Canadian Chat → Re: Futureshop/Bestbuy abruptly shut down a dozen stores

> > But shopping at a Best Buy, or one of the company's Future Shop locations,
> > is most often an exercise in annoyance rather than respect. Customers complain
> > that sales staff were difficult to find and unknowledgeable or pushy when they did
> > materialize. Sears suffered similar problems; in some locations, you are more likely
> > to spot a Yeti than a sales associate. Both Best Buy and Sears trailed far
> > behind competitors like Costco and Sam's Club in pleasing their patrons,
> > according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an annual survey of
> > 70,000 shoppers.

Again, this aspect of customer service is exactly what you get when you staff a big-box electronics store with 75 - 100 part-time, high turnover employees, instead of say 20 full-time employees.

I don't buy the fact that the fear of unionization is why the retailers go with part-time staff. By now, everyone in Ontario is aware that if you go on strike in a private-sector business, that business isin't going to mess around with you - they will close and kick your ass out on the road. Ask the people that used to work at the Caterpillar plant (formerly GM Diesel) in London if their union experience worked out for them.

Places like Costco make it a point of selling stuff that doesn't require customer assistance. A TV is a TV these days, and you don't need customer assistance to answer questions about 5-gallon pails of salad dressing.

EWW that's alot of Salad dressing

well to have all part time workers is a smart business move. that way if one leaves it has no effect on your business as the person is not doing a key job you don't need a skilled person to replace them.

I do know best buys do have a shit-ton of mangers the one I was at in Barrie had at least 7 of them. Sucked as one would tell me one thing and the other would say something else. Sucked working there I even got in shit cause I was doing to much work. Forking teens were pretty damn lazy.

Work for yourself, it's much better!

working on that now.