Recently a press report stated a number of Tauranga retailers advised their takings over the Christmas period were down on last year and they did not expect them to pick up in the near future. This was confirmed by a number of retailers I have spoken to since reading the report. In the same report however, Anne Pankhurst, Tauranga Chamber of Commerce stated that retailers had done well over Christmas and were expected to have a good year! What planet is she on? Does she go around with her eyes and ears shut?
Out of town visitors we have staying with us said they can fully understand why Tauranga retailers takings are down because in many instances the 'service” is either appalling or non-existent, and shops are staffed by 'jandal wearing” scatty teenagers who are not interested in serving customers. One example is a shop our visitors went to with one female assistant who was on the phone, obviously to a friend. After waiting ten minutes for the shop assistant to get off the phone, our vistors left in disgust.
A second example is Baywave. We took them for a dip and gave our Trustpower card plus a voucher 'pay for one get one free” to the teenage person at the counter. Both these discounts were ignored and we were charged full price for all. This was pointed out but the cashier did not want to know. So rather than create a scene as there was a queue waiting to get in we did not persevere. Once we got into Baywave and the kids were in the water the young teenage lifeguards 'on duty” spent the whole time talking to each other and not watching the public in the pools.
This is bad publicity for Tauranga overall and will soon get around.
Roger Bailey, Papamoa Beach.