Internet reviews would be a lot better if the big companies would stop paying people to write them.
I say it every time this subject comes up, but I - along with the majority of people - would be willing to pay more for good customer service. I prefer shopping at privately-owned stores or smaller chains where I know they pay commission. That way I know I'm getting quality customer service because their livelihood depends on it - even if they don't have an honest passion for their work. The big retailers'
internal market research corroborates this viewpoint: most people would rather pay more money for better service! So why don't companies like Best Buy, Gamestop and Wal-mart do anything about it?
Large businesses simply don't want to pay enough money to hire, train and retain competent salespeople. Big box stores don't fund internal product familiarization programs, so the staff cannot possibly have any idea what they're talking about. They code every employee as part-time so they don't have to offer benefits. They all pay zero commission and low wages that a person cannot possibly survive on, so usually when you go to a big box store you're dealing with a student or a teenager who doesn't have to care about offering good customer service. They don't want to pay the money because,
on paper, it looks like the store is spending more than it has to. Incompetent CEOs slash costs to nothing so they can get a bigger golden parachute when the company falls apart. Investors reward CEOs for short-term gains at the expense of the long-term.
The most insulting part is the fact that these companies are the ones in the
best position to offer excellent salaries to all of their employees, given how many of their programs return what is basically pure profit. Let's use EB Games as a case study:
- Extended warranties: Sits on top of the manufacturer warranty. If it breaks, return it to the store and they will ship it to the manufacturer to be replaced. You get a new one, they get a new one. $50 free profit for the company.
- Game insurance: If you scratch the game, you can get a replacement copy if you have the original purchase receipt. Few people damage their games. Almost nobody keeps their receipts for a full year. $3 free profit for the company, per game.
- Game trading: Trade in a brand new game for a small amount of store credit. Company gets $38 in pure profit, on top of the fact that whatever money you got from the store needs to be spent there.
- Discount card: Spend $10 - market research indicates that people are more likely to use coupons or promotions if they have to spend money on them - and get a discount on used games (which are pure profit). You can even put store credit on the card. It's like a perpetual money machine.
It's never going to get better because these companies have found a way to rig the system. They've flooded the market with mass market consumer goods, they get the lowest prices on all merchandise, and their profit margins would make any sane person sick - and no, hiding profit behind a multimillion dollar executive salary does not make your margins "razor-thin." Blockbuster Video could have given
every single employee a $450 bonus instead of giving Antioco, the man who almost ruined the company, a golden parachute. $1264 per Best Buy employee could have been spent on product familiarization if the CEO's take had been limited to his actual salary.
I'm also sick of the goddamn soft language. It's never 'used' anymore. It's 'previously-enjoyed' or 'previously-played.' They play mind tricks on you - like restaurants in the 80s painting their walls brown because it makes you hungrier, or placing displays in the middle of the aisles to attract the attention of the male consumer. If these business criminals would get their heads out of their "previously-enjoyed" asses it would make the whole shopping experience a lot more enjoyable.
