One recent Saturday my wife and I were running errands. Our mission was to pick up a few necessities and a few luxury items along the way. The first stop was a frustrating 1 for 3 event at Sears where the lawn department staff had nothing to offer close to my line trimmer specs, and the sporting goods staffer went into excruciating, patronizing detail to tell us how to break down the online drawings to find the part number.

These stops were frustrating because I've used a weed eater for decades and know how to use them. I know what I need, and it's really not the tiller attachment or high-priced quick-change line spools. Frustrating also because the first thing we presented to the sporting goods clerk was the exact part number he spent 4 or 5 minutes showing us how to find.

Seriously, listen to your customer first then find an accurate solution. It's a weed eater not rocket science, and we had already done the part number research for you!

And then while paying way too much for a refrigerator water filter the guy I gave my hard earned money to handed me the receipt and said "here ya go."

Not the normal "Thank you" or "We appreciate your business", or even "Please come back soon"

"Here ya go."

Strange.

Anyway, we scooted down the road to the camera shop to check out a graduated neutral density filter. After a few minutes being introduced to a new model, I made the purchase and the guy handed me the receipt and credit card with today's key phrase "Here ya go".

To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it was Deja vu all over again.

Sure, that's why I shop there, so you can personally hand me the receipt. "Here ya go".

Knock, knock, it's 2010. The real unemployment rate is over 20%. Stores are going out of business literally all the time. And rather than thanking me for delivering them the means to stay in business and remain employed, two consecutive salesman handed me the receipt and said "Here ya go".

And since both purchases were entirely optional, non-emergency and really no more than commodities, next time I'll save the gasoline and not be swayed by the easy instant gratification, and I'll just order them online. Seriously, if you can't distinguish yourself from true commodity service with the slightest awareness of your customers, then what is the value you add to the transaction relationship?

April 3, 2022 Update: We pulled into the local Schlotsky's drive-thru for a quick sandwich. Spent 8-10 seconds listening to the store's ambient noise over the speaker when the microphone operator spoke, "You ready to order?"

"Yes, I'd like a small original and regular chips."

"Anything else?"

"No, that'll be all."

"That'll be mumblemumble"

We drove up to the window and waited for a couple of minutes. The window slid open and she told me the price. I handed over the credit card and she disappeared for another couple of minutes.

She slid the window open and asked if I want the receipt. I said no, so she leaned to the side and threw it away, then handed me a sack and said: "Here ya go"

My inner "Sheldon" popped into the foreground (because such transactions simply MUST contain a "Thank You") and I tossed it into the conversation at that point and received a somewhat awkward "you're welcome."

I wonder if we can modify this behavior by reversing the conversation. Think they'll respond to the competition? I sense an incoming experiment.

"Here ya go" right back at ya!

Originally Published May 4, 2010