Our neighbors to the north have busy lives just as we do and they don't have time to waste. They especially don't have patience for somebody else wasting their time.
According to a new online poll of adults conducted by Maritz Research Canada, 86 percent of those responding reported on one or more occasions leaving a store, restaurant or other venue before conducting a transaction because of a long wait.
Department stores were the biggest losers in the poll as 78 percent said they walked away from a purchase rather than wait on a long line. Forty percent reported leaving grocery stores because of a long wait while 54 percent said they were inconvenienced by the time waiting on line at a convenience store - imagine that.
The amount of patience consumers have when it comes to waiting depends on location. For example, up to eight minutes waiting to check out at the supermarket is okay but 15 minutes tears it.
Those who were made to wait were much more likely to forgive a store if some recognition of the wait was acknowledged, followed by an apology.
Rob Daniel, president and managing director of Maritz Research Canada, told The Globe and Mail, that unhappy customers will take their business to competitors and also make their unhappiness known to family, friends, co-workers and others within earshot.
"Close to 70 per cent of customers surveyed told others about their negative experience and half of those polled noted that they had at some point posted a negative experience online," according to Maritz.
Discussion Questions: How is it that with so much industry attention given to improving the speed of customer service there are so many examples of retailers failing in this area? What can retailers do to help mollify customers made angry by long waits in the store? Is there any way to bring them back once they've left a cart behind and walked out of a store?