Last Minute Shopping Woes

Something always happens in December. That something always gets in the way of Christmas shopping. This year is no exception. I had concerts to go to, a wedding, and tons of other events. So just when I thought I had 90% of my Christmas shopping done, my daughter comes to me yesterday and says she wants to give gifts to this and that person. So more shopping to do. And no... no time to head to Divi for bulk gifts. And no, I do not wish to drive all the way to World Trade for more of the World Bazaar. The last time I was there with my nannies (last thursday), they did the shopping while I babysat the little ones. :P

So today, in a rush to get out of the house to get to school in time for program practice, we left A's gift for her exchange gift. So I thought it'd be wise to get a gift from nearby Crossings to avoid the maddening Christmas Rush crowd. After finally choosing a gift and waiting for the lone third floor cashier to fix her receipt roll, I headed to the gift wrap area (they were offering free wrapping service for any purchase) to get the gift wrapped. I watched the lady wrap gift after gift, until it was my gift's turn to get wrapped. She chose a ready-made wrapper for my gift, stuffed it in, stapled the top close, and took a pair of sheers to trim the flap. Voila! It was ugly gift wrapping, let me tell you (I had no time to take a picture). So to that I asked, "Is that how you really wrap the gifts?" And she looked at me funny, like I had no right asking that dumb question. I reiterated with "I mean, I know it's free service, but it sure looks like bad service." And she shrugs and says, "Style yan, ma'am."

Obviously, she had no good style to speak of. I think about corporate image and wonder what the owners don't know. You just missed out on a good opportunity to project an image worthy of your store. Instead, you give out cheap service that says "Our store does not care if the packages are flimsy, or if your gift wrap's lopsided as long as it says Christmas at Crossings. Message got across. Who cares about image."

Next time, I'm doing my last minute shopping at Rustan's.