Daviscourt d
map-marker Seattle, Washington

Tacoma Boys is RUDE to sales people!

Tacoma Boys grocery store

For more than twenty years my businesses, wife, kids and I have shopped at Tacoma Boys. When they opened their store in Puyallup about ten years ago, we were very excited as that was a location close to our home.

Throughout the years we have met and talked to Paul Heist who is a co-founder. He was always polite and helpful and one could easily see that he was proud of his Puyallup Tacoma Boys store which he oversaw.

After some years of my being in the "corporate" world operating several businesses that I founded, I retired. However, retirement was not my "cup of tea" and so I founded an online beverage company. Having received some great online success in my beverage sales, I thought that I should try showing a small selection of my popular beverages in a grocery store setting.

The first stores that came to mind were Tacoma Boys as they have three stores and they sell quality products. As my beverages are of high quality, I decided to approach Paul Heist at Tacoma Boys in Puyallup, WA.

Paul Heist begins his work day around 7:00am and so I thought that I would get there around 8:00am which would be a less busy time for the corner store and allow him time to set up his day.

When I approached Paul Heist as a "salesman" and not as a "customer" I found I was in for a rude awakening. After introducing myself and letting Paul Heist know that I had some good quality beverages to show him, Paul Heist was very short and curt with me. He snapped at me and said that "As you can see I am busy and this is a bad time for you to come here to sell anything".

Then I asked, "When would be a good time to visit with you?" He snapped again and said, "You can come back in a few hours". Then I asked, "How many is a few hours?" Paul Heist curtly said, "In two or three hours" which lead me to ask, "Would you prefer to see me in two hours or in three hours". Then very angrily and condescendingly he said very loudly (almost shouting) you can come back and show me your products or you don't have to come back. I don't care".

With that I apologized twice for "being so rude to him" although it was he who was rude to me. But I thought my "apology" of my rudeness would sink into his head and wake him up to the ignorance he was displaying.

My "apology" worked and it seemed to embarrass him and triggered his response, "You were not rude", but by then I was walking away from him and heading out of his Tacoma Boys store in Puyallup, WA. There was no further desire by me to continue any oral exchange with Paul Heist.

Paul Heist was rude because I was now visiting him as a "salesman" and not as a "customer". Paul Heist doesn't seem to understand that even sales people are Tacoma Boys customers and to treat a sales person to an unhealthy rude approach was more than ignorant and arrogant. His verbal exchange was simply oral abuse toward someone he thought was below him.

Paul Heist is a guy who built up a business (with partners) that has three corner stores (H&L Produce and two Tacoma Boys locations) and it took them more than 25 years to do so. Bill Gates and Paul Allen built an empire and within 6 months and it had 100x more value in 6 months than the three Tacoma Boys that took 25+ years to build. Howard Schultz built a company that was of more value within 1 year than Tacoma Boys. Jeff Bezos built a company that was valued at far more than Tacoma Boys within the first round of private funding and I founded a company that within a 1 year timeline was selling more than 20x that of Tacoma Boys in all of its assumed sales of 2011.

During my years I always treated everyone with respect and found the time to listen to what someone was saying to me. When building my several companies, I was always including employees in ideas and giving credit to those who created new paths for my companies or their products.

As I said. For years I faithfully was going to Tacoma Boys as a loyal customer, so were my businesses, which each purchased many of our cafeteria requirements there, many of my employees, my wife and my children who were also loyal customers and we were always treated very respectfully.

But I visited the Tacoma Boys in Puyallup, WA as a "salesman" and I gained a whole new perspective of Tacoma Boys and Paul Heist who is a co-founder of the three community corner stores that began selling on the roadside under a tent during the mid 1980's.

Never again will I purchase from Tacoma Boys nor will my businesses, my wife and my adult children and their families. In fact I have also posted this article within my businesses via email and posters so that our employees can also learn of this very rude and condescending co-owner of Tacoma Boys, Paul Heist. Maybe they too will rethink where they shop as I have done.

My businesses employ more than 5,000 people with many locations which operate out of the Philippines, China, Canada and the USA. We don't have any locations that took nearly 30 years to establish as did the Tacoma Boys corner stores.

Paul Heist felt in his mind that he was better than me because I was a "salesman" and that triggered his condescending rudeness toward me. Paul Heist is a superficial person who smiles to his customers and is rude and condescending to the people who sell to him and stock his shelves.

Tacoma Boys in WA State is a "poor goal post" for anyone to follow when it comes to people interaction. Tacoma Boys falls short when it comes to understanding or caring about people. Any sales person is also a customer to all businesses. Treat sales people as your customers and you'll get respect back, Paul Heist and Tacoma Boys.

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6 comments
Guest

Wow , I just might put you a notch higher on the RUDE METER than Mr. Hiest with your classless rant .

Not defending Mr. Hiest actions at all , but you Sir throwing your words out on the Social Network in attempts to hurt his Businesses is pretty RUDE in itself , wouldn't you agree ?? I would've given you ALL the respect had to approached him privately and face to face like a man .

But instead you acted like a Karsdasian !! How RUDE of you !

Guest

I bought some salami at h and l and it wad so stale and rock hard I couldn't cut it with a butcher knife. Sausage was outdated once.

I took it back and the whole counter was filled with outdated. I told the checker that someone was obviously not doing their job

Guest

Blonde is 100% wrong! A lot of sales are done with the "pop-in" sales approach.

Also, I have experienced the Tacoma Boys "wrath" as an appointment scheduled sales person. They can be very condescending toward sales people.

Guest

Do you want some cheese with that whine? Blonde is right, the pop-in is the worst.

Guest

If you were a true, professional salesman, you would have phoned ahead and set up a bona fide appointment. The salesman 'pop in' is the worst. Owning businesses previously, you should know this.

Guest

Good for you. Everyone that comes in to see me is treated with courtesy that anyone should expect. That is the proper way to run a business.

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