Learning Express - BITTER

I'll start by saying I really like the Learning Express toy store. They have really unique items and, even though they are a chain, they have the feel of a local store. 

That said, I was in one of their stores a few weeks ago and had an experience that left me a bit sour. My wife had waited on line for a while to pay for some gift items and completed our purchase, but I decided I wanted to buy another item. I had commented to my wife that the line seemed to take a very long time. She told me it was because of the way that it was being handled.

Basically, the clerks were offering a gift wrapping service, free of charge, to all customers. Of course, many were making use of it. Unfortunately, the same people ringing up sales were doing the wrapping. This caused an inevitable and highly predictable backup on the line. As a result, I skipped the additional purchase and thought I'd come back another time. I haven't been back and have since decided I can live without that one item.

A much smarter decision would have been for one or two of the clerks to do the register sales and then transition customers to a separate waiting area for the gift wrap, which would be done by an employee not taking sales. This would keep the customers happier who just wanted to pay. I doubt very much that customers who wanted the free gift wrap would have minded waiting just a bit.

Since the lack of organization cost them a sale, I have to give the Learning Express a BITTER.