Customer Service should REIGN in this Economy ...

... but sadly, that is NOT always the case. In fact, it's RARELY the case any more.

Just had a bad experience with a Mom & Pop (actually, it's several unrelated women who own it together, I think) Shop that Mark and I have regularly purchased from for THIRTEEN YEARS now. You'd think that a loyal and steady customer would get some courtesy ... I guess it's not worth what it used to be worth.

But I've met some shop owners lately for the first, second, and third time ... who treat me like a FRIEND whenever I stop in. That's the kind of experience I expect and hope for when I shop the independent stores. That's a big reason WHY I frequent the mom-pop shops, the brick-and-mortar stores run by an INDIVIDUAL and not a Corporation.

I did post a note (or three) on Facebook just now, explaining what happened. I won't bore you with it here.

But remember that THE 3/50 PROJECT that I blogged about recently? {visit their website at: http://www.the350project.net/home.html } THAT PROJECT is a compelling reason to CHOOSE YOUR THREE favorite shops and make sure you keep on visiting them.

I guess then, when choosing the shops we want to encourage to stay open, the ones who treat us with respect and dignity and compassion and friendliness and an open heart -- we must take into account their level of friendliness and customer service and individual attention.

If it's "nothing personal, it's just a rule", then by all means -- you can BEND a rule for a customer that's been loyal to you for over a decade. I'm just saying ...

So it's BYE BYE to Village Consignment (solana beach), who I have frequented from the time they were in Del Mar, to the period when they had 2 shops open, and still, after closing Del Mar and just keeping the Solana Beach location open.

I've spent my last $$$ with you. But only because when I called to try and discuss the 'happenings' of this morning, I was met with such hard-nosed stubborness - by an employee, no less, with the owner SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO HER - that I can't imagine going back. Ever.

As an interior designer, and someone who has worked plenty of retail myself, I cannot imagine being so difficult to a customer, let alone a valued REPEAT customer. It is just unheard of in the realm of "good customer service."

I'm sorry, because I don't like to blog about stuff like this. Unhappy, unpleasant stuff. Especially in a community that I love so much, that I like to SUPPORT by ... developing relationships with all the shops we DO frequent.

-- Davielle