7-11 Etiquette

As you may be aware, I have been offering technician's training in various forms, since 1980. That has included copier maintenance, specific model instruction, facsimile, laser printer and digital theory. I have recently been contacted by an organization, the National Organization of Seven-Elevens (NOSE.)

Southland Corporation is the owner of what we know as 7-11, all of which are privately owned franchises. Nonetheless, Southland is the franchiser, who provides the continuity, advertising, national account purchasing power and so on. Every 7-11 is privately owned, usually locally. To compare it to our industry, Southland is the manufacturer. Each 7-11 is the equivalent of a dealer.

NOSE, in their monthly meeting "questions and concerns" sections has uncovered a mildly disturbing phenomenon: Copier technicians at the universal self-serve coffee stations.

Copier technicians have apparently developed a bit of a cowboy reputation in the world around them.

"They come in to my store three, maybe four times a day, two of them. They meet before breakfast, before lunch, during lunch, around suppertime," said Guhuanna Mubbaratus, proprietor of the 7-11 at Main Street, just off the Interstate, in Trenton, NJ. "They have those power screwdrivers in their hip holsters, and sometimes they have a long bladed Phillips screwdriver sticking out of their back pocket," he added.

Mubbaratus feels that other customers are intimidated by the swaggering copier technicians. Sociologist Myron Bottiluci describes them this way.

"Copier technicians have come to think of themselves as invincible. They arrive at a building with a sign that says Reserved Parking. They park in the reserved space, and with their well-worn 40-lb toolcase in hand, they tell the guard that they are there to fix the copier and if he has any questions, he should call so and so. If it is a new guard, who is unfamiliar with them, and they are relatively good natured, they will explain to him that they have to make seven or eight stops today and they can't spend time looking for a parking space. They add that they may have to make several trips to the car for parts, during the course of the visit. Those that are less cheerful have been known to make statements such as "I'm here to fix the copier on the request of the president of your corporation. If you give me any s--- over a parking place, I'll just drive on to my next service call and I'll call him and let him know that you are the reason his machine's still down."

While "on-site" as they like to say, the copier technicians tend towards the obtuse. While finishing up a machine, a worker may arrive to use the machine, and will typically ask if it is ready. These requests are often met with responses such as "Does it look like it's ready?" or "Go ahead and use it if you want. I don't care if I have to do the whole job over again. I get paid by the hour."

Often, after a particularly messy toner spill, the technician will leave his vacuum in the car. "That's a job for your office cleaner," they have been heard to say, then adding "you know, the one who knocked the plug out that made you call me in the first place." At other times, while the office staff is having lunch, or the executives of the company are having a meeting, the copier technician will use his vacuum, leaving it on as he answers his cell phone and walks down the hall to a quieter spot.

NOSE complaints of course, have to do with the 7-11 behavior. Frequently, the technician will make his coffee, slowly. He will stand in front of the counter, his elbows out, blocking others from reaching the coffee. He will always ask where the decaf is, seemingly unaware of the orange color-coding. Since so many of the copier techs are hyper, the decaf is a must for them.

"This one guy, he come in all the time. He reach in his pocket and takes out a metal thing, screwdriver or spring hook or something. He stirs his coffee with that. Than other customers ask me where I keep the metal stirrers, because they think he got it here," said Muhammed Amal, clerk at the Patchogue, New York 7-11.

At 8 a.m. the line to pay for coffee can be quite long. It is traditional for customers with exact change to leave it on the counter and bypass the line. "Some of these guys, they think there is no sales tax. They leave 99 cents for a 99-cent cup of coffee. I have to pay the 8 cents sales tax. What am I to do, chase them to the parking lot for 8 cents when there are 10 other people on line?" asked Amal.

"We have so many kinds of coffee; walnut, decaf, hickory, mild Colombian blend, but they have to ask for Sanka. We have whole milk, skim milk, 99 per cent milk, flavored creamer, but they ask if we have something else. Some think they are very funny when they tell us there is a new Starbucks being built down the road," said an unnamed clerk.

NOSE is concerned. They feel that the problem is worsening. C. Carlson, NOSE spokesman, pointed out that the number of copier technicians has seemed to have gone down, and those remaining have more time and attitude than in the past. "I keep hearing something about digital stuff. We have digital cell-phones here, but they all have those already. We really don't know what they are talking about," said Carlson.

"Lunch time is bad. Very very bad. They park their old minivans and dented Chevy Geos. They have all these boxes piled in them that say Toshiba, Sharp, Canon and so on. They stand around with the coffee cups on the roof, eating sandwiches they brought from home. Customers see them and think we are being evicted or something. The motorcycle gangs don't come in any more because they see them here," said a 7-11 clerk who gave his name only as Sabu.

As a result of this, and combined with an inquiry from the local Sheriff's office, Knight Business Systems, Ltd. will be setting up a 7-11 etiquette training schedule. This will coincide with standard copier training, so as to avoid excessive travel time and lost business time for dealers such as you. The cost of the course will be $175. It will be a one-day course, offered on a Monday, after the final day of the digital training. It will begin with the 7:45 a.m. meeting at a local 7-11. and will allow them to observe him as he enters, makes his own coffee, pays and leaves. At that time, Intravia will distribute exact change to each individual. Under his observation, they will enter, buy and pay for their own coffee. The group will then leave the parking lot to head to another location. At that point, all will discuss what happened, how they were treated, and what they could have done differently to improve the outcome.

After the discussion, the group will return to a pseudo-customer's location, where each technician will role-play with a trained customer look-a-like. In the course of the staged workday, there will be several scenarios. It will be determined if the technician can safely be trusted to drive with their coffee, and the ethics of walking in to a customer's office with coffee in hand will be discussed. Regional matters are a concern. Tradition and mores of different parts of the country are a factor here and will be considered. As the day progresses, it will also be determined how each technician responds and reacts. All will be graded on their results. Some will have grades that have an asterisk (*) indicating "Decaffeinated product required."

Among the peripheral issues to be discussed, will be the advantages of buying or leasing vehicles with brown interiors (known to the experienced copier technicians as "coffee colored interiors.") Other subjects will include the possibility of adapting to legislation requiring cupholders in stick-shift cars to be self-covering during motion. Federal law already mandates that a copier technician's car, if not equipped with at least one cupholder in reach of the driver, will not pass its state inspection.

Well folks, it's not April Fools yet, but I hope you got the joke, or at least pay your sales tax after this.

Jim Intravia