Before I get started, when I wrote "bad, bad" in the title I mean as in VERY BAD and not the good bad as in that was "bad @zz" but more like "man that was the worst thing I have ever experienced." OK, on with the show.
Picture the scene, its FRIDAY afternoon, just before 6pm, 92 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, 92% humidity, and it's the start of the weekend. Before you can start it you gotta fill up on gas. This was me a little more than 12 hours ago. So the little yellow fill'er up light goes on, and 10 miles later I find a gas station/ convenience store and proceeded to fill it.
I "pay at the pump" as I really don't need anything from inside, I am a few miles from home, so I can wait. I proceed to fill up and when I finish, the LCD display asks if I want a receipt. You bet I do. About 30 seconds after pressing the YES button, the display reads CLERK HAS RECEIPT.
I guess business must be so bad inside that they have to force people into the store for some impulse shopping while enroute to pick up the receipt. This has got to be the most lame attempt at making people buy something. Not being amused I made the trek into the store for my receipt. Sure enough there they were, all the impulse items, cold drinks, candies, snack food, ALL wanting my attention. Also, as usual in situations like this there was only ONE cashier ringing people and two other employees standing around as a line of customers formed. It was my lucky day, the guy behind the counter wore a name tag that announced that he was the Assistant Manager.
Now, not being privy to the command structure of the modern retail industry, this guy could have been Assistant Manager in charge of restocking Chips and Condiments for all I know. Still, I took the Assistant Manager title as one that held a position of perceived authority within the STRIPES (formerly Valero) organization. Taking my turn in line I told the young man that I needed my receipt from the gas pump I was at, he gave it to me, and asked if that was all. I told him "No". In a nice but steady tone I told him that I will not be buying gasoline or anything else from any STRIPES until they stop forcing people inside the store." The guy looked at me like I had just stepped on the bible and burned the US flag (both of which I would never do). I was not going to explain anything more to him, so I took my receipt and promptly left the store.
Is this a marketing scheme that is played out all over the country or just in parts of the country where people are willing to accept this kind of behavior from any organization?
Tags: bad marketing, scheme, retail, pay at the pump, STRIPES, Valero, gasoline, fill up
Powered by Qumana
No comments:
Post a Comment