Dear Sears Canada Inc.

Someone told me, and recent news stories have confirmed it, you’ve fallen on hard times, financially. I want to feel sorry for you but, I don’t. I will say, welcome to our world, Sears. You know, the world of people who are your customers. Your customers know all about hard financial times. It’s been tough, out here, for all of us consumer types. There’s hardly a person in my circle of friends and family who hasn’t been downsized, replaced or cut back. There’s hardly a one, in my circle, who hasn’t shed a tear or two over shrunken investments, higher taxes, astronomical prices and lower wages all the while listening to bone-headed politicians rage on about how we all have to tighten our belts.

But, back to you, Sears Canada Inc. Now is not a good time for you to trim the fat, a.k.a. your staff. Now is not a good time to turn your back on the importance of good customer service. Not now. We may not have a lot to look forward to, but we do have options. We aren’t bottom-feeders. We aren’t stupid. We aren’t a captive audience to bigbox style retailing. (And, stamp your foot and protest if you wish, you aren’t much more than a big-box retailer these days.) In a community like Prince Edward County we don’t all have the extra bucks to fill the tank for a 40-kilometre drive to Belleville to be ignored by what little staff you have left on your sales floor. We don’t want to be told, at the checkout counter the item we took 20 minutes to find on the rack with the “20 per cent off” sign isn’t really on sale but, merely on the wrong rack. You do know we could actually go to our local retailers, be greeted by name (in many cases) and treated like customers. You know, like real people who just happen to have money to spend.

Here in Vancouver (you knew there had to be an example), while shopping for ladies’ fine delicates at your outlet in the Oakridge Centre, I was treated to the same non-level of customer service. You do know that finding the right bra shouldn’t be an orienteering challenge. Am I right? Of course I am. I shouldn’t have to spend 55 minutes pawing through messy shelves, disorganized bins and display racks while your staff members chatter away about their dinner plans. That’s what they were doing, by the way. Your staff didn’t look like they cared one iota about me or the two other shoppers. They certainly didn’t offer any assistance. Eventually, I selected seven different makes of bra, none of which were the make I usually buy, and three different sizes for each make because, if you know bras, there’s no such thing as standard sizing. One manufacturer’s A is another’s B. I took the whole underwired, minimized, uplifting bundle to where your staff was gabbing and asked about the fitting room’s availability. One of your staff held her “Peter Pointer” up to let me know she hadn’t finished her dinner plans conversation with her co-worker. Needless to say, I dumped my selections on the counter and left. And, for those of you who know me, I left a “deleted expletive,” also.

So, Sears Canada Inc., what the H E double D’s are you going to do next? Will you blame the crappy economic atmosphere for your fall from viable grace, or are you going to hitch up the girls and tell your staff to provide service as if they own the place?

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca