My hubby called this morning after he got into work and was really
frustrated.
He stopped to fill up his gas tank at his usual gas station and was greetedwith the following upon swiping his bank card: "Please enter zip code." Not a problem. He entered it. Then he was prompted to "see cashier".
He thought there was a problem with his swipe-stripe and went into the
gas station only to find 10 other customers waiting in line. From the conversations overheard he was able to understand this much:
The gas station now prefers everyone to pay by cash. If you are going to pay by bank card or credit card you have to come inside to show your card and have the signature verified by the attendant.
He drove on down the highway and stopped at another gas station. Believe it or not he was greeted with the same prompting, and the same "Come inside..." and yet the same line full of customers all rushing to get to their workplaces.
Once again he left. The most frustrating part of the sudden change in the "pay at pump" routine? There was no advance notice of it, nor were there any signs on the pumps or at the door of the stations notifying customers what the new policy was. Because of this there were many unhappy customers at 2 separate businesses this morning. Many people who were there at the same time were just as frustrated and left, without giving their business to these gas stations.
I was wondering about something after I got off the phone with him this morning. In our real estate industry we have seen many sudden changes, ones that have inconvenienced consumers in many ways. From the mortgage changes to appraisal guideline changes the list could go on and on.
Will the 2 businesses that my husband visited, then left, recover from the bad experiences that so many consumers had with them this morning?
Will the sudden changes in our industry leave a bad taste in the mouth of consumers that could take years to change?
© 2008 Kris Wales a Macomb County MI real estate agent
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REALTOR® , RE/MAX Advantage 1, Inc.- Chesterfield MI -586-840-1876 (direct line) Serving home buyers and home sellers in Macomb County MI. Conveniently located near SANG. http://macombhomes.com
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I don't think the current turmoil will truly sour people in the long term. With consumer goods it is usually easy to go down the road to find another store, but if you need a home you need a home. Now a bad experience with agents will sour people and make them really hate the industry!
Making changers are often met with resistance then forgotten about a short time later - UNLESS you are inconvienced like pointed out in your blog, especially so suddenly without warning, and with things like you pointed out 'pay at the pump' That can leave a stinging effect that takes much longer and even possibly permenant loss. ie: If you (or your husband in your example) are so annoyed and aggrevated, you'll go out of your way NOT to shop there, use that certain companies service, etc., and go farther down the road, use someone else that charges more, etc, just because you don't want to go back to company A.
Kris, I'm hoping your husband and I don't share the bad habit of letting the tank get down to fumes before filling up! And you make a great point about gratuitous changes. I think we can all learn from this stuff!
Kris--What an inconvenience! I don't know if some businesses even care when they lose good loyal customers. Smart businesses think about the impact prior to implementing changes as one good customer lost can mean thousands in the long term. Only time will tell if these places can rebuild the relationship. Good post. :)
Unfortunately the changes in our real estate market are across the board. If every gas station in America required you to go inside to show your crecit card, your husband would eventually have had to use one of those gas stations.
Kris, I haven't experienced this at the gas pumps yet. Great point...we need to make the process easier not harder for our clients!
Kris, I always hope in any profession that they don't judge the whole one because of the work of a few....and unfortunately we can't stop those few. It saddens me, though.
Kris... I do not think that this change in the industry is going to affect anything. This change was necessary, and the current condition of the market was simply spurred by greed...
Kris I have seen many gas stations implimenting this policy. It really is a pain. But there has been a rash of folks just running off and not paying for fuel. Desparate times require desparate measures. Hopefully time will allow more balance in policies both for fuel as well as real estate and other industries affected by the econmonic crunch.
Chris: You're absolutely correct, a bad experience with a real estate agent could sour a person against the whole industry.
Ronald: Yes, it was the "no notice" that got to him. And you're right, he's moved on to one down the road that doesn't have that requirement. He also noticed that their isn't a line at the pumps at the original station anymore.
Patricia: That would be me that lets my car run down to fumes :-)
Teri: Time is already telling the story. The 2 businesses aren't as busy in the mornings when he passes them.
Joe: Yes indeed they are. That doesn't mean that some consumers though won't just give up for quite a while. I'm sure some have.
Diane: Now if we could do something about the sudden changes in mortgage guidelines I'd be a happy lady :-)
Carole: It saddens me also. All we can do is rise to the challenges and try to sway public opinion.
Michael: I hope you're right.
Nannette: It's the first we're seeing around here. The "no notice" is what is troubling.