Small business woes

[andygates]

Our town is being menaced by the faceless horror of Tesco.  That's what the local small businesses would like you to think ,at least - big business putting the plucky small trader out of work unfairly.

In the last few days I've turned up with a fistful of shinies to two of these local shops and had my money turned away.  At the phone shop, I was turned away because I was dealing with the other salesman, and he's not in today - and the rural simpleton behind the desk presumably couldn't split the commission so he'd rather turn away a sale.  And I've been told by the electrical goods shop that they will give me a price for a storage heater if I give them a product number.  I'll just go to another shop and get it then, shall I?

Straw-chewing knuckle-dragging subprime gibbons, the lot of them.  Using "we're small businesses, love us!" to defend this sort of feeble service is weak, weak, weak. 

Small businesses can be great.  The personal service, working relationship and deep knowledge from years in the trade are well worth the modest premium you may pay over big-box retailers.  But "small" is not and never should be an excuse for "lazy".  Lazy businesses deserve to go under.

At least there'll be room for a Starbuck's.

Comments

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

We have the same problem here. I want desperately to use local businesses, but the majority of them haven't a clue about how to treat customers. They used to, but now, it's like they're doing YOU a favor by existing, and if you can get them to stop chatting with their friends long enough to assist you, there's always a problem that they can't find a way around without you doing a lot of work or waiting a week for the item in question. A lot of them aren't even in their stores during their posted hours.

So, when they go out of business and blame the big chains, I can't feel sorry for them. When clerks at a big place are that way, I can complain and generally, it's taken seriously. Often, I get special coupons or gift cards because I let them know, too.

It's not big box retailers that kill the homegrown ones, it's entitlement issues.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Exactly: it's that "we are small so you are obliged to use us or you'll live in a desolate ghost town and it'll be all your fault, so stand there like a dork while we yak about nothing to our elderly mums" attitude.