When I first entered the store I was ordered to leave my bag of recently purchased books, from another store, on a chair. He claims this is done politely but it is done as an order. This made me and my wife immediately decide that we would not be purchasing any item at the store, ever. When we were leaving, the owner did try to become helpful and I explained to him that the way we were greeted was perceived as rude. He asked how I would deal with this and I suggested that if he had to have this policy a hello and if you don't want to have to carry that you can leave the bag at the front desk. He decided to argue with me instead of apologizing. I tried to explain why this was a poor way of dealing with customers nicely but I gave up as he apparently has had a problem with shoplifters and didn't want to listen. As I left the store he muttered an insult to me in front of another customer.
I will also consider his response to the previous person who had the same experience. I am sorry you, the store owner, have had many issues with theft that is terrible and I don?t wish that on anyone, but the way you handle potential customers is unacceptable. You are right you are not going to please people all the time but it is important to try to be welcoming to customers and not to argue or insult them. The way you run your customer service is abysmal and you cannot argue that away.
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