Yelp Review Owner Response - L.A. K. South Salem, NY
Read L.A. K.'s review of Ski Haus on Yelp
L.A. K. was easily one of the most memorable customers we've had in the store, and not for good reason. As he stated, he was not in the store very long but managed to make a lasting impression on both the staff and customers who all thought he was ridiculous and laughable as he burst out of the front door yelling, "I'M GOING TO PEDIGREE". He was loud, obnoxious and refused to wait in line. Instead, he wanted to "browse". Obviously browsing is allowed but it becomes a bit more than browsing when you begin interrupting and berating multiple employees with questions and requests who are trying to help customers that did wait in line.
As we all know, COVID has introduced new and very different selling conditions. We have a small store and every day, especially on the weekends, there has been a line to the door and sometimes even well into the parking lot. In order to regulate the amount of traffic in the store and make people feel comfortable/safe, we have people distance themselves as much as possible in a line. As soon as the enter the store they are asked what they are looking for, they are given paperwork and assigned the appropriate salesman. Appointments, like L.A. K. is suggesting, is not a good idea. People are almost always late, cancel their appointments or miss them completely. In addition, because of some of the complexities of fitting boots, we can spend hours with people adjusting and making modifications that could easily run well past the allotted time. Are we to stop in the middle of boot adjustment and say "Times up"? Sorry, but we want to make sure everything is fitting correctly so we cannot put a generic time frame on our services, especially when it comes to boots. Bottom-line, neither the customer or our employees want a return trip so we spend as much time as it takes the first time.
Lastly, I am not really sure what L.A. K. means by posting a sign that says "walk-ins welcome with a chance of a wait". Walk-ins are obviously allowed but posting a sign that says "chance of a wait" when there's a line both inside and outside the front door doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
-Ryan