As a long-time comics fan since first reading my stepbrothers’ silver age books many many years ago, I have tried to make at least a modest effort to visit and put my dollars to work in "Eastside" comic book shops. Psycho5, Xanadu, even the Barnes & Noble and the magazine stand at Crossroads mall, to name a few.
Since switching to Mile High Comics years ago, my subscriptions have dwindled and I no longer read any of the issues that come in my shipments. This is sad, but as a part of my childhood, I treasure my comics and I do try to keep in touch with what’s going on in the Marvel Universe.
On hearing that Comic Stop, a well-regarded comic book store located in North Seattle, would be opening a store in Redmond Town Center, I was excited. While I no longer have lots of spare cash to pour into books, I still like to visit the shops and buy things that strike my fancy.
I’ve visited the new store in Redmond Town Center four times.
The first time, the store was closed due to the Emerald City ComiCon. Fair enough. I stopped by on a bad day.
The second time, the store was open, but the proprietor was playing some kind of PC game and didn’t pay much attention to me as I browsed. Normally, I like benign neglect like this, as I don’t like being watched as I browse the shelves. I purchased a couple of books and eventually had a short conversation with the proprietor.
The third time, the guy had moved down to the recesses of the street level of Redmond Town Center (a mistake IMHO) next to Sweet Factory. I knew this would be happening, from my conversation in the second visit. Again, he was gaming, but I needed to check out some Olivier Coipel art, so I bought a few books, and a single trading card that I needed to complete a set. We chatted a bit about the trading cards. Purchasing things had become cumbersome, as there was a new sign posted saying that credit card purchases would incur a 5% fee due to "circumstances beyond our control".
As the son of a merchant that takes credit cards, I know that Visa/Mastercard do not allow surcharges like this, and beyond that, it has been proven through behavioral studies, that people shopping with credit cards buy more than those paying with cash. Since I’m a credit card carrier, I rarely have much cash on me, so I was limited to buying only 3 books and the trading card.
I also inquired about a specific title and was told to come back in two days, as a new issue of that title would be arriving.
Today was the scheduled arrival day and I stopped into the store at about 11:20am. The shipment had arrived, and the guy was stocking some books. I mentioned that I had come in because he told me that my title would be arriving. He acknowledged me, but said he hadn’t gotten to my title yet. Fair enough.
What happened next boggled my mind! I began browsing the books on display, to allow him some time to dig through his boxes for my title. I also picked up a magazine that I would have bought. Instead of going through his shipment to find my title, he plodded through the boxes as they were packed, checking them off along the way. I kept browsing and began to grow impatient. I even caught him reading a book he was unpacking!
After seeing him read books instead of unpacking his shipment, I headed to the counter to wait, in a hinting, subtle way to say "find my title dammit" Unfortunately, he didn’t get the hint and continued plodding through the boxes as they were packed. Needless to say, this made me mad, so I put back the magazine and headed toward the door. I paused briefly to give him a chance to talk to me, or call out or something, but nothing was said.
With nobody in the store but me and the proprietor, knowing that I was there for a specific title, he chose to ignore my needs and to unpack his boxes in the order in which they were packed. I even had cash in my pocket, ready to buy my $25 or so worth of books, but he didn’t want my business enough to say "Hey, wait a sec, let me find that title in these boxes for you" In times like these, where discretionary dollars are harder and harder to come by, Comic Stop Redmond Town Center doesn’t give a damn about customer service, they don’t respect my time when I come in, and they don’t project any kind of professionalism when it comes to greeting walk-ins (potential customers!)
You’ll get no more business from me, Comic Stop Redmond Town Center. And I hope that this blog posting helps save a few more foolish people from visiting your shop and suffering the same treatment I received.
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Sounds likes someone needs to get on the ball with customer service, or it will fail. Unless the person has so much money they don\’t really care if the store succeeds