And they probably have 10 or more years experience with bicycles. I doubt your going to find a 20 year old with a decade of experience in construction*, let alone one willing to work for what the BORG pays.
Put them in a BORG setting and see how well they do.
I bet their excellence will quickly disappear.
A satisfied customer is one who feels he got it cheaper. Read the gloats, read the complaints. Even this thread is about "why can't I get a home repair guru for the buck and a half profit I give HD every week.
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
Pogo
Larry
It is EXTREMELY irritating to ask someone in one of the Borg's "Where can I find the plastic laminate/formica" and be told "What's that?? Never heard of it. I don't think they make it any more." from one of those nice employees.
Took my business elsewhere (across the street) and bought the formica off the shelf there
John
Ditto. It's the same as a supermarket. I don't expect them to tell me how to make an enchilada.... Just tell me where to find the cumin. .... and that ought to scan correstly at the register.
Although it is a shame that we've been so accustomed to advertisers lying about their products that we don't even get indignant anymore.
I try very hard not to go to the borg. found myself there a while back and needing to buy some forstner bits I thought I'd see what they had and at what price. went to the tool corral and asked the tool guy for a forstner bit. he took me over to the display of screwdriver insert tips and said "which one was it you wanted?" I proceeded to try to explain what it was that I was looking for. he seemed almost incapable of comprehending what is a forstner bit. finally I found it myself. when I showed it to the guy, he was completely surprised- he had obviously never seen one before, had no idea which end of it goes in the drill or why a person would want such a thing. I started to explain to him, but stopped when I realized it would take all day to get any information into his head. I got the price, which was ridiculously high- for what they wanted for one low end chinese 1-1/2" or so bit I bought a set elsewhere (of better quality, but still import bits)
the guy's incompetence as a tool salesman was astounding. he really had no clue.
Bridger
Bridger
The most irritating thing is that folks like that really don't care nor realize that they are lacking in knowledge. The went thru the 2hr orientation to their area(s) and that is all they need or want to know. Anything else - like learning about the products they sell - is above and beyond the call of duty.
I HAVE found knowledgeable employees in both of the local Borgs (located right across the street from each other), but the ignorant ones far outweigh the knowledgeable ones.
Caveat Emptor never was so true as it is at a Borg
John
you stated:
You're trying to justify bad behavior with more bad behavior. I don't accept that.
I reply:
I think you've misread me. My point was expecting anything more than you get from the Borg and trying to enact retribution on a store such as the Borg and mistreat it's employees because you don't feel they are up to your standards of knowledge is the bad behavior that should be avoided. I never stated that any behavior other than treating people with respect should be the answer to it.
you asked:
Are you a borg worker? Sounds like it.
my answer:
Quite the contrary. I work for an independent family owned lumber company that caters to the professional home builder and we are quite successful at it. Our clientele recognizes that the level of services we provide are in fact worth something to their bottom line. Sure you can buy studs at HD or Lowes cheaper but we deliver, we do material take-offs, pick up returns, watch and help run the jobsites. etc....The fact is we provide the level of service that people bitch about not getting at these DIY centers. That is my point....that was the purpose of this thread. As the adage goes you can have price, service and quality....pick two...all three are impossible.
In an ideal world, they would. But in this one, they won't. Remember that Ford commercial from 2-3 years ago that showed a Ford pickup uprooting a tree that must have been 24" in diameter, roots and all? Sure it's exaggeration (fantasy?) for effect, but you and I and each of us can name dozens more examples of hype. We see and hear them every day. HD's advertising is pure hype.
Bob
thank you Bob.....now if you don't mind I'm going to get me some of that beer so those twins in bathing suits will come over and see my vehicle and smell my cologne and fall at my feet...and if my wife doesn't like it I'll just get her some of that shampoo that causes her to have an orgasm and maybe some of those feminine products so she can go horseback or roller skating with a smile on her face.....truth is I actually saw a commercial aired on tv where the girl took her tampon and plugged a hole in the bottom of a boat....sheesh...talk about hype.
Walked out of the Orange BORG this weekend because I couldn't get an answer to a simple question: "Is the plywood in this stack exterior grade?"
You couldn't decipher the markings on the stuff, and NO ONE could answer the question ... that is, when I finally found someone who was actually willing to make eye contact with a customer as they walked from one place to another as if their life depended upon wherever it was they were headed.
Went to Lowe's, where the plywood was marked on both the bin AND the plywood.
Around here, Lowe's is cleaner, well lit, a much nicer atmosphere, and the average employee's IQ is about 10 points higher ... but still a long way from the family run hardware store down the street, but which doesn't carry plywood, or the local lumberyard, which is not open on Saturday afternoons.
Apparently we sometimes we expect too much.
I heard somewhere recently that it may not be long before our entire dairy industry in the US is gone and all our milk and milk products will come from overseas. I forget where it was and all the details behind it.
Dennis Vogel
But ultimately it is because of the consumers. The borgs are only doing it to satisfy our demands for ever lower prices. If no one went there there wouldn't be any borgs, would there?
Dennis Vogel
Right on George.
With all the complaints about the borgs I've read here I would have expected that everyone has stopped shopping there. So the volume of complaints is somewhat puzzling.
Dennis Vogel
Known in legalese as "puffery".
Barry
Excellent observation. We should all think about that.
Barry
When I go to a place like that, I don't ask questions. I do expect low prices, items they regularly carry are in stock, and politeness and respect from the staff. I don't expect anyone in those places to be able to help me with technical questions. If there are people there who can actually help me, I either haven't asked the right questions or haven't met them yet.
If I need expert advice, I will go to a place that has the experts.
If you advertise expert advice, you better be able to provide it. In that case, places like Borgs are presenting false advertising. Just because the salesman may know a little bit more about wall switches than the average homeowner does not make him an expert in the electrical department. I've helped other customers in stores when I overhear the sales drone giving them some obviously wrong advice.
You're completely missing the point.
There's a lot to bike sales, most of it involves parts and accessories, not complete bikes. Manufacturers like Shimano are constantly changing specs and the components of 3 years ago may not be compatible with the latest and the greatest. These kids knew NOTHING of these issues before we hired them, they're smart kids with good personalities who happen to ride bikes.
What makes good customer service is the ability to greet and listen to the customer, find out what they really need, and if you're not sure you can help, get prompt assistance from someone else, and keep the customer in the loop all along.
What I see in BORGs are the backsides of employees reversing direction as I try to make eye contact with them. I do NOT expect a BORG employee to know the NEC, building codes, stain / topcoat compatibility, or how to paint a swirled ceiling without a drop cloth. I DO expect them to tell me approximately where in the store the item I'm looking for is located. Just like I don't ask the grocery clerk how too make a good chillier.
Barry
I doubt that most people running the registers at the local grocery behemoth would know what cumin is let alone where it is. I wouldn't expect it any more than for them to know details about the different chinese foods in the ethnic section. I would hope they could tell me the aisle for spices or where the ethnic food section is, but that is about all. Of course I could go to the various speciality food stores, get better service, more knowledgeable staff, and probably better product. The trade off would be much smaller selection, higher prices and less convienience. Gee, seems to be the jist of the Borg vs the family hardware store. You know the Borg, you know what to expect and you still go. You must be getting what you went there for in the first place. Sorry, but I do not see myself going to the baker, then the butcher, then the vegitable market, then the drygoods store to complete my weekly grocery shopping. I will go to the grocery behemoth. Thus the local family owned butcher shops, bakery shops, vegatable markets, etc. are bound to disappear or become even more of a nitche market provider - just like the local hardware stores.
Dave Hall
Last I heard it was pretty much illegal to import milk products into the US and most states have a minimum allowable price on milk products (set by regional government agencies) so that even if imports were legal they could not undersell US producers. The school district for which I am business manager buys a LOT of milk. We once had a supply contract from a Dairy for milk and juice products. The milk was at the required minimum price (as were all other bids) and the company won the bid by its lower juice prices. A competitor complained to the Milk Marketing Board (yes, there really is such a government regulatory agency) who investigated and declared that the company was illegally selling the juice below cost in order to get the lucrative & highly profitable milk contract. The government voided our contract, fined the offending supplier and made us pay higher prices for our juice.
You know you are living in a Socialist country when there are Government mandated and legally enforcable MINIMUM prices one can charge for their products. I do not fear the demise of the US dairy industry - they have true political clout.
Dave Hall
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