Covid-19 is being blamed for everything. It is a reason why our children can't attend public school. It is a reason why there were no public graduations or proms this year. It is the reason why Ramen noodles and toilet paper are hard to come by these days and naturally why there are lines out the door with people standing six feet apart waiting to get non-essential items. And as we notice these lines, we make a statement about how dumb one is for standing in that line. But the truth of the matter is you probably have stood in one of those lines yourself for something non-essential.
People say that due to this "pandemic", the customer service we receive is horrible. I beg to differ. Quality customer service has been non-existent for awhile now, long before this quarantine.
Here are three different scenarios of poor customer service from major corporations I have experienced prior to Covid-19.
1. I asked to have my tires balanced and rotated along with a plug from a well seen nail. The company was short staffed, so my expected wait time was all day. When my vehicle was ready for pick up, I was informed about the nail in tire, but told it wasn't needed to be plugged. Not only was it not plugged, the tires were not rotated either. The following morning I had a flat. So long for that intended road trip I was planning on making. A manager has still not gotten back to me regarding this.
2. Shortly after the above mentioned, I detailed the inside of my car. I took it upon myself to drive to the car wash to finish the outside. Everything was fine until I pulled up to the vacuums. Not one, not two, but three vacuums were a dud. I flagged down the attendant who in his phone to inform him as the other vacuums were occupied. He said I would have to pay for another car wash just to use a different vacuum since I utilized more vacuum time than entitled to. Like are you fricking kidding me?
3. This one here takes the cake. I was standing in line at Home Depot holding three big boxes of plastic lawn bags and two supplies of weedeater string, not a shopping cart in site. I got to self checkout and only one station is functioning, which happens to freeze during my check out. No big deal, but of course, not an attendant on duty. So I gather up my items and haul to a different register, the only one with a live attendant. And what do you know, the person in front of me is arguing with the cashier about an item that rang up wrong. The cashier was rude right off the bat, so rude she cut her light off, grabbed her phone, and walked off. If were in the customers shoes, I would have been livid. So once again, I lugged all my stuff to now the customer service desk. Two people were there sitting side by side talking about something not work related. Both made eye contact with me. One rolled his eyes, the other ignored me and walked away. How dare I make them do their job. At this point now I was livid. I dropped my merchandise, along with a cuss word or two and left.
Now tell me, are any of the above situations acceptable?
I didn't think so.
It seems everyone these days wants a job with great pay, a handout at that. But nobody wants to do even the bare minimum. There are plenty of corporations and small businesses out there looking to hire people that are willing to work. If you are not working, Covid-19 related or something else, let's take this time while in quarantine to learn how to treat people so we can make a difference. Nobody wants a retail experience like the ones mentioned above. Good customer service makes all the difference in the world.
