Friday, December 16, 2005

Good Service at Suncoast Video

Twice this week I've gone into a Suncoast Video store in search of the original black and white "King King" movie with Fay Wray. (It's a Christmas present for Mr. Jane -- ssshh, don't tell). In the first store I was really suprised by the level of friendly responsive service the clerk provided, not just to me but to the other customers as well. They didn't have the movie I wanted. Today on the way home I stopped in at another Suncoast Video store. Again, the clerks were friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to come out from behind the counter and walk the customers to whatever part of the store was most likely to have what they wanted. I was shocked. Waiting on middle-aged women wearing funny winter hats can't be at the top of the list of what these early twenty-somethings want to do. In a lot of stores I'm lucky to get a grunt and a general "over there" gesture. So this level of attention was pretty heady stuff. Unfortunately they didn't have the movie either, but the clerk said they were owned by the same company as Sam Goody (five stores down, on the left, he said) and they would probably have it, and he quoted me the price it would be there. Low and behold he was right on all counts. This is the place I will be going for videos and dvds in the future. I congratulate the chain on hiring good people and training them well (and presumably paying them enough to keep them).

[Lawyer note -- no one in my family works for the store and no one in my house individually owns stock in the company, though it may be in retirement or mutual funds.]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the possitive comments. The company that owns Suncoast is now bankrupt, and the store you shop at will soon close. Another company and it's good service, eaten up by big box monsters. When there is nothing left but Wal-mart can you imagine how bland every shopping experiance will be? Sad, very sad.

Anonymous said...

I see it differently. Here is a copy of the email I sent to their office today.

This is a true story that I will be sure to share with everyone I know.



Wednesday November 29th, 2006 11:30 AM. I walked into your store to do some X-mas shopping. I had on my list 6 different DVD’s for kids, wife, etc. I was met about halfway into your store by what I thought was a young enthusiastic sales person who was going to help me with my shopping. I was wrong! What followed shocked me. This young man told me that he needed to immediately close the “gate” at the front door and close the store so that he could unload a truck. He told me that he was the only one in the store. Stunned, I asked him if he was serious. Obviously he was as he said he could help me if “I made it quick”. With that I thought that I would rather not spend a dime of my money in a place that obviously has no concern for its paying customers. Upset, I left and went to Best-Buy where they were more than willing to take my $120 for the DVD’s on my list. In my professional opinion, if you continue to prioritize unloading a truck over helping your customers, you will probably not be in business much longer. Merry Christmas