Service Lacks

Man O Man do I ever get frustrated with Service, or the lack thereof.

A few examples from this past week.

1) Today, I went into a Pep Boys tire and auto center to simply get my tire plugged as it had been penetrated by a loose screw and was loosing air.

I recently purchased the tire set from this location along with the road hazard warranty.

I was the second person in the place this morning.

My son and I waited for 45 minutes for them to simply plug the hole caused by the screw. We sat and watched 3 and sometimes 4 guys hanging around the van just having coffee and talking. Then, the individual who was "working" on the tire answered his personal cell phone.

This job should have taken 10 minutes from start to finish....

2) Sonja and I went into Macy's yesterday...to actually spend money.

Do you know, we walked around that store and actually stood in specific departments for extended periods of time. We were in that shop for 60 minutes and not a single person asked us if we would like help.

We were entertained by a boy/girl employee couple as we listened to them flirt with each other, neither stopping to ask us, while we were in their department if we could use assistance.

Is it any wonder that retailers bemoan the fact that their sales are off?

Can you guess where we are not shopping if we can avoid it?

With this general attitude so prevalent, it is no wonder that I constantly get this kind of feedback from our electronic post service survey we ask customers to fill out...and these are exact quotes.

"I work in Accounting with vendors and payables daily, it takes a lot to impress me and I must say you staff exceeded my expectations!!! Great Job!!"

"I can't say enough about how impressed I was with the quality of service. That is something that is rare in today's society. Thank you!"

"I called in my order from work, and was very pleased with how quickly your staff member took care of me. Sometimes it's hard to conduct personal business from work because of having to be put on hold, but that was not the case at all. She was very efficient, extremely helpful, and professional. My friend LOVED the arrangement. Thanks SO much!"

And my personal favorites...

"Dear Robert: You have one of the best businesses I have had the pleasure of dealing with over the last year. Thank you to you and your staff!"

"Yes my suggestion is to not change a thing. If it works don't fix it. It was a breath of fresh air to do business with an establishment that treats customers as special as you do. I immediately discarded all other florists numbers and put yours as my only number for future needs."

I am encouraged as we continue to strive to be of excellent service in our company when I get this type of feedback.

At the same time, I simply am appalled that stores and eating establishments continue to tolerate mediocre service at best from their staff.

Yet they bitch and bitch about sales.

Their bitch, I believe could be translated as follows.

"Sales are off, and it is simply that the economy is bad"

Translated

"Damnit, sales continue to slide, we need to figure out how to continue to promote lack of motivation, service, and a general concern for customers as people while we take money from their wallets, how can we continue to do this successfully?"

I am sorry for my blistering tone, I am just fed up with it. Not that it will change a thing, but I will say this.

There is a difference in establishments. Those that bend over backwards to serve their customers will truly succeed and likely be able to grab market share as more and more people get tired of treatment like I outlined above.

Tired of standing in lines, not getting help, a general attitude of indifference....

What a lesson in how not to be!