The Price of Poor Customer Service

This subject is very dear to me. My job deals heavily with customer service and I pride myself on making my clients feel as if they've made the right choice allowing me to service their needs. It really shouldn't be any other way taking into consideration that I get a paycheck for doing so. This day in age customer service has become a thing of the past. At first I thought it was only fast food restaurants and grocery stores who had this issue. You walk to the register and the employee doesn't have the decency to greet you, they are chewing gum in your face, joking with their peers, texting on their phones and to top it off there's no "thank you" at the end of your transaction- the same transaction that keeps their place of employment in business and puts money in their pockets.

I've found now that large scaled companies and government institutions are suffering from this same dilemma. Has anyone dealt with a government institution lately? They are the most unaccommodating people ever. It's a disgrace and frustrating on a deeper level because people in these positions can easily cause serious problems in your day to day dealings.

I often wonder why are these idiots still employed. There are millions of people in need of work who would love to step into these positions and do the job that's expected. For the most part we feel we have no control over these rude ungrateful people but we actually hold more power than we think. How many times have you left a place of business or ended a phone call where  you've felt you haven't been given the service you deserved? You talk about it with your spouse and friends but it usually ends there. This is not the time to be passive. These people are making money that they don't deserve from our services and at the very least management needs to be made aware of any and every situation that has left you unsatisfied. We have to start bringing management into play and if they are just as ignorant as their employees (which I find is often) get in contact with corporate headquarters. Most importantly if you can't get the service you deserve find a better establishment.

My goal is to call these people out every chance I get in hopes that the person who really deserves the job is given the opportunity to service me. Our hard earned money is too valuable to be wasted on mediocre service.

Everyday isn't a easy day and I will be the first to admit some days are hard. You deal with issues in your personal life that can easily dictate how your day at work proceeds but you have to remember what you're there for and remember the check that you get to perform a service. In this economy if that's not enough to change a persons perspective on taking pride in their work/position I am not sure what will.


True story, my niece went missing for close to an hour last week. My family searched the neighborhood knocking on doors in an effort to find her. When that didn't work they decided to call 911. While explaining to the 911 operator (who answered the phone giggling) that my niece was missing, my sister was placed on hold twice by the dispatcher but not a muted hold. This was a "hold on" where you could still hear everything that was going on in the background of the phone call. Needless to say whatever was so funny to the operator when she answered my sisters call caused her to stop taking the missing person information to continue her chit chat and laughter with a co worker. Excuse me? There is a mother on the line crying and explaining that her daughter is missing and the compassion you show is placing her on hold twice and laughing in the background with your co workers. Not only does she deserve to lose her job but she also needs her butt kicked. I don't condone violence but I'm just speaking the truth. Sadly, my sister didn't file a complaint and Ms. Giggly still has a job.

Final thought: If you have a job where you choose not to perform to a level of excellence take your incompetence to your home! That's the only place where it should be accepted!