Is That It?
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 3:00PM Recently, after a hard day’s work, I went out to eat at a restaurant where I placed my order at the counter. It had been a long day and I was looking forward to a quick and easy meal I didn’t have to cook. In fact, I figured I deserved it (I know, but the problem of rewarding myself with food is another blog topic). Anyway, the person who waited on me did not smile, spoke so softly I had to ask her to repeat herself, and after I paid for my order, her parting words were, “Is that it?”
“Yes, thank you,” I replied, but I was irritated. She hadn’t said, “Thank you” or “Enjoy your dinner.” In short, she had made what had been a fun evening out for me into a bit of a downer. She didn’t ruin my evening since I wasn’t going to give her that kind of power, and she didn’t do anything exactly rude or upsetting. She simply seemed indifferent to having my business. In a way, I can understand that, but after having to deal with the public myself for years, I know that’s not how you treat a customer.
As I drove home, through my head ran all the responses I could have given her. “Yes, that’s it except for the smile and ‘Thank you’ you’re supposed to give me,” or “Yes, that’s it. You can bet since you obviously don’t care about my business that it will be ‘that’s it’ for a long time to come.”
We’ve all been there. We’ve all had bad customer service experiences. And to give this person the benefit of the doubt, we all have bad days or days when we are just tired. Perhaps it was the end of a long shift after a week of long shifts, or perhaps her boyfriend had just dumped her and she was doing her best just to keep going through the day.
As I said, it didn’t bother me that much, but I did find it amusing how irritated I initially felt that I would try to think up responses of what I wish I had said. It’s rare that I will give people a hard time when they wait on me, and I only will if they deserve it, and I don’t even give them a hard time; I simply assert my right to be treated properly. I try to be pleasant but firm. Now and then, I might be tempted to say, “You know, if you would just try to smile, your day will improve.”
Sadly, I can’t change the world by teaching people what is stellar customer service. What I can do is not allow people to mistreat me when they are supposed to be waiting on me, or customer service will just get worse. And when I meet someone who provides stellar customer service, I can let that person know he or she is doing a good job and I appreciate it. And now and then, when needed, I can set my boundaries without having to try to control or overreact.
How do you deal with your bad customer service experiences? Do you let them have power over you? I’d love to hear from you.














