Archived Was this ETL wrong?

[illtellyouhwhat]

Recently I had a guest who wished to complain to the LOD about the state of our store. He said he had never seen a target as disorganized as ours, with stuff being in all the wrong places, on the floor, etc. He also mentioned that we had a lot of items out of stock.

The ETL came by and said there wasn't anything she could do about it, that we are the lowest volume store in the area and there are 3 other targets nearby if he wants to go somewhere else. The guest then laughed and said he'll make a mental note of that and walked off.

The ETL then stuck around to joke with the GSTL saying, "Like, what do they expect me to do about it? I hate guests with stupid complaints"

I thought this was terribly unprofessional and it made me embarrassed to be part of the store. What do you guys think?? And is there anything I should do about it?

 

[TallAPGuy]

Yeah, he's an idiot. Not really that much you can do about though unless you want tell the STL, as it's not really an HR issue and thus no point in calling the Hotline.

 

[Coqui]

There's really nothing you can do. Just hope that the guest took that ETL's name and complains. Maybe the STL will pull him about the situation.

 

[BoxCutter]

With an ETL who has that attitude, no wonder your store is a mess. Hope things get better for you. We were in a very similar situation and within a few months our new STL has us back to nearly where we should be.

 

[BlueSide]

Buy a stick of gum or something cheap over at the electronics registers without your discount so you get a survey printed for sure. Then take the survey and use the comments part to complain about that ETL. Your STL will see it.

 

[SFSFun]

The ETL should not have tried to make excuses. If there was something specific the guest was looking for, he could remind her about options on Target.com or offer to call another store and have them hold the item. But beyond that, I don't really know what the guest expected him to do about such broad complaints besides apologize.

And there's nothing wrong with joking about it afterwards. The feeling when someone complains to you sucks and laughing about it afterwards helps. My STL does it all the time.

 

[Bosch]

It is the new state of Target, no one on the floor crap thrown anywhere and lines six people deep.. My store yesterday..

 

[Kartman]

I keep my cafe in tip-top shape and when I'm outside I pick up every piece of debris I see.

Fuck it. I'm gonna do a good job.

 

[thetargetman]

Unprofessional ETL? yes but there is really nothing you can do.

 

[pellinore]

The problem with joking about a guest comes when another guest hears everything that happened and then tells their friends about what they heard at Target.....and then none of them come back to the store.
Also, as often happens, the guest that is being "made fun of" hears the remark and then the situation gets worse.

Hey, we all get guests that will complain, and often as a TM or LOD nothing can be done, the idea is to at least let the guest know that you appreciate their remarks and that we'll try to get things done better in the future.

NEVER, NEVER make excuses to a guest. Either say nothing or tell the guest the truth.