Friday, July 6, 2007

The Costumer is Always Wrong

Hello my fellow web surfers, apparently I am a lier and will be posting when every I get the chance. I thought I would be able to post every Thursday, but as it turns out my life is not set to a regular schedule yet.

So for today's rant, "What the hell happened to costumer service?

(side note: I am talking about all areas where I shop, eat, or purchase some sort of goods)


This rant comes from being treated like a nuisance or distraction from some person(s) having to serve or wait on me. Time and time again I see this when I am out. The sales person or waitress either:

A.) Takes forever to handle the costumer

B.) Looks/Sounds iterated when listening or responding to the costumer

C.) Messes up the order or sales

D.) All of the above.

I am really not that old, but seriously in the past five to seven years there has been a HUGE drop in how people are treated in places of business. When I was a kid I remember being waited on in a polite and timely manner, or when I was working in food service (fast food) I was held responsible for my cleanliness, politeness, and work efficiency. WHAT HAPPENED!! I have said it before that there is a massive increase of people that seem to have the "You owe me" attitude.

These places forget that I am doing business with them and my money is the reason they want me there. In the past I would leave a place of business and go to their competitor. But the tables have turned on me now since no matter where I go I get really crappy service. I am a man of examples:

"Some time back my wife and I decided we would like a taquitos from Whataburger where we live. We each just wanted one and decided to go through the drive through. We ordered our two taquitos and were then squeezed in by a car behind us blocking all escape routes if the need arise. There were two vehicles in front of us, and we proceeded to wait 57 minutes in a drive through for our food. We could not leave or else I would have driven off at the 25 minute mark. Did the person working the window ask the two vehicles to pull to the side? Nope. Did the person working the window think that they could possible just bring us our order? Nope. By the time we got to the window I was so frustrated and angry that it took nearly an hour of waiting for two taquitos that I didn't want them. The girl at the window didn't apologize for the wait, nor did she even acknowledge our wait, but did have an attitude that my wife didn't have the money ready when we got to the window. Mind you we had to go through the process of starting our car and whatnot after our wait."

This was supposed to be "fast food." I do see this everywhere from shopping malls to eateries. I dread going out to places of business. Seriously, in my town there is only a limited number of place to go, so I know before I leave the house that I have to cike myself up for crappy service. Tipping doesn't even matter anymore in most circumstances. I tip because I know that in food service the waiter(s) makes less and thus relies on tip, but it is not mandatory to do so. I tip on the premise of what the tax was on my bill, and WHAT THE SERVICE WAS LIKE.

Here's what I do, I walk into a restaurant and have set in my mind I will be tipping the person waiting on me 8 dollars, which is a lot depending on the bill. Every time I am rude to, or ignored, or die from dehydration (no refill) I take a dollar away. I have let places with out leaving a tip, not because I forgot but because they person waiting on me forgot why he/she was there; To serve the customer.

I would love to hear your stories and how you handle bad costumer relations. Or why you think this is happening in the first place.

-voice-

1 comment:

Frank said...

I forget who it was but the best come back I have heard in responce to crap service was a customer saying to a floor salesperson, "You seem to forget, in the eyes of your employer, you are COST and I am Revenue."

I feel where you are comming form man. But dont fret, I've got a kick ass care package heading your way tomorrow!