3 ms·

Do others have better experiences with co-ops than I do? I know people love REI, but whenever I go in there to buy anything that requires someone (ski boots, s

Do others have better experiences with co-ops than I do? I know people love REI, but whenever I go in there to buy anything that requires someone (ski boots, skis, work on skis) - it sucks. There's never anyone available, it often takes up to an hour or more to get helped or waiting in line. Sometimes I have to leave and come back later. Last time I gave up and ordered everything online. It's not like it's crazy packed in there either, it's pretty empty - there's just nobody working there. Co-ops are supposed to be better about aligning incentives, but at least for me I've often had worse experiences as a customer. Uber and Lyft work pretty well (for the most part, except for when drivers cancel on you) - I'd be surprised if a co-op could pull off a similarly good experience for riders.

TaylorAlexander 6y ago
I've not had any trouble finding help at REI, but it sounds like perhaps you go more often than I do. The point of the co-op is that it is much better for the worker. There's no inherent reason why a co-op would need to have any different level of customer service than a corporation. My personal worst customer service experience is at Home Depot for example. I had to wait 45 minutes to get a 4 foot length of hose cut, something that would have been under 5 minutes at my local hardware store (and so I go to the local shop now). Ideally many stores would be co-ops and they could compete on price, quality, customer service etc like any other business. Perhaps you're satisfied with the customer experience at Uber, but the situation for drivers seems pretty exploitative. If I can get similar service and the workers get a fair deal, I'd be much happier choosing that.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
afarrell 6y ago
Was that true pre-pandemic?
vore 6y ago
REI is a consumers' cooperative, not a workers' cooperative. The people who work at REI don't own the business, and they would basically have the same role in any other company (which is one of the criticisms of why they're not actually good for labor). In fact, in a consumers' cooperative would probably be better in this case since you would have more direct control over the business than with a regular corporation.
- fossuser 6y ago
  This is a good point - and makes my REI example irrelevant, thanks.
playpause 6y ago
If co-ops have a problem with human customer service (which I can totally imagine, although I've never heard of REI), then wouldn't that mean that the gig econonmy is exactly where co-ops could potentially compete anyway? Rideshare and food delivery apps do almost zero human customer service, it's nearly all automated (and in the rare cases it's not, it takes hours or days to get a refund).

TaylorAlexander 6y ago

I've not had any trouble finding help at REI, but it sounds like perhaps you go more often than I do. The point of the co-op is that it is much better for the worker. There's no inherent reason why a co-op would need to have any different level of customer service than a corporation. My personal worst customer service experience is at Home Depot for example. I had to wait 45 minutes to get a 4 foot length of hose cut, something that would have been under 5 minutes at my local hardware store (and so I go to the local shop now). Ideally many stores would be co-ops and they could compete on price, quality, customer service etc like any other business. Perhaps you're satisfied with the customer experience at Uber, but the situation for drivers seems pretty exploitative. If I can get similar service and the workers get a fair deal, I'd be much happier choosing that.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

afarrell 6y ago

Was that true pre-pandemic?

vore 6y ago

REI is a consumers' cooperative, not a workers' cooperative. The people who work at REI don't own the business, and they would basically have the same role in any other company (which is one of the criticisms of why they're not actually good for labor). In fact, in a consumers' cooperative would probably be better in this case since you would have more direct control over the business than with a regular corporation.

fossuser 6y ago
This is a good point - and makes my REI example irrelevant, thanks.

playpause 6y ago

If co-ops have a problem with human customer service (which I can totally imagine, although I've never heard of REI), then wouldn't that mean that the gig econonmy is exactly where co-ops could potentially compete anyway? Rideshare and food delivery apps do almost zero human customer service, it's nearly all automated (and in the rare cases it's not, it takes hours or days to get a refund).