On 12/13/08 I went to the Monaca, PA WalMart to return an item. I fully expected to wait in a long line because of the holiday sales season. However, much to my surprise, I was the third person in line. There was only one Customer Service person working at the return counter. It took about 10 minutes for her to take care of the first person. The second customer was returning items that had been ordered online; the Customer Service person could not locate the return codes on the computer to make the returns. Twice she left the counter to get help from a manager. After another 20 minutes in line (now a total of 40 minutes) an additional 12 restless people were in line behind me. I asked the clerk to call the store manager; she didn't know who the manager was and didn't know how to get in contact anyway. Sylvia, the Customer Service Manager wandered up to the return desk twice. Both times the clerk asked for help; Sylvia shrugged and said, "a different manager would have to help" and walked away. The second time I stopped Sylvia and asked if it would be possible to at least open a second line at the service counter. She would not look at me or speak to me, she only shrugged, shook her head no, and walked away. Another customer in line behind me stopped her and asked the same question. In an irritated voice Sylvia told the customer, that they were busy, there was no one available to help, that we would just have to wait. The only "busy" I saw out of Slyvia was her walking around not helping. A couple of minutes later, an Assistant Store Manager (no name tag) came out of the office. I stopped her, explained the situation, and asked if she could open a second line. She responded "yes sir, we can do that" and in less than a minute had a another clerk at the desk and a second line open. Problem solved.



Question - How did Sylvia ever get to be a manager; especially the Customer Service Manager?



Now, to be fair, I give 4 stars to the store for variety, quality and price of merchandise. I give 5 stars to the unnamed Assistant Store Manager, for positively responding to and correcting the situation. And last of all, I give zero stars to Sylvia, the Customer Service Manager for the zero service she gave to the customers.



PS, I worked in local retail for seven years, I know what it is like to deal with tired, frustrated, often demanding customers. Sylvia had a real chance to shine, to be a hero, and she chose not to.