There are an awful lot of oxymoron's out there. For those of you who don't know, and oxymoron is a group of words that contradicts itself. Something like Jumbo shrimp, Military Intelligence or Microsoft Works. And from what I've seen of late, Customer Service may soon be joining their ranks.

Retailers are bemoaning a lower than expected Christmas season. The economy is good, people are confident and things look generally bright. So why didn't they flood into the stores this Christmas like they were supposed to? I'm going to do all the large store chains a big favor and let them in on the secret:

Your (soon-to-be-ex) customers are sick and tired trying to force you to take their money. You're in a retail business yet your clerks act as if they're doing you a favor by waiting on you. This is not just one store or mall, but seems to be the norm all around town.

Several examples: My wife and I decided we wanted a second TV. We go to Best Buys (on Howe Avenue) on Friday. We picked out the TV we wanted and Joy asked me to go bring the van around while she got someone to get the TV for her. So I get the van and bring it to the front of the store. Ten minutes later Joy is still in the store. I had seen that there were very few people in there when I left, so I reparked the van and went inside. She was at the cashier counter paying for the merchandise. She told me that she had found a clerk, pointed to the TV and said, "I want that one". At this point a girl walks up to the clerk she's talking to and asks for some help and the clerk asks, "Who was here first?"

A few seconds later it occurs to him that the person was speaking to him first must have been the first one there, so he tells the other girl "I'll be with you in a moment" and tells my wife "let me get a cart". He goes and gets the cart and, on the way back stops to take a phone call. While he's chatting away my wife (who is fed up at this point) grabs the cart, loads the TV and goes to pay for it. Probably a much calmer reaction than I would have had, but that's one of the many reasons I love her so.

After that we go out to eat. Hey, grandma took the kids for a weekend so we decided to do something we haven't done for a while. We go to one of our favorite restaurants; again, not a very busy place. We're seated and our hostess announces that our server will be with us in a minute. So we check out the menu, decide what we want and start chatting a bit. And chatting...and talking some more...

In the meantime the girl who apparently will be our waitress is waiting on another table. She passed us no less than 4 times without so much as a "I'll be with you in a minute". No acknowledgment that we even existed for 10 minutes. In a restaurant that isn't busy this is unforgivable. In my book, even in a restaurant that is packed this is ludicrous; how much time does it take to simply tell someone "I'll be back for your drink order in just a moment"?

I read a survey recently that showed customer service is on the decline. One of the things they determined is that "personelle need better training"; I'm not so sure that would help. Why would someone have to be trained in the fact that when they're helping a customer who is there, in the store, and the phone rings they should say "I'll be with you in a moment" and put them on hold? Or that they should continue to help a person once they've started? Is it asking so much to be acknowledged in a restaurant?

It's getting more and more difficult to find places that realize it's customers money that keeps them going. The only reason that these folks have a job is because me (and people like me) purchase their goods or services. Very quickly they'll discover that this is a competitive society. It may be getting harder to find a place that treats the customer as if they were something special, but they're out there. And when I get lousy service you can bet I'll keep looking until I find them.

 
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