Advertise for the Crowds & you may just Lose your Customers!

So the other day I went with my sister to run some errands. First stop on her list, an oil change. Normally my sister just goes to the Walmart auto center and has it done there. However with money being tight during this Christmas season she decided to shop around a little and see if she could find a better deal. Well what do you know the first place we try (Midas) was advertising a special right on their sign Oil Change – $19.99
So now my sister is really excited, she is gonna save almost $15.00 then we go in. I will shorten the conversation but it goes something like this:
Elizabeth – I’d like to get my oil change
Cashier – Were really busy today, we can’t get you in till most likely tomorrow
Me – Do we need to schedule an appointment for tomorrow
Cashier – No sir we do oil changes on a first come first serve basis
Me – Then if were here now why can’t we get an oil change today?
Cashier – We have all these scheduled appointments ahead of you
Me – but you said it is on a first come first serve basis
Cashier – your gonna have to come back tomorrow
Me – So what your telling me is I can’t schedule an appointment for tomorrow, I just have to show up and you’ll do my oil change on a first come first serve basis unless you have scheduled appointments ahead of me again in which case I’ll have to wait once more.

So now my only option is to either go somewhere else and spend more or spend the gas money tomorrow and attempt to come back to Midas again in hopes of being able to get my oil change then. Now of course there is no guarantee there either since I wasn’t allowed to schedule an appointment for the oil change.

Needless to say we went to Walmart, paid the extra cash, and were on our way in under 30 minutes. I don’t think we will ever go back to Midas again. The cashier was not as polite as I wrote above, they didn’t have the staff to adequately cover their advertised special, and they wouldn’t let me schedule an appointment, I just had to show up and hope there was an opening. All this meant to me as a customer was if were busy or understaffed we can just tell you to come back tomorrow… indefinitely!

This however really got me thinking, how many times do you see advertised great deals only to find when you get there that the store only has a limited number in stock, Even better, where a certain price is advertised, only to find when you get there that you have to jump through hoops, or meet certain requirements to get that actual price, even better yet the notorious added fee… my personal favorite.

I wonder how much extra business Midas brought in from customers coming in to get an oil change and upselling another service to them?
I wonder how many people Midas turned away because of being either short staffed, neglecting to allow appointments, or telling the customer to come back tomorrow?
I wonder how many potential repeat customers Midas lost because they ended up going somewhere else for the services needed?
Somehow I don’t think the gain from question 1 is going to exceed the combined total of disappointment, negative comments, and loss of potential gain caused by questions 2 and 3.

So what are your thoughts? Have you run into similar deals, sales, or specials only to be let down? I want to hear about them.

As for Midas, just on a whim I stopped in a couple days later to see if I could get the oil changed in my truck… I was told I’d have to come back tomorrow!