Yesterday I called around, er, a number of branches of Dixons in Scotland to see if I could find one with both a Gamecube and a copy of Super Mario Sunshine in stock. Fortunately I didn’t have to go too far. The Falkirk branch had ‘cubes, and one copy of Mario left. A very friendly assistant laid it aside for me, and Alex and I went there first thing this morning to pick it up.
For a change, the customer service at Dixons was excellent. Euan, the guy who had laid the ‘cube and game aside for me was there this morning, and we chatted for a good fifteen minutes about what accessories and games were worthwhile. He was a gamer himself, which meant he knew what he was talking about, rather than spouting the usual “Um, it’s got good graphics” twaddle. He did try to sell me the extended warranty (as they all have to try), but he was friendly about it. He didn’t make me feel under pressure to accept it, and of course I didn’t.
I came out of Dixons feeling all happy. Not just because I had a Gamecube tucked under my arm, but because I had been sold something by someone who cared about the product, and who cared about the store. I was made to feel like a valued customer.
The feeling didn’t last long. Alex and I had got up early and we hadn’t had breakfast yet. So we went into the Greggs bakery nearby for some breakfast rolls.
“I’ll have roll with bacon and sausage, and a plain white roll please.”
“Okay, so that’s a roll with bacon, and a roll with sausage, and a plain white roll.”
“No, a roll with bacon and sausage.
“You want both?
“Aye.”
“We don’t do both. Wait a minute–Suzanne? Can I do a roll with bacon and sausage in it?”
“No. Well, you could, but we’d have to charge you two pounds, for two rolls. The bacon and sausage aren’t individually priced.”
“So do you want two rolls, then?”
Sigh “No, I’ll just have one roll, with sausage, you muppets.”
I didn’t actually speak that last bit aloud. And I had a stronger insult in my mind than just “muppets”, but this is a wholesome family web site, and it’s not past the watershed yet. It’s not like the rolls were pre-made, either. They had metal catering trays of bacon and sausages, and they assembled the roll right in front of my eyes. But apparently they’ve never come across the concept of a bacon and sausage roll before. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous…
(Oh, and later on in the afternoon I went out again and bought a copy of Super Monkey Ball 2. Monkeys! Balls! They’re super!)
I’m not sure which I find harder to believe, that you had a satisfactory shopping experience in Dixons or that you found a bakery in Scotland which didn’t understand the concept of a bacon & sausage roll – they both seem pretty unlikely to me…