How often do you go into a grocery store, or any store for that matter, and see people driving those motorized carts through the aisles? Some people have their own carts.. other rely on the store to supply them with working, clean, well maintained carts.
We have had trouble with our carts for a while now. One is totally broken.. won't run, won't charge, won't move. One works fine. The last one.. works when it wants to, and has a habit of stopping at any given moment, refusing to budge until it is good and ready to. This one has had an Out Of Order sign put on it, only to have it removed without it being fixed.
Friend PIC came up to me while on break to tell me about a poor woman she found in the aisle, crying, because the cart wouldn't move and she couldn't walk well enough to get through the store. She was half way through her shopping. Friend PIC went in search of the cart that worked, only to find it being used. So she helped the woman get the cart going again.
The poor woman went through Best Babysitter's Cashier line. I stepped away from my register long enough to ask her to let me know when the customer was done and was heading out. I wanted to follow her so that I could make sure she got to her vehicle okay.
Finishing my customer, I left the store, walked out to the parking lot and saw the woman with the cart, sitting in the middle of the walkway, in the cart while it refused to budge. As I walked quickly to her, she got it going again, and continued to her van. I asked her if she'd like some help getting her purchases into her vehicle. I spoke with her about the trouble she was having with the cart, apologized and promised her that an Out Of Order sign would be put on it and that we would be sure to inform the Manager about the problem. The Lot Lizard showed up and after a few more minutes, I help the woman get in her van, while Lot Lizard drove the cart away.
The nice woman thank me for following her out and helping her, leaving with a smile at last.
I went back in, saw Lot Lizard going into the Manager's Office, and headed for my register. The Shy PIC raised her eyebrow at me so I explained that a customer needed some special attention and I was in the parking lot helping her out.
It felt good to help the woman out, but I felt terrible about what she had to go through because the repairmen can't bother getting to anything when they're needed. The motorized carts in our store are used often. Many of our customers can't get through the store and rely on these carts to be able to do their shopping.
Something really needs to be done about these carts.. It is emotionally draining for our Customers who have to deal with them in their current condition. I hope this incident shows Management just how important it is to get these repairs done.
