The Good and the Bad RIMI

Whether we had simply started visiting shops less often, or the eighth wonder of the world had truly occurred and service culture - or more simply put - the attitude towards customers had changed for the better. We lived in such an illusion until this Sunday (12 July, 20:30).

Until now, the experience we had at Valdemāra and Olympia RIMI ranged from good to very good. And why not - when purchasing salads, the saleswoman with a genuine smile wishes you "enjoy your meal!"

So it came to pass one Sunday afternoon that we needed to go and get some groceries. The sun was blazing mercilessly, so one of the purchases was water (in larger quantities than usual), and so we headed to the widely advertised RIMI Bāze (the one at Azur). Upon entering the shop we realised we hadn't brought either 20 cents or 1 lat to put in the shopping trolley. At the information desk there was a neat sign - till closed. What now? We went to the nearest till - No. 16, which, as it happened, was quite some distance from the entrance. A middle-aged woman who visually appeared to have been working in retail since Soviet times (inclusive). I don't know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but my memories of Soviet-era saleswomen are not the fondest. With a few exceptions they were cast-iron battle-axes with a unique ability to send a shop visitor packing and ruin the pleasure of shopping to a considerable degree. And this one was no exception. As they say - tempering leaves its mark.

We approach with coins prepared in advance - here, we'd like to get some change for the trolley. No, no - they were not scraped together one cent at a time :).
"We don't change money" - a voice comes from behind the till.
"What are we supposed to do?" - we ask back.
"Information is not working today" - comes the same voice from behind the till.

So we took a small basket and headed inside. Bad! Quite bad! :( Firstly, it did not resolve the purpose of the trip - it being the so-called Bāze (Warehouse), where you normally buy things in larger packages, which it would be illogical to try to stuff into a basket. Secondly, we vowed to give this shop a wide berth for the foreseeable future.

It must be said, after such a negative encounter, any illusions about the staff's conscientious attitude towards customers in this particular shop disappeared, let alone any desire or interest in helping. Although I am aware that one should not form an attitude towards an institution based on one particular shop employee, it nonetheless unmistakably prompts one to think about management's attitude and the level of culture. And that in turn leads one to think that each shop has its own manager, who is simultaneously also a mini-god with their own whims and weaknesses. And that this manager also shapes the atmosphere in the team, which in turn very directly evokes positive or negative emotions in visitors.

But perhaps I am also mistaken, and as far as RIMI is concerned, it is sufficient to change the logo every n years and run a few advertisements for n-thousand and everything will be fine. Some manager will be able to tick off the completed tasks and continue to grumble about how bad everything is. I don't know how much RIMI spends on advertising to attract buyers, but this is the case where for a mere 20 cents the Azur RIMI lost two customers.

P.S. Emotions remain emotions, but what can be better than low prices. Unable to find some of the items, we decided to stop at Valdemāra RIMI, which is closer to home. And there was "Rabbit water" "Zaķumuiža water", which in a 6-pack at RIMI Bāze (Azur) cost 2.40 lats, while at Valdemāra RIMI it cost 0.39 lats/bottle. Making a 6-pack cost 2.34 lats. And that is just indecent!

After all of this, there is no conviction that the other products in that so-called Bāze are any particularly cheaper either, except perhaps those that cannot be sold for any price.

As in the RIMI advertising campaign - Tudiš - pip..