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tomers for granted and assume most could care less about service, the research reveals otherwise.

"People really get upset, even if they're reluctant to say anything," he asserts. "In fact, some customers who never complain to a store manager will do so to their friends. And word-of-mouth can be as powerful in retailing as it is in the motion picture business."

He said that retailers must assume that for every complaining customer, two others experienced similar frustrations, but didn't report them.

"lt's not enough for store managers simply to address individual customer complaints," he notes. "The better solution is to provide training and supervision to employees so that such incidents are not repeated."

Among the other survey findings was that while men are more likely than women to leave without buying anything (267o vs. l97o), women are more apt to voice their complaints to a manager. Also, customers between the ages of 45-54 are least likely to igr1ore bad service (97o), while those aged 55 years and older are most likely (l8%o).

Lastly, the less educated a customer, the more likely they are to ignore poor service and to continue shopping at the store.

Depot Clearing Up lts BBB Record

Home Depot is working on reinstatement with the Atlanta, Ga., Better Business Bureau after the agency suspended the retailer July 30 for not responding to I l0 customer complaints.

BBB's executive committee met Aug. 8 to review Depot's case. "We're waiting for them to respond to all the pending complaints before we reinstate the membership," said Dean Smith, BBB president and c.e.o.

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Smith added: "This is not the first time their membership has been jeopardized. We had met with them this past year and thought we had it all worked but. It's not the kind of image I'm sure they want to have."

Depot officials claim the unanswered complaints were an administrative error, explaining names on BBB complaints didn't match information the chain had. According to spokesman Don Harrison, the suspension "is not something we took lightly. Customer service is the holiest of holies for us at Home Depot. We took the BBB's list of customer concerns, measured them against our own, and found they did not match up. It did come as a surprise."

Smith credits the chain with working feverishly to resolve the complaints since the suspension.

Most of the complaints, some dating back as far as April, are customer service issues.

According to BBB's Web site, during its suspension, Depot was listed as having an "unsatisfactory record" and was not listed as a member.