MemeMachineGo!

When I first got to college, they had all incoming freshmen take an essay test to determine basic proficiency in writing. The topic I chose was, “Identify a problem at a place you have worked, and propose a solution.” This remains in my mind to this day, because the problem was one I encountered constantly at Bradlees, and it still exists in just about every large department store.

The issue is that, whenever the store has a sale, inevitably some of the items advertised for the sale are not going to be in stock. Bradlees, like most stores, had a reasonable policy where they would give a raincheck entitling the customer to the sale price on the out-of-stock item when it came in. The problem was in communicating to the customers which items were, or were not, actually on sale.

Let me give an example. Sunday was the start of all sales at Bradlees. Every Sunday, the store would run a flyer in the major local paper, advertising all the items on sale that week. So let’s say the Proctor-Silex model 50 toaster was on sale, and our store just happened not to get any of those toasters for that week (or didn’t get enough, and sold out on the first day). The official store policy was to put up a small sign, about eight by ten inches, in the appropriate department saying “This item is not in stock, please pick up a rain check at the customer service desk.” Naturally, since customers would be looking for the Proctor-Silex 50 toaster, the employees would put the sign near the other Proctor-Silex toasters.

Now, enter the customer. The customer doesn’t want to see that the item they came to buy isn’t available. They want their toaster, and they want it now. They go to the toaster shelves, and they see the Proctor-Silex 30 toaster, and the Proctor-Silex 70 toaster, and if they see the sign at all, they probably ignore it. They came to get a Proctor-Silex toaster that was on sale, and here it is. So they take their booty up to the register, and the cashier rings up the price, which naturally isn’t the sale price. Argument ensues, which always plays out to the same predictable result. Customer says that the price is wrong. Cashier calls the department for a price check. Employee from the department comes up to the register with a copy of the flyer, points out the item that was on sale, points out that the one the customer has isn’t the one that’s on sale. Employees recommend that the customer get a rain check at the customer service desk. Customer grumbles, complains, occasionally curses. Employees shrug. Cycle repeats endlessly with new customers and new sales.

The solution I came up with for the purposes of the essay was to have a prominent sign at the front of the store listing the sale items that were not in stock, and directing people immediately to the customer service desk. I got a good grade on the essay and got to skip the “English for Non-Literate Geeks” course, but realistically, I don’t think my solution would have made it any better. The real solution, of course, is to make smarter customers.