All I needed was mulch & bark...not the Drama.
Spoke with Laurie the owner on the phone who was very accommodating saying even though they only do bulk load orders on mulch (they don't sell individual bags) etc, if I brought my buckets out they would fill them. When I arrived a gal who was working there looked at me & then quickly turned her back & continued working on a plant. Seeing she was busy I just walked around the nursery for about 15 minutes. No one came out. She still ignored me. It appeared she was still really busy working so I walked within a few feet of her, said HELLO. No response. Not 'can I help you' , nothing. I said that I had talked to Laurie & was coming by for some mulch. She rudely said she did not know anything about it. She kept working potting a plant & did not offer to even call Laurie to check. Confused with her behavior, I politely tried to explain what I was there for & all if a sudden she spun around angrily yelling 'Look! I am not arguing with you", I stepped back & said, "Whoah! I am not sure what is going on here but ......not a good way to greet customers". "I think I will just deal with Laurie". I was in no hurry, so I walked off, enjoying the lovely day. The vibe I got from this gal was... 'Helping you is not my job, man' Eventually the husband/owner came out to help me. He was very nice, shoveled & loaded the mulch. I could not help but notice he had back issues so being a retired physician, I offered to gift him the Doctors Solution my CBD topical that my company makes to help his back. I also considered telling him about the rude employee (business owner to business owner) but decided to let it go.
A few days later I called again & left a message that I was wanting to come by & purchase some bark groundcover for my tree. Laurie the owner returned my call & but left a rather irritated voice mail saying there was a NEW employee, and something about 'my needing to be patient about things'. Looks like the NEW employe, expecting some blowback from her confrontational powerplay with me, did some damage control. As a business owner I know there are always two sides to a disagreement. The fact that Laurie took the NEW employees' word about what happened & was dismissive towards me without realizing there might be another side was disappointing. Public Relations 101: Customer is usually right. I like to support local business especially during COVID however...
1. I was not impatient.
2. I don't need the drama.
3. They just lost a customer. read more