On the street where I will probably live (fingers crossed!) there are two lunchtime sandwich shops. While I've been out and about, I've tried to interact with both, to get a feeling for the neighborhood.
Sandwich shop 1 (last week):
H: Can I have a jacket potato with cheese?
Sandwich lady 1: Oh......sorry, we're all out. But it's the only thing we're out of, you can pick anything else.
H: Hmm. What do you recommend, that is vegetarian?
SL: Well, we can do cheese on a roll, or a toasted cheese or an egg salad sandwich, or Tuna--if you're 'that kind of vegetarian', or you can say what to put on the sandwich and we'll make it.
H: Cheese on a roll sounds great.
SL: OK....type of bread?....toasted?....do you want a bit of salad on that? (good suggestive upselling there)
H: Super.
SL: Here you go. Apologies again on the potato.
H: Obviously I'll need to come back, they must be good to sell out!
Sandwich shop 2 (today), after waiting 3 minutes for someone to appear from the back:
H: (needing to break a 5 pound note to get parking meter change) One pack of M&M's please. (holding the 5)
SL2: Do you have 55 p by chance?
H: Sorry, no.
SL2: (pauses, with 5 in hand) Is this for change for the parking meter?
H: Yes.
SL2: We can't always be doing this, you know!!
H: (slightly shocked, after 2 stress-free weeks, mentally taken back to DE). (blink.) Sorry, I didn't know, I'm not from here.
SL2: (big German F-off sigh, and goes to the back. Comes back with change and then must go to the cash register.) Here....it has to be small change.
H: Sure.
SL2: Because we don't keep a lot of change.
H: Sorry, I'm a visitor, I didn't realize. (But don't worry, I won't bother you again!)
IF I live on this street--which shop do you think will get all of my business?
At the end of the day, both transactions completed successfully, I loosely got what I went in for (lunch, change). However, I was so turned off by the second shop experience. If I had visited there before I went to see the flat on that street, it probably would have colored my view of the flat. I was mentioning this experience to D later, who was completely peeved, as he explained that this was rude by UK standards. I was considering it by:
1. US Standards - as a business, you're sorta being stupid here. By not keeping change in stock and requiring a sale to give it, you're losing out on business.
2. German Standards - there would have been sighs about having to count out the change if it had been bigger than a 5 perhaps, but you buy something, you get change, none of this whining about not wanting to give it based on the purpose.
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5 comments:
Strangely enough. today I needed to break a 2 for the parkscheine. It was early and only an apotheke was open. The gentleman broke it for me, after I explained why I needed it and I was so pleased (because this is DE and he didn't need to) that I went back and bought my rx and a gum there after my dr's appt.
Yet I would have found that Londoner's reaction anonymous and perhaps have left after he gave you that guff. Or been so shocked at the rudeness that I just (like you) never went back.
Oops, obnoxious.
Grr, that was not cool!
Geeze, at least you tried to buy something to get the change, it's not like you just walked in and asked for change. What an idiot.
G: good business sense from the apotheke which obviously then paid off.
C N Heidelberg: indeed
J: if you come over to visit from DE, i'll send you in there so you can compare the 'F off' sigh to the German version. :-)
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