Why the drive-up lane makes sense for dog owners
The dog sitters I never asked for at Target (and Starbucks and McDonald's)
Update on June 6, 2023: After a conversation following a Better Business Bureau complaint, the Target representative told me to stop bringing my dog if I wanted to shop there. Point noted. Between my dog and Target, who I have been shopping with loyally for more than a decade, my dog wins. I canceled my RED Card three minutes later. There are too many stores — independent and store chains — to be trying to fight to shop at one.
I’ve had quite a few odd jobs during my teenage years to my twenties — mystery shopper, retail photo technician developing 35mm film in dark boxes, airport security guard, cashier and a switchboard receptionist. For this reason, I’m a stickler about being nice to service people. I know what it’s like being on the other side and dealing with difficult customers all day long.
A certain group of people really feel like they can police any and every dog they encounter — even if it’s yours.
But because I’ve had these kinds of jobs and know how quickly customers can rattle you, my mind is completely blown when workers go out of their way to give customers a hard time. Why make your day harder when it doesn’t need to be? And for the life of me, I cannot figure out why this pattern seems to consistently be at the same retail store: Target.
Recommended Read: “Post-COVID, are retailers getting amnesia about drive-ups and curbside pick-ups? ~ Has the worldwide pandemic forever changed customer attitudes?”
Although I had my fair share of problems at one Target location, I genuinely thought I found the one gold nugget of this retail chain. I boasted about their customer service, great team (still have a favorite cashier who I wave and talk to on a first-name basis) and vegetarian inventory. I was this gold nugget location’s most enthusiastic and unpaid marketer.
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However, since the fall, this weird bone they have to pick with dogs has worn me down. I think I’m going to have to give up on Target at this rate. From Animal Control threats to security guard lobby conversations, I have completely tapped out on cashiers and drop-off employees who have decided to moonlight as parking lot security — and the dog sitter I never asked for.