I'm one of the reasons you get a pay check
What happened to good customer service?
It seems that it doesn't matter where I go lately, everyone is rude. For instance I have waited patiently in line at the local department store before only to reach a cashier, who is not very happy that I have piled her counter with merchandise. Rarely, when checking out at this store do I get a smile, or if I do get a greeting, it is something grunted out of that person's mouth reluctantly. This instantly makes me wish I had shopped elsewhere.
Another example of rude behavior that has happened to me lately involves a local agency. I had an appointment at this agency to talk with a specific lady. When I got there, I checked in at the receptionist's desk. She wrote down my name and told me to sit down, and then she proceeded to forget all about me. After waiting for about fifteen minutes passed my appointment time, I returned to the receptionist's desk to find out how much longer I would have to wait. I really needed to get back to work, I told her. She looked at me and asked, "What are you waiting for?" Not only did she not remember checking me in and writing down my name, but she had an extremely annoyed tone to her voice. I guess I was bothering her. I quickly reminded her that I had an appointment fifteen minutes ago. I also reminded her that I had checked in with her, and that she had written my name down. After that, she remembered me, and suddenly, it was the computer's fault that she had forgotten me because it had crashed and hadn't come back up until five minutes before I approached her, she said. Since the computer was down, she was unable to tell the lady that I was there for my appointment. I am still trying to figure that one out. Anyway, my point is that she was annoyed with me because she messed up. It wasn't my fault that she forgot me. She never apologized, and she never would admit that it was her fault. I saw no good customer service practices on her part. I was very glad that I would not have to return to this agency any time soon. Too the credit of the agency, the lady that I had the appointment with was awesome! If she could have only been the one to greet me at the front, my visit would have been so much better.
Last night, having an extremely busy schedule, I ran into a local fast food restaurant. Now, let me say that there were not very many other customers in the store, they were not busy. One person was being waited on at the counter. I stepped behind this person and waited. The teenager behind the counter finished waiting on this person and walked away from the counter. He began cleaning and readying serving trays. I stood there, waiting. He kept cleaning trays. I stood there some more. There were a couple of other girls behind the counter. I believe that one was waiting on drive-thru customers; therefore, she could not help me. Still, I waited. The other one, who looked as if she might have been a manager, since she was wearing a different shirt than the others, was talking to someone about her boyfriend or something of that sort. Still, I waited, and by now, I was wondering how this restaurant was considered a fast food restaurant when I couldn't even place my order quickly. I looked to see what the teenager was doing now. He was still cleaning trays; I was still waiting.
Just as I had decided that I would leave this restaurant and go somewhere else where they wanted to serve me, the manager-looking girl came over to take my order. Now, in the past, when I worked in food service, customer service was number one. If we messed up, we apologized and tried to make it right. Those people visiting our establishment were the reason we received pay checks, and we never forgot it. If our customers were not happy, and they decided not to come back, we wouldn't get paid. This manager must not know that I was contributing to her paycheck because she never apologized, and although she was not completely rude, she was not exactly friendly either. She was not concerned with getting me my double cheese burgers and french fries. She was more concerned with telling her co-worker about her boyfriend, who happened to be standing at a nearby table. It will be a long time before I buy anything from that restaurant again. Why should I give my money to people who do not appreciate me, or in this case do not have time for me? There are other places that I can go, that will want to serve me my food. I will go there.