Why Argue?

Why do service staff argue with customers?

I love going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond because of the great selection of kitchen gadgets. Face it, I'm a foodie and while most guys like to have the latest electronic doo-dads, I'm the one found hanging out at BBaB, fondling a potato ricer and muttering to myself how I must have it!

This past week I got a pasta machine for my birthday and planned on using it on the weekend to make some homemade pasta. I learned how to use the machine at a cooking class I attended a few months ago and remembered that a drying rack was key to making sure the finished product was "perfetto".

I wandered aimlessly around the kitchen section for 10 minutes, unable to find what I was looking for when one of the staff stopped by and asked if he could help me find anything. I said "Yes, I'm looking for a pasta drying rack." Without any acknowledgement, he turned on his heel and started walking. Assuming he was taking me to them, we ended up in the house wares section where he stopped, pointed to the large dryer racks used for drying clothes, and said "There you go". He turned and walked away, as did I. He saw me and said "That's not what you want?", and I said "No, I was looking for a pasta drying rack".

He looked me dead in the eye and said "Well, you didn't say it was for pasta".

Well first of all, I did have a witness as my 14-year old son was with me and confirmed later on that I did mention it was for pasta. But regardless of that, why an employee would go out of his/her way to let me know that their ineptitude was my fault escapes me.

It's no wonder online retail continues to grow. The $50 food mill I had my eye on at BBaB was $39 at Amazon.com. And if I screwed up the search request, Amazon would have politely asked "did you mean...?"

Look, I'm all for dealing with service staff that are confident in their abilities. But to demean a customer just to put themselves into a position of authority is no way to deliver an awe-inspiring experience. Seriously, do you think I would recommend to anyone they would shop at the BBaB retail store?

Oh, and as for the pasta? Turns out you can make a pretty nifty drying rack using Legos!