The customer doesn’t come first

I was reminded this morning of why I do most of my shopping these days from the safety of my own four walls.

For the first time in a long time, I decided to venture into the centre of town to get a few bits and pieces, enjoy my morning of peace without husband and daughter, and then reward myself with a coffee from the French bakery. The great thing about shopping in Heidelberg is that everything is so close – you can easily cycle into town, park your bike wherever you need to, and shop to your heart’s content.

My first stop: the material shop. I love the material shop in Heidelberg, because I know I am nearly always guaranteed a certain level of customer service (when they aren’t busy that is.)  The only unusual thing is that I have been in the shop an uncountable number of times and spent hundreds of Euros in there, but they still don’t seem to remember who I am. No smile of recognition, no superficial friendliness for a regular customer. Today I wasn’t greeted with smile or a friendly “Good morning! How can I help you? What are you after today? Oh, what is it your mum is making now?” (That would probably have shocked me more!) But, when I did ask for help, I breathed a sigh of relief, because for once while out shopping, I wasn’t treated as if I were causing the shop assistant some dreadful inconvenience, because she actually had to stop what she was “busy” doing to help me. Imagine that! 

I expect too much? A bit harsh, you say? Perhaps; and obviously there are always exceptions to the rule. But, after so many years living here and being made to feel almost guilty asking for help has taken its toll. Even the girls in my local bakery, which I go to practically every day, don’t even begin to pretend to recognize me and remember my order. The result: I have now lowered my high expectations in order to minimize the number of nasty shocks and resulting anger fits I have when faced with rude and unresponsive sales assistants. 

So, these days even barely satisfactory customer service makes me smile and makes me want to shop more, so on I went. 

Next stop: a wellness shop. I saw from their window that they were offering 25% off their products – what better reason then, than to go in and spend some money. The time was 9:55am and I wasn’t entirely sure if they opened at 9.30am or 10am, but I pushed the door and it opened. In I walked, assuming that if the door is open, the shop is also open. Oh no, silly me. A lady very quickly appeared from the back room and in her most kind and welcoming voice, shouted, “wir sind geschlossen” (we are closed). I felt one of those anger fits coming on. Stay calm and don’t yell. If there is one thing you have learned, it is that it won’t get you anywhere and the grass is not greener in the shop down the road. Shall I try and reason with her that if she opens at 10am, it’s only a matter of 5 minutes or less, and that I do actually plan on spending money in the shop? Shall I make some sarcastic comment and thank her for her friendly customer service? In the end I decided not to waste my time. I held up my hands as if to surrender and left the shop.

I am yet to be overwhelmed with friendliness and excellent customer service in Germany. Until then, I think I’ll stick to Internet shopping.