What is up with Kmart?

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My wife loves to buy stuff at Kmart. Today she asked me to return an item for her. No problem, she has arthritis and cannot stand long. Went to Kmart and the line for returns was 12 deep and one person on duty. The sales rep appeared to be working as slooowly as possible and had that " do not want to be here " look. Got the item returned and bought some stuff my wife wanted. The register people worked with glacial slowness and had the same " do not care" look. Did Kmart do something to abuse the employees? I have never seen such angry, uncaring mopes.

Going to Walmart for some Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 :-)
 
KMart pulled out of this area years ago. The demise was slow and painful. Once the end was announced by corporate, the closeout sales were awful, it was like a bad funeral.

What made it different was the employees here tried their best to fight off the inevitable, and it still didn't work for them.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
My wife loves to buy stuff at Kmart. Today she asked me to return an item for her. No problem, she has arthritis and cannot stand long. Went to Kmart and the line for returns was 12 deep and one person on duty. The sales rep appeared to be working as slooowly as possible and had that " do not want to be here " look. Got the item returned and bought some stuff my wife wanted. The register people worked with glacial slowness and had the same " do not care" look. Did Kmart do something to abuse the employees? I have never seen such angry, uncaring mopes.

Going to Walmart for some Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 :-)


work christmas holiday retail and lets see how chipper you are.
 
You can get those types anywhere you go. I wouldn't say that it's necessarily that something is up with Kmart, something is up with that particular person. At the Kmart here, the employees are typically very friendly aside from one person at the service counter that seemed like what you described. I typically see more "I don't care" type people at the Walmarts around here. Then again, I hardly ever go to Walmart anymore.
 
I have no complaints with K Mart probably cause the one near me is a Super K Mart that has a grocery store and is always well stocked. Can't complain about the Smitty's Super S blend when it's like $8.99 also
 
My guess? A lot of companies announce annual raises in early January. Kmart told the employees they aren't getting one given there economic woes. Not giving the employees a .25ç per hour raise won't save the store anyhow.
 
The Super K-Mart by me is usually understocked and the cashiers are the slowest I have ever seen anywhere. Went to it last week, and two of the items they had as specials had not been delivered. I think it is because they are not paying their suppliers on time.

Usually long lines at the two or three cashiers that are open while about 15 other lines are closed. I have also never seen so many paper receipts given for a minimal purchase. I think it takes almost a minute (OK, somewhat over exaggerated)for the paper to print because there are so many different things being printed.

The fact that supposedly this location has been sold with a Meijers to be built in a year or so may also be contributing to their poor customer service.
 
I find Walmart much worse. They have many more employees working and you will hardly ever find one that will offer to guide you in the right direction unless you pin them down.
 
Here I don't go to Kmart much
They are pretty dirty and messy and badly run.
The one in Newark DE near U of D is horrible!
 
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
My wife loves to buy stuff at Kmart. Today she asked me to return an item for her. No problem, she has arthritis and cannot stand long. Went to Kmart and the line for returns was 12 deep and one person on duty. The sales rep appeared to be working as slooowly as possible and had that " do not want to be here " look. Got the item returned and bought some stuff my wife wanted. The register people worked with glacial slowness and had the same " do not care" look. Did Kmart do something to abuse the employees? I have never seen such angry, uncaring mopes.

Going to Walmart for some Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 :-)


work christmas holiday retail and lets see how chipper you are.


Dont forget low pay, and and corporate under staffing...
 
I remember the "blue light specials" announced on the speakers back in the 70-80's before Walmart came to Florida. Every Kmart was booming and they even had a small snack shop inside with popcorn, hogie subs that were delicious, slurpee, pretzels, etc...

Now I walk into a Kmart it feels like a poorly ran BigLots. Even the store has a weird cheap plastic chemical smell. Very quiet inside the store and lots of pallets in the isles that have not been taken care of due to no stock clerks working.
 
Most places have that attitude.The only places I see that are different are Home Depot,Lowes,and Market Basket.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
My wife loves to buy stuff at Kmart. Today she asked me to return an item for her. No problem, she has arthritis and cannot stand long. Went to Kmart and the line for returns was 12 deep and one person on duty. The sales rep appeared to be working as slooowly as possible and had that " do not want to be here " look. Got the item returned and bought some stuff my wife wanted. The register people worked with glacial slowness and had the same " do not care" look. Did Kmart do something to abuse the employees? I have never seen such angry, uncaring mopes.

Going to Walmart for some Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 :-)


work christmas holiday retail and lets see how chipper you are.


Dont forget low pay, and and corporate under staffing...


So they have a right to be lazy and slow...providing poor service to the customer?

No excuse at all....none.
 
I knew a person who was a Walmart cashier for a while. She had the highest number of scanned items per hour in her store, and was courteous.

An opening came up for the cashier manager, and she applied. During the interview, they told her that she was too good a cashier to be promoted. They didn't want to lose her efficiency at the check out, and wouldn't be considered for the position.

Easy to see how people in these positions can be less than enthusiastic.
 
Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
I knew a person who was a Walmart cashier for a while. She had the highest number of scanned items per hour in her store, and was courteous.

An opening came up for the cashier manager, and she applied. During the interview, they told her that she was too good a cashier to be promoted. They didn't want to lose her efficiency at the check out, and wouldn't be considered for the position.

Easy to see how people in these positions can be less than enthusiastic.


Then if she is that good at cashiering, instead of being upset and taking it out on the customer with poor service....go find another job.
The employees "beef" is with the company....not the customer.
I've known many people that do volunteer work with little reward....and can get treated poorly. They still do the best they can to perform the task.
 
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If I shop at Walmart its at 8 AM during the week, I'm in and out within 10 minutes.

Even at the local supermarket, the deli clerks are sooooo slow. If anyone complains, the deli clerks point to the presliced packaged cheese, ham, turkey, etc...
 
The returns desk costs them money. Putting Patty Poke-along on the desk stems the flow.
 
Kmart was king in my area at one time. Then came Walmart, then Target. They lost their edge and faded away with all the other similar departments stores.

We had a bunch at one time that all played well together: Gold Circle, Hills, Ames, etc..

Mail order from the comfort of your home changed everything too.
 
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