My first review...
I've never bothered to write a review before. Why spend a good hour of my life composing words that most people would just glance over and thus promptly forget?
But I write this, my first review on Yelp, because I am quite vexed and a bit flummoxed.
JMart is an Asian grocery store in the heart of the Chinatown of Queens known as Downtown Flushing. They sell a myriad of Asian goods, fruits, vegetables, and meats. Their prices aren't the best, but they occasionally have good sales to entice the bargain-minded shopper.
I have and probably will continue to shop at JMart, despite the negativity that I am feeling right now.
However, I feel that I have been wronged; I write this review to air out my grievance and basically to get it off my chest so that I can get some sleep tonight.
Today, I made a simple purchase of bananas. I was not overcharged nor cheated in any way. Yet the disrespect that the cashier showed me was unbecoming; I did not feel welcomed. It's true that her profession isn't one where she would expect a gratuity or tip from me, but a little common courtesy is all that I hope for and expect.
That is the basis of Customer Service, right?
My purchase came out to less than $2.50 ($2.41, to be exact). After all, it was just one bunch of bananas weighing a little more than 4 lbs. I gave the cashier some money and she returned the correct change. No harm, no foul there.
But then she immediately ignored me and moved on to the next customer and started to ring up his items as I waited for her to provide a bag for my one item purchase.
I was shocked. The process is pretty simple. Wait on line, get your item(s) rung up, pay your way, bag the item(s) and away you go. But this beeatch refused to bag my item.
Now, I am an ABC (American Born Chinese). I am not fluent in Mandarin and struggle to hold up my end in a simple conversation involving the national dialect. I am Canto. So I asked her in Cantonese why I wasn't getting a bag. To which she answered me (in Mandarin, in an annoyed tone) that the bananas were already in a bag, motioning to the bag that Del Monte had packaged them in. She then added that I needed to pay "wu fen chien" for a bag (which in my limited Mandarin, I understood to cost me 5 cents).
My conundrum at the moment was why I couldn't get a free bag when I personally witnessed her bag items for the three previous customers on line before me. I scanned the signs (that mostly are in Chinese) above the cash register to see if anything stating a requirement of payment for bags. I did not see one, nor did it seem that there was any requirement of a minimum purchase needed to get a bag (a la credit card minimum).
So I fished out a nickel from my change and plopped it down on the counter and had nothing more to say to her. She then shoved me the bag and I proceeded to bag my lone item. But I then snidely posed a question to the customer behind me (in English), "so we have to pay 5 cents for each bag?"
The gentleman behind me stared at the cashier with wide eyes and she quickly responded to him in Mandarin. I could not make out the first part of her response, but I did catch the latter half. Though I am not fluent in Mandarin I do know how to curse with the best of them. I was shocked when she cursed me out and I could only walk away shaking my head.
So to sum up my review, which is more of a rant - JMart provides goods for sale but does not provide good service. They rely on the convenience that their location affords to their customers; thus they do not emphasize customer service so as to ensure customer loyalty.
Don't expect warmth and caring from JMart employees. And please do not let their behavior set a standard and therefore stereotype our Chinese culture.
I challenge JMart to respond to this review. I really would like them to reconsider their policy on customer service and its importance.
When I shop at supermarket chains like Stop & Shop, Shop Rite, Key Food and even Food Plus, I am greeted with courtesy and politeness. Why should JMart be any different?
On 7/25/2020, I was rudely rebuked by Cashier #103 at Station 03 @ 18:33:23. I am not looking to get her fired, but hospitality training is something that I hope management would consider. read more