I think we must be spoiled in this neck of the woods. There are five QS in a 20 mile radius, and four of them are excellent. I worked at two of them and the staff in both were very friendly. We had regular staff meetings to discuss any problems we may have encountered, and ways to not repeat it. The owners at both shops absolutely demanded good, friendly service and that's why we had the meetings. It was very up-building and encouraging. We had a lot of fun and our customers were happy to come into the shop. We were all happy to work there and help the customers with their quilts.
One day, tho, a customer came in and was rude and demanding to me. I was helping another person and I told her (very nicely) that I'd be with her in just a couple of minutes. She started yelling at me and calling me names. I was completely stunned! I started crying, just knowing I was going to lose my job. One of management came out and tried to calm her down. She and the woman she was with both stormed out the door. Then the owner told me she always does that and not to worry, I hadn't done anything wrong, that the woman had a mental problem. Yikes! I prayed I'd never have to see her ever again!
Mostly shoppers are nice. Sometimes one would come in, obviously distressed about something. With ones we knew well we could ask about what was happening in their life, and maybe we'd hear about, and maybe not. But we were their if they needed to talk. Even the owners are compassionate and not too busy to chat with a customer. I'm proud to have been part of the action; now I'm retired. I go into both shops and the clerks I worked with are all gone, so the new ones don't know me. They are still nice and I'm sure the meetings are still being held to educate the staff about how to treat customers. I really miss working..........It was sooo much fun!
And there were lots of evenings we didn't close the shop on time cause we had customers still shopping.