We've all experienced it. You attempt to purchase goods or services, only to by met by very poor customer service. I've been on the receiving end of everything from feeling like I'm intruding on someone's social time, to apathy, through to pure anger. I've always tried to be of the mindset that you never know what kind of day the customer service person has had, or what their familial situation is; but you know what? Those days are quickly coming to an end. NOTE TO CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENTS: your job is to deal with the public!! Yes, it sucks sometimes, believe me I have many years of first-hand experience, but if you don't like it, quit!
It boggles my mind that with our economy in the state that it's in, the big companies are doing anything less than treating customers like royalty.
My most recent harrowing experience was this afternoon. I went to one of the "all-in-one" department-type stores. You know the ones...you can can buy snow tires, ketchup, a crib, eggs, or prescription glasses all in one place. I had purchased about 15 items. One of the items was marked down an additional 50% off of the last ticketed price. One of the other items I produced a coupon for, handed it directly to the cashier and mentioned that this item was $2.00 off. She nodded and thanked me. And then didn't mark it down! Nor did she give me the addition 50% off the other item. I asked her about the correction, and she directed me to t he Customer Service counter. I had to go through the same song and dance there, and then both issues were resolved. The point is, that it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
The funniest story I've experienced so far was this past January. I went to one of the big-box electronic stores, and was paying for some movies. I asked the cashier if the new tax rate had been programmed into the computer system (our tax rate dropped by 1%). She looked at me with a blank stare and said she didn't know. So, I naturally asked her to check, I mean 1% is 1%, right? She said she didn't know where to check, and that she just did whatever the computer told her. I wanted to ask her if the computer could ask her to go fuck herself, but resisted. Anyhow, a manager came by and answered me immediately. As front-line staff, how could you not know something like that?
Bad customer service is unfortunate for many reasons. One of them is that when you do get good service, you kind of think, "What is wrong with this person? Why are they so creepy?" Case in point, I went to Second Cup last week, and the barristas seemed genuinely happy to serve me. I thought it was weird, but they looked in my eyes, smiled and said, We hope you really enjoy your latte. Thanks for letting us serve you!" WTF?? I quickly looked around for hidden cameras, and checked my latte for loogies. Nothing. Just good old fashioned customer service. Isn't it too bad, though, that I couldn't just appreciate being served by friendly people? That I assumed the worst...a practical joke, or vindictive barristas?
In closing, I'd like to share my most favourite commercial in the entire world. It's the NicoDerm crazy flight attendant, named 'Deb'...if I'm ever feeling down in the dumps, I surf on over to YouTube, and LMAO. The link is posted at the end of this entry. Enjoy, but also keep in mind that the reason it's so funny is because we've all been on the receiving end of wonderful airline "service".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-g8Rq9_SM
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