I set out to buy a John Deere mower. By myself. Most any female has experienced the dark side when shopping for something typically thought of as a male item. We are sometimes ignored or talked down to and sometimes even lied to. I have avoided that most of my life by making sure Rudy was always with me if I suspected there might be a problem. Today, I was on my own.
I walked into the John Deere dealership in Newnan (Ag-Pro). There were 4 men in the store - 3 behind the counter, 1 at a desk. All of them were in close proximity and all of them saw me. Two were on the phone. They all continued about their business. I didn't even get a wave, a nod or a hello. After standing patiently in the middle of the store for what seemed like ages, one of them said he'd be with me in a minute. His idea of a minute was different than mine and he was obviously in no rush. Two other men walked out onto the floor and talked with the others. So now, there were 6 men ignoring me. I felt less than invisible.
This could have been their easiest sale of the day. I knew exactly what I wanted. I had called to make sure it was in stock. I knew the price. All they would have had to do was ring it up. They lost the sale. I walked out.
Something in me just seemed to snap. There's absolutely no need for me to tolerate such rudeness. I don't have the luxury of sending Rudy to take care of things for me. I'm going to have to get tough.
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| DON'T go to the Ag-Pro John Deere dealership in Newnan! |
I didn't waste time or energy giving them a piece of my mind. I thought about writing a quick note to the company, but decided they aren't worth the effort. What do I care if they improve? Instead, I decided the best action would be to WARN all of my friends - if you want good customer service, DON'T go to Ag-Pro in Newnan.
I ended up buying the mower at Home Depot. The price was exactly the same. Kimberly took good care of me. She rang it up, hunted down ramps, helped load the mower, climbed in the truck to help tie it down, and more. Now that's how it's done!
I have been thinking about this incident for a good part of the afternoon. I have a number of friends who, for one reason or another, are on their own. There's no man to "take care of them". Most of those women seem to have a stronger attitude than my married friends. When I say stronger attitude, I'm not implying they are pushy or rude or anything like that at all. They just seem to have higher expectations and a can-do (or more precisely, a must-do) attitude. I'd never really thought about any of that before. Also, I've never thought of myself as a wimp, but looking back, I guess I was. I'm changing (because I have to) and there's no turning back.
