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I'm going to let it fly with this one so hang on :)

I have decided that Ace Hardware should create a new slogan that says 'Ace, the OVERLY helpful place'....

There is a large Ace Hardware down the road and a small one here in town, no matter what I'm looking for I always end up with some employee following on my heels to make sure I find what I'm looking for. This gets frustrating when I'm NOT sure what I'm looking (say trying to figure out how to connect a vacuum hose). After months of visiting the small Ace store most of the people there know me and just let me be, but at the big Ace store that's something they could NEVER allow to happen.

Here's a typical episode, I'm looking for some 1/4" nuts and washers to hold something down, they have a huge section with all kinds of nuts and things and I know pretty much what I want. As I hit the door with my wife, a gentlemen intercepts us at the door and stops us cold and asks 'What Project Can We Help You With Today??!!', I push the down the urge to tell him I'm actually building a Tasmanian Devil trap to capture the neighbors kid so we mail him to africa!. I'm pretty sure his sense of humor does not go that far, so instead we tell him we are just getting some parts and are fine, we've done this before. He inquires as to what type of parts, when we tell him it's bolts he points us to the bolt aisle (thanks I would have missed the 2 foot sign that says BOLTS). We get to the Aisle and another customer is there looking for something with an employee on his heels, we know the drill so rush to find our parts and start counting out pieces. But alas we are too slow and the 'Helpful' employee inserts himself into our personal space and starts asking a bunch of questions about what we plan to use the parts for. At this point I don my shades and let me wife deal with him so I can covertly look for a knob, the entire time we in the aisle he stands over her watching her every move. Finally we exit and head for the register, there we get asked again about what we are working on and 'How Exciting' it is, and finally when we exchange the money we RUN for the door before someone else from the Church of perpetual smiles wants more details on what we are doing. We sit in the truck and take a deep breath and promise each other that we will never go in there again, but we know that at some point we will have too...

If that story sounds weird, try going into a radio shack and looking for a part. I was asked no more than 5 times one day if I needed any batteries, it was all I could do to not tell them to drop dead. If I hadn't needed the dang part so much I would have bailed!!

So what is going on? Somehow it seems that more and more stores have taken the idea of being helpful and added a kind of Nazi twist to it, these are just two examples and both are real, it actually happened!!. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to actually just shop for parts and have had to tell someone that I'm just looking (in which case they never let you leave their site, kind of like a lonely waiter) or when it's really bad I'll just walk. We looked at flat screens one day at a fry's in the bay area and we had one guy who actually followed us down EVERY aisle and anytime we would try to talk he would come over and blab on about the model, finally my wife snapped and actually yelled at him to leave her alone. I felt bad at first but then I realized that really he was asking for it, we made it very clear that we just wanted to look. I would have bought one there but he made us so mad that we bought one at best instead (not that they are all that much better).

Friends used to complain that you could never get help anymore, and sometimes at the superstores like Home Depot that can be true, but it's just that they are shorthanded at times. I'll take that over having some helium queen dog my every step as if my purchase in the most important event in her day. It's almost like we've done something bad to car salesman and to get back at us they've starting teaching others their tricks

I'm not sure if there's an answer, I've been tempted to call the offending Ace and ask for the manager and see if I can explain that when you have people that are SOOOOOOO helpful that customers are not allowed to actually shop then you might as well just put up a parts counter instead of shopping aisles. They actually have an aisle with some boat parts on it that I could have used, I found it because I was trying to keep the helpful high school student away from me. Too bad because had I just been allowed to browse without the pressure of a smiling face I would have bought a bunch of stuff there, but now it's just too much hassle so I'll use the boat place 16 miles away because they allow me to look without a keeper!

There are stores that get it right, the Auto Parts store will make sure I'm ok and then just let me browse, if I have a question I only need ask. They don't see the need to dog me about what I'm doing, and so I am now a loyal customer. Same with the hardwood store, they know me and they know I like to poke around so once the greetings are done I'm free to dig all I want, I really don't see that many shops with bad service anymore. But this is Idaho, when I got my drivers license I told the ladies there that they needed to be less happy and helpful, because as a government agency it was their job to be unhelpful and gloomy. They laughed!!! I guess I'm not in California anymore

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Paul, I've experienced much of the same at the same two stores you mentioned. I agree that it can be a huge hastle. I wonder if the salespeople are bore if they aren't harrasing a customer. What I don't get is when you tell one person you're all set, not five seconds later, another person is right there in your face.

I tend to be a cranky curmudgeon sometimes too, so it might not be all "them".

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Gee, Paul, maybe you and your wife together look like Bonnie and Clyde.     The only hardware in my town is a tiny old fashioned thing, with only the owner present most of the time. When I travel to Home Depot or Lowes I usually can't get anyone to help.    Anyway, I have experienced what you're talking about and it is extremely irritating. Unless I need something immediately, I do most of my shopping online.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Hahahaha no I think Bonnie and Clyde looked much better than we do :)

We only do the split level attack when dealing with Salesman, Radio Shack, Ace Hardware or overly helpful employees. The idea is that she baits them away while I do the actual shopping to get what we need, but I think some stores are getting smart and are now planting helpers in random locations (Foiled!!)

I actually love my small town stores, I like to build relationships with the businesses I work with and if they have what I need I will go there everytime. But therein lies the problem, because they are small they don't have a huge collection of various things for me to dig through.

I also think being a Curmudgeon is not a bad thing actually (just ask Mario ), however on that note I make a point to be as nice as I can to the people I encounter, after all they meet enough jerks without me adding to it. That's part of the frustration, I don't want to hurt anyones feelings and if I would not be so nice I would probably have an easier time at some of these stores. My wife is wired differently than I am and will not hesitate to tell them to bug off, which upsets me to no end so she's makes an effort to be nice!

And your right Joe there is nothing like being asked EVERY 2 minutes if you need help or not, I think I actually counted 12 times at the Ace one day, it was almost every exmployee and some of them more than once. I was fuming when I left and SWORE I would NEVER go back... hahahaha I was back in a week grumbling again... hahahaha...

Last week I took my Kayak and went to a roll class to practice, since my back had been hurting I actually just paddled around and stretch my back, by the time we left I was asked by every single instructor more than once if I was ready to practice rolls, I told my wife I was going to get a shirt that said 'I'm Stretching My Back, LEAVE ME ALONE!!' and we got a good laugh out of that one...   

-Paul-Sprockett38981.5926273148

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Darn those helpful people! You'd think that they're making a commission on that $3.95 box of #6 screws!

Actually, though, I've found my local ACE to be very advantageous in saving money. If I know what I need, I just tell the guy and he leads me right to it. I never get the chance to make an impulse buy. Bad for them, but good for me.

    I avoid Radio Shack like a plague! The overbearing nature is probably more related to corporate culture than the individual. I could never go in and just buy something, literally, they wanted my name/phonenumber/address and they weren't going to sell it to me until I gave up. Literally!!!

   Interesting point, I started to give fictitious name and notwithstanding their assurance that this was only for their records I started to get trash for "Eric Bloom" from Blue Oyster Cult. So if your reading this Bloom pick up your trash mail!

   The nerve and contempt of these corporate types is incredible.

    It's intersting, I just noticed this kind of behavior at the Ace in my neighborhood and I do live in California! I believe this is behavior due to the Borgs neglect of it's customers and their financial success, which oddly goes hand in hand.

   Of course, I guess we shouldn't be complaining to Lance, Brock and everybody else on the OLF, we should be writing to them!

    Nah!!! That make too much sense!

Hope your back loosens up Paul.

Billy Dean Thomas

P.S. And Bloom get your stuff!! Billy T38981.6251041667

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Hahahahahaha Billy your killing me... hahahaha...

This is a true story:

One time I was at Radio Shack buying some part, behind me was 'I kid you not!' an Amway salesman who was trying to chat me up. When I got the counter they wanted my info and I refused fearing not only junk mail but soap in my garage, they actually argued with me about it!! I can laugh now but at the time I was ready to throttle them, I finally escaped with my part and my privacy :)

I'm not trying to beat on the employees, I've done jobs like that. It's a tough gig sometimes, I think Billy's right it's a corporate thing and not a personel thing. I'm not against being helpful, just being soooo helpful that your customers can't even decide on wire color without assistance

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Tactics I have used:

If it's a store I don't expect to return to real soon, I'll point to my ear and shake my head and hope they don't start using ASL.

"no hablo ingles" works too!

Last fall, I walked into the little neighborhood Ace store and the clerk asked me how the sprinkler head I'd bought that previous spring had worked out. Like yours, our little Ace stores are pretty good. We don't have any big ones nearby.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Paul there is one sure way to get rid of the helpful salesman. Before you go in, think of a hardware question that really don't know the answer to. It has to be a question that you really need to answer to as well. Armed with this weapon, you will not see hide nore hair of a salesman. They're only there when you don't need them.

If that doesn't work. Ask the how much it would cost to special order some aircraft quality sheet metal screws. You don't remember the number. While the guy is off looking it up and other salesman come by you can say thay you're already being helped.

Common sense should be taught at home, not in school although some refreshing sessions should be given to contemporary adults in Colleges and Universities.

Too much of a good thing is a bad thing, there is a time and place for everything...it seems that our modern societies are lacking parents but more cruelly fathers, real fathers for that missing common sense.

As Paul said, hard to blame the kids in the alleys, there jobs and their company's customer attraction tactics are sometimes hard to live with, even in the convenience store, you're being asked if you want a lottery ticket when you went there for a soda and a chocolate bar! Insulting!

Don't you make this Bear mad, AAAARGH!

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar] Paul there is one sure way to get rid of the helpful salesman. Before you go in, think of a hardware question that really don't know the answer to. [/QUOTE] I've done that. The guy made up some answer, I knew it was made up because it was wrong and I could see the gears in his head spinning. I couldn't resist, so I asked him if he really knew the answer, because his answer sounded like something he just made up.
He was pissed and assured me that he knew the answer. I explained to him why his answer was wrong and that if he didn't know, the best thing to do was to say so and go ask for help. Believe it or not, that did not calm him down. Do you think I gave that store my name, address and phone number?

BTW - I've only done that once and I do not recommend it, at least without back up.

Yes, I hate Radio Shack. I'm glad there are people that understand why.SteveS38981.7930787037

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

This made me chuckle. Thanks. My best friend and I found the best
way to get rid of them was to (and yeah, we did) tell them we were
looking for things to put together a small explosive. All you need to do is
make the question your mental stability. Start adjusting lines from the
movie, "Misery."   

"The things people do with these bolts make me so mad! Do I go into the
hardware store and get them all mixed up?! Do I do such and
such?!"

"I've thought about using these as a weapon. Today I might take them
home."   

[QUOTE=James Orr]    This made me chuckle. Thanks. My best friend and I found the best
way to get rid of them was to (and yeah, we did) tell them we were
looking for things to put together a small explosive.    [/QUOTE]

In this day and age, I wouldn't try that! You would get a visit from the FBI right quick!

"Mr.Orr... Do you believe in Mohamed?"

"No man, don't shoot! It's just my summer tan!"

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Yeah James these are not the times for Jokes like that, sad but true...

Just tell them your building an anti gravity device out of old refrigerators and you need some parts for the flux coil

Now here's something that will make you chuckle, when we first moved into our house we had someone at the door almost every day selling something, one guy was selling meat from a van!! (he just could not understand why I would not be interested in that, go figure) So I put a sign that said 'No Solicitors' on our door right above the ringer. Sure enough some doofus selling something showed up no less than two weeks later while my wife was cooking dinner, she asked if he could read and he said yes, then she told him to wait there while she got a dictionary so he could look up the word 'solicitor'. He was not either not amused or just unware of the danger he faced and tried talk his way around it, I would have thrown him a bone but he started it and when you make the bear mad all you can do is video tape the carnage for future generations.

When she done, he was 2 ft shorter and walked away with a limp, I think word must have gotten out because it has not happened since. I told her I was going to put up a 'Do Not Anger The Bear' sign and the boys and I laughed, it was only funny until it started to snow. That dog house has NO insulation...

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

[quote]All you need to do is make them question your mental stability.[/quote]

Do that on purpose?? What a great idea!

     Usually my aluminum foil hat takes care of that, works good on jury duty too!!

3 jackets
1 left boot
1 right sneaker
1 aluminum foil hat
Your dismissed - Priceless!!

    Havn't served since the late 80's!

Billy Dean

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Paul: Thanks! This gave me a good chuckle!

I used to have a similar problem with Starbucks, until I got em trained up. I go to work pretty early, usually before 6:00am, and Starbucks is the only coffee shop open. Now, it's like 5:30am, I have to go to a job that doesn't really float my boat, and I haven't had any caffine yet. I just want my coffee. So EVERY morning at the drive-in window, before taking my order, the guy always says "Welcome to Starbucks. How are you doing this morning?" Then silence, waiting for my response. So, I endure this through several mornings. I try to be pleasant, I really do, but after awhile, my response is just to place my order. Still, it continues. "Welcome to Starbucks. How are you doing this morning?", then silence.
Finally, one morning, I'm in a particularly foul mood, and when I hear those words, my response goes something like this: "It's five *^&%# thirty in the $(&$% morning, I'm going to work, and I haven't had any #$^%%&* coffee! How the *&^^&% do you think I'm doing?

Now they have a camera at the order mic right? So the next morning, it's "Good morning Sir. Triple Grande Latte, one sugar? We'll have that right up for you!"

-Mark

   

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
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Need help to get off the floor!

Mark, you just made my day!

Paul, Billy and Mark,   all good for my soul today.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

HAhahahahahahaa Mark that is just tooo funny...

This IS good for my soul, I'm doing a HUGE release this weekend and this is keeping me sane...

So here's a good one:

We wen't to McDonalds one day in Concord, and the person at the drive through can't speak english... AT ALL... My wife tries to be patient and after they get the order wrong for the 8th time she asks for the manager. Then she proceeds to tell him "loudly" that it would be a good idea that if you have a drive through window in America where they speak ENGLISH you might want to consider having someone who knows the local dialect..

The boys and I are crouching down in our seats trying to hide, and she looks at us and goes "WHAT! They asked for it!!" we just started laughing at that point but I made a point to never visit their again for fear they would recognize me. She was so mad that we feared for our life for a short time and then finally she laughed when she realized what she had said...

The best ever that happened to me was I worked at Safeway before we got married, one day this little old grumpy lady came up to while I was cleaning and aisle and said with a totally straight face:

"Excuse me young man, but do you know where your nuts are??"

I froze as countless innappropriate responses raced through my head, all of them would have gotten me fired but been hilarious... I must have appeared to be in pain because she stared right into my eyes waiting expectantly, finally I was able to respond that they where on aisle 3... I walked to the back room and laughed until my sides hurt...

Sorry if that offends some people, but to this day I still laugh about it.

I needed a good laugh today

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Mark, that's hilarious.

My best friend and I went to the hardware store looking for dynamite
when we turned 18. We wanted to do something and didn't really have
interest in smoking. An eagle scout friend said we should buy dynamite.

"They have it at orchard supply."

We already knew he had the least common sense out of the human race,
but the intirigue takes over, right?

In we went. Nervous. After going down every isle twice, we were
approached by a salesman.

"Um, we just, where do you keep dynamite?"

He was physically shaken. You're right. Our social climate's probably not
too receptive to that now though.

But you could take the same approach.

"I LOVE fasteners. I love the metals. Oh, those screw designers, they're
too good. I like to go to the McCaster-Carr website just to look at the
stainless steel ones. I have a McCaster-Carr poster on my wall to remind
me about all the different allows and head types. Oh machine
screws are my favorite."

Just watch Misery and take notes.

[quote=Yogi Serge]Don't you make this Bear mad, AAAARGH! [/quote]

Do Canadian bears sound like pirates??

AAARGH!!! Where be me Salmon 'n me berries!! YoHo! YoHo! a Grizzly's life for me!!   

Billy Dean Thomas

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

[QUOTE=Billy Tha bomb T] [quote=Yogi Serge]Don't you make this Bear mad, AAAARGH! [/quote]

Do Canadian bears sound like pirates??

AAARGH!!! Where be me Salmon 'n me berries!! YoHo! YoHo! a Grizzly's life for me!!   

Billy Dean Thomas[/QUOTE]

I'm on the floor you crazy funny Billy! you just made me crack my ribs open!

Get up and start post'in!!! No more goofing off!

"Crazy Funny" Billy Dean

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Stop this you rib cracker, you want to send me to the hospital or whut?