Customer Service vs. Price Shopping

So I found something interesting today. There are two suppliers of pet supplies in my town. Generally I'll go to the one across town. Petsmart. They know me, they help me find appropriate coupons and discounts, and make helpful suggestions for our animals. (This treat is more healthy, or that bed's warmer, whatever) And they're really really nice about returns. They let me take back a bag of treats just because the dog doesn't like them! I was most impressed. One of the employees even gave me some tricks to save on the dog food I insist on feeding them by telling me to stop by on the weekends when the demonstrator's come by and usually have nice coupons :)

Today in an effort to be more fiscally conscious I decided to visit the other store, to see what their prices looked like, and it's a little bit closer to where I live. I have to say, I'll be returning to Petsmart. The prices were about the same actually, exactly the same for everything I looked at, but there was no help! There were very few employees in the store, and while they were very nice but they didn't know anything about the products I was looking at.

So the purpose of today's rant, is that shopping around is definitely important but if you need some help with a product, go to a place that has better customer service. You're more likely to get the product right in the first place, plus if you get to know and are nice to the employees they'll point you in the right direction for your wallet. And you're supporting the business in your community that treats you well.

You can apply this to anything. If I know exactly what I want and don't need help for something electronic, I go to the cheapest place (in this town, usually walmart). But if I'm not, I'm going to hit Best Buy. It's worth an extra $2 to have somebody point me in the right direction and answer questions. Otherwise, I find myself frustrated with the product, and having to buy something else later, which adds up to a lot more.