What Ever Happened to Customer Service?featured

I walked into a gas station the other day to get a car wash. They have a deal where you get a free wash every 5 washes you purchase. All you have to do is bring in your receipts as proof. I do this often. I am a sucker for deals. I am frugal and have no shame. I shop at Goodwill and Buffalo Exchange because it just makes sense.

But anyway, I brought my car wash receipts to my regular car wash excited to finally get the free one. I literally drove for 7 minutes only to do this. It was my day off, so I figured it would be good to get out of the house at least once. I walked in with a smile on my face. “I came to get my free car wash,” I said.

The attendant looked at me with a mean scowl on his face and asked if all the receipts were from this location. I replied that some might not be, but most are. Side note, they have this promotion at every gas station of this brand. I never have a problem with this but this time I did.

The attendant proceeded to argue with me about how he couldn’t authorize this transaction. He told me I was making up the fact that I do this often without a problem. The situation got the best of me.

Fire began coming out of my ears. I got huffy and puffy and ended the conversation with, “Thank you for being rude!” I walked away upset, not because he told me no, but because of the way he presented it. He argued with me as if I was his crazy ex-girlfriend.

I hate to say it, but I am used to having these attendants smile and talk with me about life on every other occasion. I am not a rude person, I mean, for the most part. Had he said something like, “I will get fired if I do this,” I would have simply walked away a bit disappointed. At the end of the day, this whole conversation was over a $10 car wash. But this was more about the delivery.

What ever happened to good ol’ customer service? I don’t want to be that old lady that says Customer service ended with my generation, the later Millennials, but maybe I have to? Being bred by In n Out Burger taught me otherwise. The number one was the Customer is always right, the number two rule was if the Customer is wrong, refer to rule number one.

I did my best to carefully craft my words and acts of service to engineer happy experiences among every Customer I helped. We were trained to do this. We were told we got a bit extra than minimum wage to create the ultimate Customer service experience for every single person that walked through the door.

I sometimes forget that not everyone was taught Customer service by In n Out. I wish they were of course but that’s not the state of the union. I often go to places where you can tell the person hates their job. I sometimes hated making French fries, but I faked it till I made it. Those were the days I smiled and laughed harder because I knew if I was having a bad day, other people must be having even worst days.

I am not saying I am the best person in the world, okay, maybe I do think I’m pretty awesome, but that’s besides the point. It really takes an effort to provide exceptional Customer service. It’s especially hard when you’re having a bad day in general.

But why don’t we just try harder to provide exceptional experiences at all time? Why not open the door for a stranger or help a child who dropped his toy in the supermarket? Why not be nice to the girl who drove all the way to your gas station just to get her free wash?

I understand there are limitations to what employees can do but I also understand that a “no” can be delivered in a sweet and compassionate way. Yes, if you have to be fake, be fake. Because guess what? Artificially crafted service is most likely going to be received well.

I often return to the same coffee shop because of the polite people who work there. My favorite restaurant serves simple American food, but the service is what keeps me addicted. I mean, I even go to a gym that is a few cities away just because the people who work and workout there make me feel at home.

We’re all human. We all want to feel special even if we’re really not. I recognize I was not anyone special to that gas station attendant, but I would have had a much better day had he made me feel like I was.

These small disruptions in our lives have a ripple effect. Once that attendant was rude, I felt rude myself, and my comment back to him reflected that. I could have handled it better but people who don’t know Customer service irk me. Only because I have been in the position where Customer service was everything and I continue to apply those values to my everyday life with all humans I come across.

I have my days too though, those days when I’m rude to an employee for no reason. I feel horrible in those instances, but I do my best to recognize what is really bothering me to avoid being “that rude Customer” that no one wants to deal with.

Are you doing your best to give all humans the best service at all times? If not, give it a shot. The response will be well received. I promise.

Love Deeply and Forever,

Karen

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2018 Karen  Pierik