Question:
It’s rather amazing how naive people are about the nature of the retail business. With the heavy competition for price, margins are squeezed down to bare minima, and guess where money is saved? Salaries of salespeople! There was a time when one could make a decent living in retail sales, but that time is no more. Store managers are often very poor managers of personel. Retail storeds are often understaffed because they can’t hire people at the wages they pay, and thus the people you see are often if not always required to work long hours, put up with incompetent obnoxious mangers, and you would not believe some of the customers that you have to deal with! Thus when you shop for the lowest price, you are sacrificing quality of service, and there is really nothing that you can do about it! It is hard enough to keep a store staffed at the wages currently paid. To expect high quality, competent professional service at minimum wage of a little above is absurd. Most retail businesses are not going to fire a reliable employee becasue of your complaint because a reliable employee at that wage is hard to find. If you want good service in golf, buy from a well stocked pro shop. You pay more, but you get good service. If you shop price only, you get what you pay for, and one of the sacrifices is service, at least in the sense that the store allocates less to salaries of their salespeople, and they (and thus you) get what they pay for. You can make grandios statement about what you expect for the great honor of your patronage, but the fact is that the retail industry in general believes that what you buy has nothing to do with in store servce and everything to do with media hype and advertizing, and thats where the money is spent. When you get good service in any retail store, count your blessings! Rob. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You were perfectly justified in your response to your treatment at Golf Warehouse. I had an aggravating experience at their store on Indian Trail Road and I-85. I had purchased a $200 putter as a retirement gift for a friend. It’s one of those overpriced classic reproductions that came in a display box. There was no gift wrap available in the store except for some that was toosmall. Finally, the salesman found a plastic left over Christmas gift bag designed to hold a large club like a GBB, and I was happy. That is, until he started to ring up $4.00 for the bag. I rebelled against that, told him to keep the bag, and give me a refund on the putter that I had just charged. The salesman was adamant that the charge for the bag was "Their policy". As I was getting my money refunded, someone else came out of a huddle in the back room, and said that I should take the bag for free, please don’t return the putter, and please remain a customer. I had purchased a set of clubs, several individual clubs, golf bags, and many small items from that store, but I was treated as if I were a freeloader, just as you were treated. Don’t knuckle under. It’s our money that’s being spent, and neither Golf Warehouse or any other shop is doing us a favor in taking our money. I’m not going to boycott the store because of one incident, but I sure am going to let them know what I think whenever I am dissatisfied. -Robby P.
Response:
The best thing for this Golf Warehouse would be to keep the Asian woman behind the counter ringing up sales where she won’t have to deal with the customers. My experience is that her strength is not in customer service but just taking the money. What does the race of this rude woman have to do with anything? And why do some posters in this thread feel a need to continually mention that she’s Asian? Makes you wonder.
Since I’m the one who made the original statement, I suppose I should answer the question. The text you have quoted at the beginning of your post was in response to my original message. The fact that the woman is Asian has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with anything. But let’s be precise here, and examine the original context of the message: In the original posting, the very mention of her possible ancestry was merely added for clarification purposes. Let me quote it here: I was close to deciding on one putter when the lady behind the counter (the manager, I think–heck, she might be the owner) came over to me, and in her broken English (she’s Korean, I believe), said, "You’ve putted enough with that putter…
[snipped the rest] That is anything but offensive. I did not describe her in any way other than to say "the woman." I merely described what happened, saying "the lady…[spoke] in her broken English." Then, parenthetically, I suggested that she was Korean "I believe," as an explanation for why her English was "broken." That’s hardly an insult, merely an explanation. Even in that context, the only reason I mentioned that her English was broken was because it was germaine to the story I told. I went on to explain that I wasn’t exactly sure I understood her, and asked her, "You think I’m going to ‘wear out this putter by putting with it?’" Go back and read the original posting and you might get a better perspective on the context of all this. Believe me, I am the last person you’d ever want to raise "racial sensitivity" issues with, as I have absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for anyone’s bigotry whether they be white, black, gray, brown, yellow, red, pink or green. (Did I leave anybody out?) Randy
Response:
The best thing for this Golf Warehouse would be to keep the Asian woman behind the counter ringing up sales where she won’t have to deal with the customers. My experience is that her strength is not in customer service but just taking the money. What does the race of this rude woman have to do with anything? And why do some posters in this thread feel a need to continually mention that she’s Asian?
What does the fact that this person is a women have to do with anything? Why do you feel the need to continually mention the sex of the person in question? Makes you wonder.
About stones and glass houses; yes, it does. — NOTE: Remove the ‘x’ from the above address for replies and in the REPLY TO: address in the header "Omit needless words and such." — William Strunk from the rough draft of _The Elements of Style_ Give me ambiguity or give me something else. Copyright 1998. All rights reserved.
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I think if you can avoid that woman in that store your fine. My dad had a good experience in that store with a salesperson in that very store. The salesperson went out of his way for my dad in buying a set of irons. The best thing for this Golf Warehouse would be to keep the Asian woman behind the counter ringing up sales where she won’t have to deal with the customers. My experience is that her strength is not in customer service but just taking the money. Hopefully, this store will learn that.
Response:
The best thing for this Golf Warehouse would be to keep the Asian woman behind the counter ringing up sales where she won’t have to deal with the customers. My experience is that her strength is not in customer service but just taking the money.
What does the race of this rude woman have to do with anything? And why do some posters in this thread feel a need to continually mention that she’s Asian? Makes you wonder.
Response:
I spoke today with a gentleman who was formerly a club rep and had that store as one of his accounts. He told me it was unbelievable to him how they’ve been able to stay in business with the way they treat their customers. I’m apparently not the first to experience treatment like this. Some people just do not know how to keep customers.
As the old saying goes: It can take months to get a new customer but only seconds to lose one. For God Stuff, Poems, and of course Babes— Check out my web site at: http://members.aol.com/Barrue/index.html
Response:
What does the race of this rude woman have to do with anything?
Nothing. And why do some posters in this thread feel a need to continually mention that she’s Asian?
They’re not "mention(ing) that she’s Asian." They’re referring to a woman who, they’ve been informed, happens to be Asian, and using an easy identifier so that everybody will know who they’re talking about. If her name was Kwok or (insert your idea of an obviously Asian name here) and they referred to her as "Kwok", would you have the same problem? Perhaps "Asian" is redundant, since there’s only one woman being discussed, but that’s the cost of conversation. It’s really no cause for anyone to get up on their hind legs, unless they’re just actively seeking reasons to do so (as many do.) Doing so raises the risk of mis-labelling this conversation as a racist discussion. Makes you wonder.
I suppose it could. I’ve had nothing to add to the thread, but I probably would have dropped "Asian" if I had. I try to be a careful thinker & speaker, and redundant labelling bothers me. But I haven’t seen anything that’s gone before that indicated a racial component to the discussion. I do have a problem with the "Korean Mafia" posting that was in response to yours. But only because it’s non-responsive, not because of any perceived racism (which I’m not going to address any further.) Brian
Response:
Having heard a fuller story, I have to withdraw any inferred defense of the Golf Warehouse in question. I don’t withdraw my general comments about the nature of the retail business (I’ve been there, done that, and know that it SUCKS..imagine WORKING at Golf Warehouse!). There is nothing worse than some Mickey-Mouse retailer who thinks that they are better than anyone else because they are "business people". Anyone who shops at this store is a COMPETE FOOL! Rob.
Response:
why do some posters in this thread feel a need to continually mention that she’s Asian?
Only because that particular "chain" of stores is owned by what the rest of the golf shops in Atlanta call the "Korean Mafia"… The Golf Warehouses are actually under two different managements. The store in Smyrna is owned by the Asian woman (and her family), and the other GW stores are owned by a different group of Asians. The other stores (Indian Trail, Roswell, Town Center, Morrow, and Buford Hwy) are under management of one individual who is not Asian, although the Asian owner usually has a family member or more working in each of the stores. I rep several lines of golf equipment and apparel. I made a few calls to the Smyrna store, and decided early on that no amount of commissions earned would be worth putting up with that nasty woman. I haven’t been in that store in over a year, and I sell a good bit of product into the other GW’s.. I don’t think the references to Asians should be construed as anything racist…only descriptive. But Randy has only brought to light what many in the Atlanta golf market already knew. Hell, even the management at the other GW’s know…but what can they do?
Response:
: Now it’s the "Lowest Prices In Town". The world has changed, : and maybe not for the better. This is what the buying public wants, "we" got what we didn’t want to pay for. If you want it to change, take all your business to the speciality shops that give perfect service and charge for it. Good Putting! Mark p.s. My Pro shop just cut back on my 20% discount on balls, for 8 yrs I’ve been getting 20% off in the entire Pro shop, now it’s just on "soft goods"…guess what, I’ll buy elsewhere now. They told me it was because they only marked up balls 25%, so making the few percent on each sleeve wasn’t enough….now they’ll make even less on each sleeve I don’t buy. 
— Mark Koenig, Technical Consulting || These views are my own. "Mondays, what a terrible way to spend 1/7th of your life"
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Folks, article is not just a salesperson. Her husband owns the store. I spoke today with a gentleman who was formerly a club rep and had that store as one of his accounts. He told me it was unbelievable to him how they’ve been able to stay in business with the way they treat their customers. I’m apparently not the first to experience treatment like this.
Randy: Thanks for the heads up on this particular store. Like most of us I buy items from mulitple stores in Atlanta with the discount stores that I have visited being Golf Warehouse and Pro Golf. I have recently moved near the "problem" store you describe, and previuosly was going to Golf Warehouse at I-285 and Buford Highway. The one at Buford Highway has/had a couple of guys that were rather decent to me. In fact I did the same drill of looking at putters for almost 2 hours last spring and not a bit of hassle. Some people just do not know how to keep customers. Cheers, Mike — Mike Marler Information Technology, Georgia Tech
Response:
Folks, I’ve since come to realize that the asian woman to which I refer in this article is not just a salesperson. Her husband owns the store. I spoke today with a gentleman who was formerly a club rep and had that store as one of his accounts. He told me it was unbelievable to him how they’ve been able to stay in business with the way they treat their customers. I’m apparently not the first to experience treatment like this. Randy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before. I went into Golf Warehouse (those of you in Atlanta: it was the store off Cobb Parkway in Smyrna). My intention was to buy a putter. I went there because they have a good selection. (My putting’s been a bit spotty lately, and my current putter must know who’s boss.) ;-) So I walk over to the putters and pick up one model and putt with it a few balls. I try another. You know the drill. We’ve all done this before. You putt a few with one putter, then another, then another. Eventually, you narrow it down to a couple and you putt with them a while and compare. I was in there, oh, maybe 25 minutes, minding my own business trying to make a purchasing decision, and I was close to deciding on one putter when the lady behind the counter (the manager, I think–heck, she might be the owner) came over to me, and in her broken English (she’s Korean, I believe), said, "You’ve putted enough with that putter, you’re going to wear it out. Put it back." Stunned and not absolutely sure I understood her, I responded, "You think I’m going to *wear out* this putter?" She said, "Yes. No more putting. You buy that putter or put it back." Huh? In all my years golfing, I’ve never had someone tell me not to try out their equipment. Heck, it wasn’t like I’d been in there for hours. But even if it had, you’re not going to "wear out" a putter putting with it on carpet! I was incensed, and stormed out of there. Under my breath, I muttered something about how I couldn’t believe this, after all the business I’d given them. At least two other customers in the store overheard this exchange, and one of them said to me, "I guess they want to run off customers." You can count me as one she ran off. What’s ironic is that I bought the clubs I’m presently playing with from that store, and THAT WOMAN rang up the purchase! She sold me my Callaway X-12s and my Biggest Big Bertha driver. Over the course of the past year, I’ve purchased at least two Great Big Berthas–a driver and the 3-wood (since sold ‘em), two or three Callaway War Bird fairway woods and at least two other putters, and in almost every case, she was there to ring up the purchase. I bought two pairs of Florsheim Frogs (shoes, at about $125 a pair), a drawer full of Nike socks and God knows how many golf balls. In all, I’ve probably spent around, oh, I’d guess $2500 at that store. And in the past year, I’ve never one time had even the slightest run-in with these people. Though I seldom have much to say when I go in, I’m always polite, say, "hi," and go about my business of finding what I came in to purchase, pay for it and leave. No bounced checks, no arguments–ever. It’s not as if I’ve been some sort of troublemaker. If anything, I’ve been the kind of customer most stores would love to have. And in the future, my business will be taken elsewhere. What happened is simply unbelievable. While I don’t expect anyone else to share my disdain for this chain, I share this incident with you in hopes you’ll join me in taking your business elsewhere. I will be forwarding a copy of this post and any appropriate responses to the owners of Golf Warehouse. Randy
Response:
This is the correct way of getting your point across. The sales person will either quit or be a kinder person at least for the remainder of the day. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before. [snip tale of retail woe] I’ve never had that sort of thing happen at a golf shop, but I have run across it several times at music stores, which are sometimes staffed with musicians who don’t understand how the retail business works. What I’ve done in those situations – usually with success – is ask to speak to the manager. When the manager comes out, I introduce myself, explain that I’ve been a steady customer, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I’ve spent in the store, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I had been prepared to spend *today*, and then explain that the sales person is preventing me from spending that money. Usually what happens at this point is that the manager calls the sales person over ands says, "Jason, this is Mr. YoYo. I want you to take *very good care* of him, and let him try out anything he wants." (This is delivered in a rather pointed tone that implies, "…or else you’re fired.") Then I proceed to make the sales person’s life miserable by trying out everything in the store. — "I’m not getting any saner, here…"
Response:
i’ve gotta say randy your control in this situation was admirable. i think that if it were me i’d have snapped the putter over my knee and then told the sales woman "damned if you weren’t right. it did wear out"!! "peace" – not in this case 
brett fenton – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before. I went into Golf Warehouse (those of you in Atlanta: it was the store off Cobb Parkway in Smyrna). My intention was to buy a putter. I went there because they have a good selection. (My putting’s been a bit spotty lately, and my current putter must know who’s boss.) ;-) So I walk over to the putters and pick up one model and putt with it a few balls. I try another. You know the drill. We’ve all done this before. You putt a few with one putter, then another, then another. Eventually, you narrow it down to a couple and you putt with them a while and compare. I was in there, oh, maybe 25 minutes, minding my own business trying to make a purchasing decision, and I was close to deciding on one putter when the lady behind the counter (the manager, I think–heck, she might be the owner) came over to me, and in her broken English (she’s Korean, I believe), said, "You’ve putted enough with that putter, you’re going to wear it out. Put it back." Stunned and not absolutely sure I understood her, I responded, "You think I’m going to *wear out* this putter?" She said, "Yes. No more putting. You buy that putter or put it back." Huh? In all my years golfing, I’ve never had someone tell me not to try out their equipment. Heck, it wasn’t like I’d been in there for hours. But even if it had, you’re not going to "wear out" a putter putting with it on carpet! I was incensed, and stormed out of there. Under my breath, I muttered something about how I couldn’t believe this, after all the business I’d given them. At least two other customers in the store overheard this exchange, and one of them said to me, "I guess they want to run off customers." You can count me as one she ran off. What’s ironic is that I bought the clubs I’m presently playing with from that store, and THAT WOMAN rang up the purchase! She sold me my Callaway X-12s and my Biggest Big Bertha driver. Over the course of the past year, I’ve purchased at least two Great Big Berthas–a driver and the 3-wood (since sold ‘em), two or three Callaway War Bird fairway woods and at least two other putters, and in almost every case, she was there to ring up the purchase. I bought two pairs of Florsheim Frogs (shoes, at about $125 a pair), a drawer full of Nike socks and God knows how many golf balls. In all, I’ve probably spent around, oh, I’d guess $2500 at that store. And in the past year, I’ve never one time had even the slightest run-in with these people. Though I seldom have much to say when I go in, I’m always polite, say, "hi," and go about my business of finding what I came in to purchase, pay for it and leave. No bounced checks, no arguments–ever. It’s not as if I’ve been some sort of troublemaker. If anything, I’ve been the kind of customer most stores would love to have. And in the future, my business will be taken elsewhere. What happened is simply unbelievable. While I don’t expect anyone else to share my disdain for this chain, I share this incident with you in hopes you’ll join me in taking your business elsewhere. I will be forwarding a copy of this post and any appropriate responses to the owners of Golf Warehouse. Randy
– peace brett brett r fenton school of civil engineering university of nsw australia
Response:
It’s rather amazing how naive people are about the nature of the retail business. With the heavy competition for price, margins are squeezed down to bare minima, and guess where money is saved? Salaries of salespeople! There was a time when one could make a decent living in retail sales, but that time is no more. Store managers are often very poor managers of personel. Retail storeds are often understaffed because they can’t hire people at the wages they pay, and thus the people you see are often if not always required to work long hours, put up with incompetent obnoxious mangers, and you would not believe some of the customers that you have to deal with! Thus when you shop for the lowest price, you are sacrificing quality of service, and there is really nothing that you can do about it!
Having been on both sides of this one, I’ve got to say that there’s something of a chicken-and-egg situation here. On the one hand, you’ve got a point. It’s hard to hire good help at slave wages. On the other hand, if customers refused to shop in stores where they didn’t get good service, the stores that did shell out the money to hire good people would do good business, and the others wouldn’t. It’s worth noting that if you want to shop for the most absolute rock-bottom price, you can do it without interacting with humans at all. That’s kinda sad, but that’s the way it is. As far as the margins being squeezed, well, I can certainly think of places where costs could be trimmed other than salespeoples’ salaries. (Executive compensation and marketing departments come immediately to mind.) Those decisions have their drawbacks, too. The bottom line is that managers do whatever makes the most money. If customers are willing to tolerate bad service, that’s what they’ll get. — "I’m not getting any saner, here…"
Response:
I have to agree with Rob. If you want low price, you often sacrifice good service. If you want good service, you will have to pay for it. That’s just the way it is. It’s not the good old days, when stores prided themselves on their service. Now it’s the "Lowest Prices In Town". The world has changed, and maybe not for the better. ME
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’ve never had that sort of thing happen at a golf shop, but I have run across it several times at music stores, which are sometimes staffed with musicians who don’t understand how the retail business works. What I’ve done in those situations – usually with success – is ask to speak to the manager. When the manager comes out, I introduce myself, explain that I’ve been a steady customer, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I’ve spent in the store, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I had been prepared to spend *today*, and then explain that the sales person is preventing me from spending that money. Usually what happens at this point is that the manager calls the sales person over ands says, "Jason, this is Mr. YoYo. I want you to take *very good care* of him, and let him try out anything he wants." (This is delivered in a rather pointed tone that implies, "…or else you’re fired.") Then I proceed to make the sales person’s life miserable by trying out everything in the store.
yoyo, as a fellow muso i sympathise entirely. i hate it when some pimply faced prepubesent goon tells me to stop playing with the guitars. anyhow if ever there was a time to say "you da man" this is possibly it!! — peace brett brett r fenton school of civil engineering university of nsw australia
Response:
You were perfectly justified in your response to your treatment at Golf Warehouse. I had an aggravating experience at their store on Indian Trail Road and I-85. I had purchased a $200 putter as a retirement gift for a friend. It’s one of those overpriced classic reproductions that came in a display box. There was no gift wrap available in the store except for some that was toosmall. Finally, the salesman found a plastic left over Christmas gift bag designed to hold a large club like a GBB, and I was happy. That is, until he started to ring up $4.00 for the bag. I rebelled against that, told him to keep the bag, and give me a refund on the putter that I had just charged. The salesman was adamant that the charge for the bag was "Their policy". As I was getting my money refunded, someone else came out of a huddle in the back room, and said that I should take the bag for free, please don’t return the putter, and please remain a customer. I had purchased a set of clubs, several individual clubs, golf bags, and many small items from that store, but I was treated as if I were a freeloader, just as you were treated. Don’t knuckle under. It’s our money that’s being spent, and neither Golf Warehouse or any other shop is doing us a favor in taking our money. I’m not going to boycott the store because of one incident, but I sure am going to let them know what I think whenever I am dissatisfied. -Robby P. — "Things are always at their best in their beginning." (Blaise Pascal, "Lettres Provinciales", 1656-1657) The "Pensees Nouvelles", a multisubject magazine on the World Wide Web, may be found at: http://www.emory.edu/PATHOLOGY/PENSEES Vol. 3, No.1 is now on line, and features: 1. Four articles reviewing Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail 2. A collection of a few Zen golf pieces.
Response:
I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before.
[snip tale of retail woe] I’ve never had that sort of thing happen at a golf shop, but I have run across it several times at music stores, which are sometimes staffed with musicians who don’t understand how the retail business works. What I’ve done in those situations – usually with success – is ask to speak to the manager. When the manager comes out, I introduce myself, explain that I’ve been a steady customer, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I’ve spent in the store, give a rough estimate of the amount of money I had been prepared to spend *today*, and then explain that the sales person is preventing me from spending that money. Usually what happens at this point is that the manager calls the sales person over ands says, "Jason, this is Mr. YoYo. I want you to take *very good care* of him, and let him try out anything he wants." (This is delivered in a rather pointed tone that implies, "…or else you’re fired.") Then I proceed to make the sales person’s life miserable by trying out everything in the store. — "I’m not getting any saner, here…"
Response:
I completely agree. For the most part few floor salespeople truly understand that the most important item a store sells is customer service. Let me explain. A store like Golf Warehouse…Lets see…they sell golf bags…golf clubs…golf balls…golf shoes…golf hats…etc. Now how many other stores sell just those same items? Successful managers realize that the customer can buy their products from one of a hundred places anytime they want. Success then comes from selling the customer something that money can not buy…COURTESY, and a sense that the CUSTOMER is IMPORTANT. The wonderful thing about being a consumer is that we ARE right. And we can choose to leave the store and take as many of our fellow customers with us will follow. After all…A GBB from the Golf Warehouse will hit just as many slices as a GBB from Edwin Watts or another such establishment. — Monty Hudspeth Facilitator/Trainer/Consultant Lighthouse Leadership "Creating an Environment in which People can Grow" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yes, I do expect the staff to be perfect. That is service, period. A satisfied customer will tell four people. An unhappy customer will tell ten. I don’t care if Randy spent $100 or $10,000. The salesman was rude. saylor
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I agree with Randy. Service like he mentioned sucks. I would also complain and take my business elsewhere. Especially considering the amount of money he has spent there that has obviously gone unappreciated. The customer is always right. John – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you generally get good service from the store, you may have over-reacted. You expect the sales staff to be perfect? We all have bad days, and bad times during the day.
Response:
Do you think that when you were talking to yourself about treacherous slopes on greens she took it as a racial insult?<g Mitch Alderman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before. I went into Golf Warehouse (those of you in Atlanta: it was the store off Cobb Parkway in Smyrna). My intention was to buy a putter. I went there because they have a good selection. (My putting’s been a bit spotty lately, and my current putter must know who’s boss.) ;-) So I walk over to the putters and pick up one model and putt with it a few balls. I try another. You know the drill. We’ve all done this before. You putt a few with one putter, then another, then another. Eventually, you narrow it down to a couple and you putt with them a while and compare. I was in there, oh, maybe 25 minutes, minding my own business trying to make a purchasing decision, and I was close to deciding on one putter when the lady behind the counter (the manager, I think–heck, she might be the owner) came over to me, and in her broken English (she’s Korean, I believe), said, "You’ve putted enough with that putter, you’re going to wear it out. Put it back." Stunned and not absolutely sure I understood her, I responded, "You think I’m going to *wear out* this putter?" She said, "Yes. No more putting. You buy that putter or put it back." Huh? In all my years golfing, I’ve never had someone tell me not to try out their equipment. Heck, it wasn’t like I’d been in there for hours. But even if it had, you’re not going to "wear out" a putter putting with it on carpet! I was incensed, and stormed out of there. Under my breath, I muttered something about how I couldn’t believe this, after all the business I’d given them. At least two other customers in the store overheard this exchange, and one of them said to me, "I guess they want to run off customers." You can count me as one she ran off. What’s ironic is that I bought the clubs I’m presently playing with from that store, and THAT WOMAN rang up the purchase! She sold me my Callaway X-12s and my Biggest Big Bertha driver. Over the course of the past year, I’ve purchased at least two Great Big Berthas–a driver and the 3-wood (since sold ‘em), two or three Callaway War Bird fairway woods and at least two other putters, and in almost every case, she was there to ring up the purchase. I bought two pairs of Florsheim Frogs (shoes, at about $125 a pair), a drawer full of Nike socks and God knows how many golf balls. In all, I’ve probably spent around, oh, I’d guess $2500 at that store. And in the past year, I’ve never one time had even the slightest run-in with these people. Though I seldom have much to say when I go in, I’m always polite, say, "hi," and go about my business of finding what I came in to purchase, pay for it and leave. No bounced checks, no arguments–ever. It’s not as if I’ve been some sort of troublemaker. If anything, I’ve been the kind of customer most stores would love to have. And in the future, my business will be taken elsewhere. What happened is simply unbelievable. While I don’t expect anyone else to share my disdain for this chain, I share this incident with you in hopes you’ll join me in taking your business elsewhere. I will be forwarding a copy of this post and any appropriate responses to the owners of Golf Warehouse. Randy
Response:
If you generally get good service from the store, you may have over-reacted. You expect the sales staff to be perfect? We all have bad days, and bad times during the day. You should have made a reasoned complaint to the woman, telling her that you wanted to buy a putter, and that you are a regular customer who has spent a lot of money at the store. If something was on her mind, causing her poor behavior, this would have settled her down. If she continued with her poor behavior, you would have a good basis for a complaint. Before sending a complaint to the company, you should first take the issue to the woman and give her a chance to apolgize. What would you like to see from other people when you display the more imperfect aspects of your character? Rob.
Response:
Yes, I do expect the staff to be perfect. That is service, period. A satisfied customer will tell four people. An unhappy customer will tell ten. I don’t care if Randy spent $100 or $10,000. The salesman was rude. saylor – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you generally get good service from the store, you may have over-reacted. You expect the sales staff to be perfect? We all have bad days, and bad times during the day. You should have made a reasoned complaint to the woman, telling her that you wanted to buy a putter, and that you are a regular customer who has spent a lot of money at the store. If something was on her mind, causing her poor behavior, this would have settled her down. If she continued with her poor behavior, you would have a good basis for a complaint. Before sending a complaint to the company, you should first take the issue to the woman and give her a chance to apolgize. What would you like to see from other people when you display the more imperfect aspects of your character? Rob.
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Response:
I encountered something today I’ve never even heard of before. I went into Golf Warehouse (those of you in Atlanta: it was the store off Cobb Parkway in Smyrna). My intention was to buy a putter. I went there because they have a good selection. (My putting’s been a bit spotty lately, and my current putter must know who’s boss.) ;-) So I walk over to the putters and pick up one model and putt with it a few balls. I try another. You know the drill. We’ve all done this before. You putt a few with one putter, then another, then another. Eventually, you narrow it down to a couple and you putt with them a while and compare. I was in there, oh, maybe 25 minutes, minding my own business trying to make a purchasing decision, and I was close to deciding on one putter when the lady behind the counter (the manager, I think–heck, she might be the owner) came over to me, and in her broken English (she’s Korean, I believe), said, "You’ve putted enough with that putter, you’re going to wear it out. Put it back." Stunned and not absolutely sure I understood her, I responded, "You think I’m going to *wear out* this putter?" She said, "Yes. No more putting. You buy that putter or put it back." Huh? In all my years golfing, I’ve never had someone tell me not to try out their equipment. Heck, it wasn’t like I’d been in there for hours. But even if it had, you’re not going to "wear out" a putter putting with it on carpet! I was incensed, and stormed out of there. Under my breath, I muttered something about how I couldn’t believe this, after all the business I’d given them. At least two other customers in the store overheard this exchange, and one of them said to me, "I guess they want to run off customers." You can count me as one she ran off. What’s ironic is that I bought the clubs I’m presently playing with from that store, and THAT WOMAN rang up the purchase! She sold me my Callaway X-12s and my Biggest Big Bertha driver. Over the course of the past year, I’ve purchased at least two Great Big Berthas–a driver and the 3-wood (since sold ‘em), two or three Callaway War Bird fairway woods and at least two other putters, and in almost every case, she was there to ring up the purchase. I bought two pairs of Florsheim Frogs (shoes, at about $125 a pair), a drawer full of Nike socks and God knows how many golf balls. In all, I’ve probably spent around, oh, I’d guess $2500 at that store. And in the past year, I’ve never one time had even the slightest run-in with these people. Though I seldom have much to say when I go in, I’m always polite, say, "hi," and go about my business of finding what I came in to purchase, pay for it and leave. No bounced checks, no arguments–ever. It’s not as if I’ve been some sort of troublemaker. If anything, I’ve been the kind of customer most stores would love to have. And in the future, my business will be taken elsewhere. What happened is simply unbelievable. While I don’t expect anyone else to share my disdain for this chain, I share this incident with you in hopes you’ll join me in taking your business elsewhere. I will be forwarding a copy of this post and any appropriate responses to the owners of Golf Warehouse. Randy