Safeway ‘smiles’
spark some confusion

Some workers say they're
taken the wrong way, but no
complaints filed here

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

They look you in the eye, greet you with a smile, offer to carry your bags and thank you by name.

The friendly service -- and the coupon savings -- are why Shaline Young shops at Beretania Safeway.

"I think its nice to have them smile," she said. "I appreciate the courtesy."

The smile is part of a 5-year-old "superior service" policy at Safeway. But some workers in Northern California say the policy creates an unintended problem.

The workers, 11 women and a man, have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. They say customers are mistaking friendliness for flirtation.

Richelle Roberts, a California produce clerk, said she is hit on every day by men who think she is coming on to them.

"Let me decide who I am going to say hello to with a big smile," Roberts said. "A woman knows where and when not to open that door for certain men."

The union wants workers, especially women, to have more freedom to choose not to make eye contact with a potentially threatening customer or to refuse to carry groceries out to a man's car at night.

The customer service policy is enforced with "mystery shoppers" -- a common practice among many retailers where management will send in people to pose as shoppers to evaluate job performance.

Employees not adhering to the policy can be written up or be sent to get additional training in customer courtesy.

Workers at two stores in Honolulu say friendly smiles have not created problems at their stores.

But one worker remembered a misunderstanding when a clerk asked for a customer's phone number as part of the process to get a Safeway Club card. The customer apparently thought the clerk was trying to get a home phone number for a date.

Some workers said it's sometimes hard to be friendly if you are in a bad mood. But they all felt the customer service policy was part of the job and good for business.

Shoppers, for the most part, agreed.

"I think they should be friendly," said shopper Jean Kuroda.

"I think some of the other stores should take a clue from Safeway," she said.

Carmael Stagner said she works in customer service, and friendly service is expected in Hawaii.

"If he or she (the workers who filed the complaint) worked for me, I'd fire them," she said.

But Bill Amey said he would rather have shorter lines at the checkout than false friendliness.

"I think it's overkill. It kind of gets a little overbearing," he said. "Just open up more aisles."

Safeway spokeswoman Debra Lambert said the complaints are coming from only 12 of Safeway's 150,000 employees and only from the two San Francisco Bay area union chapters.

Safeway is the second-largest grocery chain in North America and has 18 stores and about 2,600 employees in Hawaii.

"The simple request to have employees be friendly, courteous and helpful -- to smile -- we do not believe that that in fact is creating any form of harassment," she said.

But Lambert said the company does take harassment seriously and is investigating the complaints.

"Safeway does not tolerate harassment in any way in our stores, be it from customers, employees or our suppliers," she said.