The bug list

I've heard before about capitalizing on meeting the unmet needs of others. As a hallmark of entrepreneurs, finding these "bugs" and looking into ways to solve them is a pathway to success. So as an exercise in my entrepreneurial development, here are twenty things that bug me:

1) Publix at Bardmoor Plaza runs out of BOGO items early in the cycle, requiring customers take a rain check and return in order to get the item(s) they want.

• As Publix advertises their deals more frequently and makes it possible for customers to check the sales in multiple ways (commercials, online ads and coupons, in-store advertising and mailers), customers pick up on and go after the sale items. Bardmoor Publix must not be stocking enough to serve their customer base.

2) The food at Lowry Park Zoo is so salty/overseasoned that it’s inedible.

• There could be many reasons the food is obnoxiously salty at Lowry Park Zoo. The food could come to the zoo premade and preseasoned, and the prep cook/whoever is in the kitchen is adding additional salt. The kitchen staff may have a preference for salt-crusted food. I think no one is tasting or quality-controlling the food. Adding a position for someone to oversee food services would be the best way to guarantee healthier food being served to guests.

3) On that note, the food at the Amalie Arena is horrendous—overpriced and disgusting.

• I doubt the Amalie Arena throws out anything; I am under the impression much of the food they serve is stale. Other food I’ve had has not been kept at proper temperatutemperatures (i.e. melted ice cream) or not heated up (i.e. a partially frozen soft pretzel, ew). Those issues are training issues with food services staff. I think the cumulative issues are related to budget and fixation on profit margins. Train staff, throw away bad food and improve the quality of food being purchased.

4) Self-check out at Home Depot in Largo is often inoperable, with either one or several checkouts down and/or taking only certain types of payment.

• The machines may not be maintained well, may be abused by customers or may simply be lemons. Home Depot does a good job having the machines fixed in a timely manner, but if the problem is related to maintenance or abuse, they need to be more vigilant.

5) Panda Express on Bay Drive in Largo always closes earlier than its listed hours on both the Panda Express website and Google.

• Staff at Panda Express may think it’s okay to close early, and management may also want to leave early. I have known businesses to stop taking customers 10 minutes to close, but closing over an hour early is excessive. Clearly they would have customers, but perhaps they don’t have enough business after a certain hour to justify staying open. The simple solution is to either change the listed hours or stay open until the listed close time.

6) When looking for help at Sephora at International Plaza in Tampa, I am often told the associate I approach “doesn’t work in that department” and will have to find someone who does.

• Sephora must be hiring people in specific positions (i.e. fragrance vs. skincare) rather than educating staff on all product sectors. Having well-rounded employees would be advantageous given the small store environment. If there are ten employees on the floor, they should all be able to assist customers with any inquiries.

7) Macy’s in Tyrone Plaza won’t give out Macy’s bags unless you make a purchase...even if you have a diarrhea-filled toddler and are toting a newborn. By yourself.

• Obsessive fixation on profit and a strange rule no one has thought to question are my only thoughts on the Macy’s bug. I find it contradictory given Macy’s near-constant door busters and sales. Sales associates should be allowed to give bags out.

8) I have only had one successfully cooked Starbucks Flourless Chewy Chocolate Cookie (at the Downtown Disney Starbucks). The cookies at the Starbucks in Bardmoor, on Bay Drive, on Walsingham and on 4^th Street in St. Petersburg were all too strongly cocoa with poor texture (crumbly and hard rather than soft and chewy).

• It may be that different Starbucks locations have fresher cookies or that different Starbucks have different ovens or that very few people know how to prepare these cookies. I think it may be the latter because flourless cookies are easy to overcook if someone is used to cooking “normal” baked goods, particularly cookies which brown around the edges. There needs to be company awareness and a widespread address about how to prepare chewy chocolate cookies.

9) Park Auto Mall will not negotiate prices, and their prices are all above KBB value.

•  I feel like a broken record—Park Auto Mall is likely focused on profit rather than customer interests. Refocusing on customer relationships and building trust would return more business to Park Auto Mall.

10) Front end help at the Publix at Bardmoor Plaza was condescending when I asked for help adjusting my bill based on a coupon that was not taken at the register—a mistake made by the cashier.

• This bug exists because there is still, to some degree, a certain stigma about coupons. Accepting coupons as standard is a gradual process, but since Publix advocates for use of their store coupons, perhaps employees need a training on coupons and customer care.

11) I have waited as long as an hour and forty minutes at my pediatrician’s office before even seeing a doctor.

•  Doctor’s must attend to emergencies before all other patients. Additionally, my pediatrician is in high demand, and I think they may overbook the schedule to account for cancellations and no shows. Making fewer appointments at each time would ensure patients are seen in a reasonable amount of time.

12) After leaving several voicemails, the tech support for Pinellas County Schools staff never returned my call.

• Either the voicemail system for PCS tech support is not working or they are bogged down with messages and unable to organize and respond to them. They need a system to ensure they answer every support ticket. 

13) Similarly, I left a voicemail for a siding company to get back to me about repairing/replacing my home’s siding, and they never got back to me. I’ll update with the company name when I find it.

• I left this message around the holidays. The owner may have been on vacation or otherwise not answering calls and lost my information.  Writing down messages or keeping voicemails on the business phone until the calls are returned would help keep sales leads from slipping away to competitors.

14) Hefty sandwich bags almost never have functional zip closures, meaning the box of bags is useless.

• Something is ill-designed or something is going wrong in manufacturing to make so many of these zipper bags unclosable. Hefty needs to look into the cause for faulty zippers.

15) Wawas on Walsingham Road and Ulmerton don’t stock fresh pretzels until 9pm.

• My local Wawas must be last in line to receive their baked goods because they are the farthest from the distribution center. I think at this time there is no viable solution to this problem.

16) Sprint loses network connection crossing the Howard Frankland and Courtney Campbell bridges.

• Sprint needs to expand and develop their network, perhaps add more towers in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

17) I have encountered a mugger on three separate occasions when going to the Qdoba on Gandy Blvd in Tampa. I go to the Gandy location less than five times each year.

• The Qdoba off Gandy is in a busy, transitional area. Qdoba could light the parking lot better, but the bug exists because of the location.

18) Although it has not personally impacted my life, the high price of hepatitis C drug Sovaldi--$1,000/pill—is abusive.  

• To quote Gilead vice president Gregg Alton, “to suggest that a cure for a disease like hepatitis C should be priced at $36,000...would put a huge disincentive on investing in cures for our industry.” I didn’t realize people would stop wanting to find cures because of lack of financial incentive (corporate greed, profit margins). The solution is drug companies refocusing on why drugs are developed in the first place (hint: the answer shouldn't have to do with profit). 

19) Culver's on Bay Drive often leaves items out of my order.

• Disorganization, lack of staff training and the fact that Culver's is constantly backed up—it generally takes 10 minutes to receive food—all contribute to why my cheese curds didn’t find their way to my bag. I think Culver's needs to streamline their delivery system and double-check orders before they're sent out to cars.

20) Delosa’s Pizza on Bay Drive consistently—3/4 times—gives me bone-in wings when I’ve asked for boneless.

• Since everyone else’s preference is bone-in, I must have meant bone-in. I have made a point of reiterating boneless several times before my order is complete, so I don’t believe it’s miscommunication, but I can’t be sure. I will continue to emphasize boneless, but the solution is to alert the manager to the problem if it persists. Employees taking orders over the phone should verify/read back the order before hanging up.

Coming up with things that “bug” me isn’t difficult, though there were certain places I didn’t want to call out publicly—small businesses, in particular. The difficulty lies in where the problems’ origins are. I wonder whether employees are tired, stressed, distracted or simply untrained. There was a new cashier at Target in St. Petersburg last week who didn’t know how to prop up reusable bags to fill them because no one had showed him how. In fact, his direct manager came over and angrily told him he had to relieve another employee at her register during my transaction. I think many people are subject to hostile work environments and that affects how they interact with customers.

I noticed, though, that most of my thoughts were on positive experiences. How Michael's and Home Depot always have enough staff to put more people on registers when needed or to help me find obscure objects. How the cashier at my favorite pizza place smiles when she sees me or how the waitress at a sushi restaurant I go to sometimes remembers what I like. When I encounter issues, I usually address them. I’m not always satisfied with the outcome—Publix with their couponing bias, for example—but once I’ve brought attention to an issue, I’m able to let it go. Well, judging by how easy it was for me to create this bug list, maybe not.