My point was that while he's down in the stockroom looking for my tablet, a customer looking for a TV might go to another associate for help choosing one. In which case the act of helping me actually costs him money.

And he didn't know it, but it's highly unlikely that even wonderful customer service would have gotten me to come back to Sears to buy electronics in the future. Nearly everything electronic is cheaper to buy online. Maybe I would go there to buy a screwdriver though.