A few months ago, my girlfriend went into a local outdoor store, Backcountry. She was looking for a certain pair of shoes that she wanted to try on. While talking with one of the employees, she mentioned that her brother worked for REI. He stopped helping her and told her that companies like that put businesses like his out of business.
I was reminded of this story as I drove by their store. I didn’t stop to browse.
In fact, I never will again.
This employee had very valid concerns. Beth probably would have bought the shoes from her brother, saving a lot of money. REI is the 800lb gorilla for a store like that. My question is, did his reaction help out his business in any way? Making people happy means people will talk about you. Making people angry means a lot more people will talk about you.
Who hurts their business more, REI or one bad employee?