I realize that being in a college town business owners hire the cheapest and most inexperienced help they can find. Which speaks poorly about the owner. But when your products are fine fur felt fedoras that cost $150 - $200, the owners should feel a tad more responsibility when it comes to training. I saw a stetson in the cabinet that looked a lot like my Stetson Chatham. A $175 fur felt fedora. I have one in black, and one in grey. The one in the cabinet was brown. The only color I dont have. So I asked, giddy as a school boy, ""Is this a Chatham?"" The child behind the counter snaps at me and she says, "" Thats a Stetson Dobbs."" I say to her that Stetson and Dobbs are two different hat makers. And I could see the Stetson tag on the ribbon. ""Well,"" she snaps again, ""thats what it is, a Stetson Dobbs."" Very rude, very unprofessional. Im a little ticked because I really wanted to add the brown to my collection, but not only did it never dawn on her to remove the hat from the cabinet to show it to me, I will not be treated poorly by an inexperienced child and then fork over $200. So I ask for some adjustment tape to make one of my hats fit a little snugger. She snarls, ""Adjustment tape? I have weather stripping."" I mean, come on! Weather stripping? She didnt even know the lingo to carry on a conversation with a hat collector. After some bad advice on where to sit and have a quiet drink, which she names some bar in Georgetown 20 miles away. (The hat shop is located downtown in the middle of all bars and restaurants.) I shake my head and leave.
The problem with staffing college kids is that they dont care. They know they'll be leaving soon and the rest of the world can go to hell. Just bad business.
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