Not Happy with Newsagency @ QV

To readers who do not like reading anything negative please skip this post. I usually buy my favourite magazines from either Mc Gills (on Elizabeth St) or Borders (inside Melbourne Central). I didn’t get one of them from Borders yesterday (Saturday) because the queue was just too long. I was quite happy to pop back after Christmas to get it.

When we went over to Safeway (at QV) for our groceries, I decided to check out the newsagency there to see if they have that particular magazine I was after. The Good Samaritan was also looking for his F1 magazine. Now, we don’t normally shop at this newsagency unless we are after some stamps, phone-cards or public transport tickets. At the magazine aisle, there was the Good Samaritan, two giggly young women and I. The women were looking at a magazine near the wedding section. I was looking for my magazine near the parenting section while the Good Samaritan went to end of the aisle to look for the F1 magazine. Then a bloke – a shop assistant, came over to where we all were. He walked past the women, me and then headed for the Good Samaritan. There, he grunted and pointed to an obscure sign indicating, “Do Not Read Magazines Until After You Have Purchased Them.” The bloke walked past me again just when I found the magazine I was after. I was actually surprised that they had it there. He stopped by to observe me reading the headlines on the front cover. He didn’t say a thing but I did find it odd to have someone hovering near me like that in a non-high end store. He went over to the women and told them off just as the Good Samaritan came over to warn me from looking inside the magazine. I admit that I have a tendency to look inside magazines to see what other articles are included in the issue because the front cover does not reveal all and I also check to see if any inserts (e.g. brochures, catalogues) that come with the magazine are still in the magazine. Yes! I even read the brochures on buying a goat for people in certain parts of the world. I was fuming to learn that he had a go at the Good Samaritan. I dropped the magazine and responded, “Well, I better not touch this then.” before storming out. Oh Yes! The bloke heard me loud and clear. It is now more than 24 hours later and I am still fuming! I have not experienced such lousy service at a newsagency before. The Good Samaritan is a middle child and is therefore not easily agitated by this sort of RUBBISHY treatment, but I am.

I am in no hurry to go back to this newsagency. When I found the magazine I was after, I quickly told myself that I could buy it from here from now on. But NO! They don’t need my business. They are obviously happy with the number of customers they now have. I mean what can a nanny afford anyway? They are better off making money from International students that hang around the place (referring to QV) as their lounge room and those IT professionals making ‘big bucks’ nearby. One nanny and her Good Samaritan not buying from them will not cause them much damage. What about stamps, phone-cards and transport tickets? I can easily get those from stores just outside QV. There is even a post office not far from the newsagency.

I really have never seen newsagencies with such strict rules. Why don’t they just seal each and every magazine and leave only one of each title (clearly marked as ‘Sample’) for people to browse before purchasing? Judging from the way the guy was hovering around me, I don’t think he was happy to allow me to read the front covers of the magazine. If I am going to buy every issue of a magazine without scrutinizing what’s inside each, I would have subscribed and have it delivered to my apartment!