Big Boys With Cool Toys
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
I’m not the type to tell others about my problems, but I have to say something about my local hobby store. I bought my E-Flight Blade CX2 RC Helicopter at the closest hobby shop near me, www.bigboyswithcooltoys.ca, and unfortunately I’ll be looking elsewhere for RC supplies.
The first time in the store was great. The guy working behind the counter, who I’ve yet to see again, got me on my way. There was no one in the store at the time so I was lucky to get someone helping me right away, very lucky. Now, when you walk into a hobby store, don’t expect to be served right away, because customers will have question that sometimes can take a while to answer. I completely understand that.
I’ve been there four times, but three strikes and your out. Before I gave up, the last two visits were all but pleasant. There were three people working in both occasions, and Alex who I believe is the owner, was conducting the crew. A woman in the store was complaining about them not contacting her about her shipment that hadn’t arrived, I minded my own business because “the problem” was her not putting the right number down, but she complained it was correct and they couldn’t read it. Okay, maybe she was wrong but Alex was completely ignoring her as he ran around with a phone in one hand and parts in the other while she was trying to talk to him, this is what made the lady and myself pretty irritated. There were maybe 5 customers in the store and tension was really high. 30 minutes later I got my simulator and left. The next time Alex was again controlling the grounds. What ticked me this time was while I was in the middle of a sentence with a nice younger guy selling me a battery, Alex interrupted us directly because he needed to show him where to stack the product boxes on display. I felt kind of sorry for the dude serving me because he also knew that interrupting customers for something not important isn’t right. But I managed to keep my cool and just keep my mouth shout. I definitely didn’t want bad relations with my local hobby store.
The Kicker
The last time I walked in big boys with cool toys it ended with me calmly telling Alex that he couldn’t help me anymore. I waited in the hobby store for 30 minutes. No one had asked me what I wanted but Alex did manage the que no problem. There were four customers in front of me and the lady behind the counter doing who knows what on the computer. It wasn’t until 29 minutes later, someone walked into the store with a notepad, looked like business, and he was immediately greeted with the greatest respect. He walked behind the counter with Alex and sparked a conversation. We got to listen to god knows what and stare at Alex’s back while he leaned on the counter. Once I heard the “marriage” word I couldn’t help but interrupt their wonderful conversation. “excuse me for interrupting, but I would really like to purchase two parts for my helicopter”, I said. Don’t worry, I kept my cool and didn’t explode. Would you? They were both shocked that I jumped in but very apologetic when Alex said, “i’m sorry, ahh, ahh, okay let me do something here first”, as he runs over to the lady on the computer to tell her to do something. I walked out of the store at this point.
I’m not going to tell anyone how to run a business, because I have no clue, but I certainly know proper customer service from retail work I’ve done. Bad customer service skills and a heavy egotistical view of things isn’t worth it. I’ll go online or to another store.
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