TL;DR - The new guy deserves an apology from the manager.
I've been a customer here for about 3 years. Its my go-to when I'm in town because I'm signed up for the rewards, it's good service, friendly employees and it's always nice to pet the resident kitty cats. Whenever I've had issues with any of the vapes I've owned they're pretty knowledgeable and have been able help me with a temporary fix until I can afford a new one. That's just how it goes sometimes with the products that are in my price range. And while prices have gone up and policies change all the time, I don't blame the business, more often than not it has to do with the industry and regulations, because I've seen the same thing at other shops.
I usually come in during the not-so-busy hours of the slower days, and when no one's in a hurry I'll stay for a few minutes and have a light and friendly chat with the clerks while I test out the products. It's one of the few errands that I actually find pleasant.
Today I came in for the first time in a couple months, and there was a new guy, (long-ish brown hair, didn't catch his name), who rang me up at the register by the entrance while the boss lady and a couple other employees were behind the counter in the back. New guy was great, friendly and helpful service as always. I was the only customer at the moment and I started chatting. Same as always. I was enjoying the back and forth for about 3-4 minutes when boss lady rudely interrupted as I was talking to him. She called out in an aggressive tone, "What's your favorite flavor?!" I was a bit confused and wasn't sure whether she was talking to me. He goes, "Uh, cream flavors." She responds rather tersely, "Yeah, what kind?" I'm still confused as to what's going on, new guy seemed to be too. She glares at us and says "You're at a vape shop. Talk about vaping." I was shocked. Was this lady ever a public school teacher? Because I felt like I had just been scolded for not focusing on classwork or something. I even whispered dude what the hell?
That's not how you treat your regulars or your employees for that matter.
Little sidenote. I've worked in hospitality service in the recreation department of a golf resort for the better part of 4 years. Providing quality service and assistance was in the job description, but what keeps guests returning is having meaningful interactions, making connections and giving guests a memorable and pleasant experience. That was in the handbook. If my manager were to yell out and speak over me or a guest as we're engaging in polite conversation on a slow afternoon and told me "You're at a golf resort. Talk about golfing," that complaint would go straight to guest services and then it's a one-way ticket to HR. A comment like that embarrasses both parties, the employee of course has to apologize and abruptly excuse him or herself, and it just makes the situation uncomfortable and any later interactions with the guest awkward.
I understand that you want your employees to act professional, as they should, but she said it herself, this is a vape shop. There's no uniforms or strict business attire dress code. The expectation of "professionalism" is a bit more relaxed for this type of establishment, it's meant to be more casual. It's. A. Vape. Shop. And nowhere in sales training have I seen or heard that being professional means you're only allowed to talk about the products. The first thing they teach you in sales, which I minored in along with a major in communication by the way, step number one is building a rapport/relationship with your customer. One last note on professionalism, the manager scolding the customer and the employee in that manner is far more unprofessional than the non-vaping-related polite exchange that was going on. As a general rule, if you have an issue with the way an employee is doing their job and you feel you need to make a correction immediately, you don't call them out in front of a customer. You could say something like "Excuse me, I'm sorry miss, hey so-and-so can I borrow you for second, I need you to come with be to the back real quick." And *then* you make a correction.
I feel like I've made my point.
I doubt the boss is going to read this but that guy provided great customer service and didn't deserve to be embarrassed like that. No one does. read more