I have noticed a disturbing trend at local stores lately. The customer (me) is ignored while the owner attends to personal business. I stopped in my local hobby shop and stood there for 15 minutes while the owner talked on the phone. He was trying to buy a BMW. After 15 minutes, I walked out and left. I see this same thing everywhere these days.
When I ran my business a customer was greeted as soon as they walked in the door. If I was on the phone then I would stop the phone conversation to ackowledge the customer in the store. It seems like stores these days do not care about the customer standing in front of them with money. They pay more attention to the phone or computer.
Is this the way of doing business now? I have been in retail for over 40 years. I could never treat a customer this way.
Are others seeing this or am I being too critical or expecting too much?