The Fall Of Customer Service

We all know the economy is not very good and many businesses and companies are struggling. In many cases it’s nothing they are doing wrong but I strongly believe that as a general rule customer service has deteriorated to a point where mediocrity is accepted and excellence is no longer something anyone expects or strives for. I offer the following as examples.

I am constantly amazed at how often you go to a drive-thru food establishment and wait far too long at what’s supposed to be a fast-food place. Just yesterday I stopped at one just to get something to drink and it took 9 minutes from the time I placed my order to get a simple drink. Here’s the other part to this equation…I asked for just a little bit of ice and of course knew I would end up with more ice than liquid. When I handed the not-so-smiling teenager my cup back and said I only wanted a little ice he looked at me with disgust as if I had made the mistake.
It is rare when you go to a drive-thru and they get your order perfect and also include napkins in the bag they hand you. By the way don’t even bother asking to anything special because there’s little chance it will be the way you want it.

Businesses that have lottery machines very often treat these things as gross inconveniences even though they have signs all around so you know they are a lottery agent. Many have poorly trained their employees when it comes to how to use a machine or in some cases have sort of let the employees learn on their own. That means you stand there while they look over the machine, huffing and puffing in protest. Often they give up, shout to another worker in the store or sometimes even tell you that don’t know what to do and ask you to come back later. Worse is when you stand by a machine and they avoid you like the plague, hoping you will go away as they tend to what’s considered real customers…not the bozos who just want a lottery ticket.

Finally there are the cases in which you are in a hurry and the clerk feels the need to have a long conversation with the customer in front of you. Sometimes you realize the conversation is a personal one and all you want to do is pay for your two items but are held up while clerk and customer go on and on and on. That’s what I could do here but you get the picture….mediocrity has taken over. As a matter of fact many think that also describes this segment.