I did have money to spare, however, it would not have been spent in Beds 'n' Stuff.
It might be cliche that first impressions are important, but they truly are. When I walked in the door and had to wend my way around sofas that were positioned almost blocking the entryway, I wasn't impressed. I was less pleased that what you first see on entry looked like what we used to call a 'head shop' (is that term still used today?).
I wasn't greeted by anyone, so I ventured off to see what I could find on my own. I sat on futons and daybeds, checked prices, pulled out trundles. I did this the full length of the store and back, sometimes more than once on certain pieces, hoping to catch someone's attention so I could ask questions. I really didn't want to venture into the non-bedding part of the establishment, so when 20-30 minutes went by without being acknowledged by anyone, I decided I'd wasted enough time. Before walking out, I paused to look at the sofas by the door, thinking surely an employee would see me then since I was right in front of the 'other' part of the store, and I could hear people talking.
Nope. Out I went, my money still in my pocket.
Beds 'n' Stuff probably lost a $400-500 sale that day. Instead, WalMart got my $220 and I couldn't be happier. I didn't have to go searching for an employee to help me, and while I didn't get the fanciest futon in town, it serves my needs well.
 |
| (c) Marie Anne St. Jean |
They did have quite a few futons to choose from, but the prices were higher than what I was willing to pay. Even if I did have money to spare, however, it would not have been spent in Beds 'n' Stuff.
It might be cliche that first impressions are important, but they truly are. When I walked in the door and had to wend my way around sofas that were positioned almost blocking the entryway, I wasn't impressed. I was less pleased that what you first see on entry looked like what we used to call a 'head shop' (is that term still used today?).
I wasn't greeted by anyone, so I ventured off to see what I could find on my own. I sat on futons and daybeds, checked prices, pulled out trundles. I did this the full length of the store and back, sometimes more than once on certain pieces, hoping to catch someone's attention so I could ask questions. I really didn't want to venture into the non-bedding part of the establishment, so when 20-30 minutes went by without being acknowledged by anyone, I decided I'd wasted enough time. Before walking out, I paused to look at the sofas by the door, thinking surely an employee would see me then since I was right in front of the 'other' part of the store, and I could hear people talking.
Nope. Out I went, my money still in my pocket.
Beds 'n' Stuff probably lost a $400-500 sale that day. Instead, WalMart got my $220 and I couldn't be happier. I didn't have to go searching for an employee to help me, and while I didn't get the fanciest futon in town, it serves my needs well.
10 comments:
Yep, "head shop" is still the term. I find it interesting that they kinda-sorta tried to change their image by playing up the "Beds and Stuff". Sounds like the same old place - no customer service.
On the bright side, sounds like you saved quite a bit of money.
Stopping by on the A to Z Challenge from Debbie & Harry's Kitchen!
Sounds like they didn't want your money very badly.
What a name for a store!
Popping in as an A to Z Blogging Challenge participant. Please feel free to visit and comment on any of my blogs as well, leaving a link to your own post, so my readers can find you too!
All on Blogspot.com and all in the A to Z Challenge
Heart of a Ready Writer – Bible &Devotional
Meme Express – Daily Blog Prompts (A to Z)
Nickers and Ink – featuring favorite classic poems from A to Z
Practically at Home – Wait till you see what fellow writers are cited – with article links! Maybe you!
Simply Snickers – Not posting daily in the A to Z Challenge, but inviting you to leave comments with you A to Z/NaPoWriMo poetry links!
The Mane Point – profiling special horses from A to Z (just a few letter spots left!) –
Working in Words – Writing How-to’s
You can click my name/icon for links to all these blogs!
Happy A-to-Z-ing!
Linda Ann
Stores set up like that annoy me to no end. For me, I'd rather pay more or get a less quality product somewhere else than to have to dig through a bunch of disorganized stock and/or hunt an entire store to get some customer service!
As someone who works retail I am appalled at poor customer service in stores. Most of the time the stores are understaffed and there is no one to help. Our store is "secret shopped" at least once a month and graded on cretieria such as being greeted, asking open end questions to see the customers need and closing the sale. Even though most customers ignore me when they come in the store I make a point to great and offer to assist. Retail is tough but it's a choice to work there most of the time. glad you got something that will work for you and you even paid less than planned.
As someone who works retail I am appalled at poor customer service in stores. Most of the time the stores are understaffed and there is no one to help. Our store is "secret shopped" at least once a month and graded on cretieria such as being greeted, asking open end questions to see the customers need and closing the sale. Even though most customers ignore me when they come in the store I make a point to great and offer to assist. Retail is tough but it's a choice to work there most of the time. glad you got something that will work for you and you even paid less than planned.
Thanks for sharing this story. I'm glad you ended up happy in the end!
Definitely their loss. I had a similar experience at a big box electronics store- no one asked if I needed help and I felt ignored while staff chit-chatted while I was looking at laptops. I took my business elsewhere.
You should've got a waterbed!
Popping by and randomly visiting A to Z Challengers.
I have a question. What other "stuff" did they have?
Wow! Talk about the epitome of bad customer service. I bet you won't see the furniture store in business next year at this time. Would be interesting to see if that ends up being true.
Post a Comment