Babies ‘Aren’t’ Us
In the “let’s shoot ourselves in the foot” department comes this recent story from right here in my neck of the woods.
On the evening of January 8, Heather Pebbles arrived at work at the Babies ‘R’ Us store in Northville Township. For those of you who reside outside the frigid confines of Michigan, Northville Township is a wealthy suburb of Detroit. At the time, the outside temperature was 21 degrees and dropping.
Climbing out of her car, Pebbles noticed something alarming in an adjacent parked car: A baby alone in a car seat. Even worse, the car was not running.
Pebbles raced into the store and called police. Then, she used the store’s public address system to track down the mother. Police ticketed the 37-year-old woman -- who claimed the car seat was too heavy to carry into the store -- for misdemeanor neglect. Fortunately, the 10-week-old baby was unharmed.
Apparently, it never occurred to the woman to take the infant out of the car seat and carry it in her arms. Sounds like someone who couldn’t pass up a metal pole in winter without sticking her tongue to it.
As for Pebbles, customers praised her efforts, and some even suggested the store give her a raise. However, the mother-of-two was simply satisfied knowing the baby was safe.
The story might (and probably should) end right there but, of course, it doesn’t. When Pebbles reported for work the next day, not only did she not receive a raise, the store manager -- with the apparent blessing of headquarters -- reprimanded her for involving the store in such a negative event. Even worse, the manager scolded her for leaving the neglectful customer with a bad impression of her shopping experience. While they may claim that “Babies ‘R’ Us,” obviously this particular baby wasn’t.
All of which makes me wonder: Is business so bad we need to kiss the butt of a shopper who doesn’t have the common sense to bring her own baby in from the cold? Of course, had the infant been injured, the only shopping that customer might soon be doing would be at the prison supply depot.
Pebbles was outraged by what she heard from management -- and rightfully so. Although she had been employed by the store for more than three years, she told the manager “I won’t work for a company like this” and -- true to her convictions -- promptly quit.
I say, “You go, girl!” In fact, go right to a non-corporate, mom-and-pop store and fill out an application.
Since this story ran recently in the Detroit Free Press, people have inundated the New Jersey headquarters of Toys ‘R’ Us (parent company of Babies ‘R’ Us) with complaints. A company spokesperson eventually performed damage control by issuing a public statement praising the actions of Pebbles. Yet, it is quite telling that the store manager was never officially reprimanded.
This is what it has come to, then: Corporate America is now so image conscious, so concerned with public opinion, that in many cases it is no longer capable of distinguishing what is morally and ethically right and wrong.
Taken to its logical extreme, a store like Babies ‘R’ Us would rather watch a shoplifter walk out with its merchandise than inconvenience the guilty party with an arrest. Next time the shoplifter might actually decide to pay; if we upset him, there may not be a next time.
Maybe it’s because corporate management has become too detached from the true retail experience, relying instead upon antiseptic focus groups and arrogant marketing experts to help set their policies and procedures. Too much theory, not enough real world experience.
Then again, it may be attributable to something else entirely.
The one thing I do know is, there must be an awful lot of executives standing around the Toys ‘R’ Us corporate headquarters with their tongues stuck to metal poles.
Copyright 2003 Marc L. Prey
All rights reserved.
