IS CUSTOMER SERVICE DEAD?

By Shirley Carolan, ATM-G

Perhaps in my golden years I’m getting a bit naïve but I wonder whatever happened to the old adage “the customer is always right?” Did it go out of style with high button shoes? Are “20-somethings” not being taught the art of good customer service? Do they not know they are in a service industry/occupation? In essence, if it weren’t for people like me, who needed their employer’s services, they would not even have a job! So, what’s with young women who have this surly and indifferent attitude?

I did not want to ruin my holidays by ruminating on two incidents, that happened just before the holidays that have a common thread. And now, with the New Year fast approaching, I want to get out of the victim role and transcend them.

However, I felt like I was at the mercy of two behemoths: Tri-City Hospital and JC Penney. On November 24, 2008 I slipped and fell while walking my dog at 6:30 pm, smashing up my face and eye glasses. Mercifully, someone finally heard my moaning, called the paramedics and I was rushed off to Tri City Hospital by ambulance. Since I have a fractured back and total right shoulder replacement, I was unable to pick myself up and had no idea if I’d broken more bones – hence I needed the hospital’s emergency room services and x-rays.

On dismissal, about 9:50 PM I was given written follow-up instructions and walked to an exit door. When I asked could someone call me a cab to take me home, the young woman told me to go down the hall and tell the receptionist, on the left-hand side of the hallway, to call a cab. I tottered down the hallway, feeling a bit groggy and in a lot of pain, trying to see through my scratched eye glasses and made my request.

Thirty minutes later, I got my bearings and wobbled back through the emergency waiting room to the receptionist area. It was a different, much younger person on duty. I asked “How long does it take for a taxi to arrive?” She “didn’t know.” I asked could she please call the taxi company and find out if they had left yet? What seemed like ages, she dialed a number and said “I’ve got a woman here with an attitude …” I was too bewildered to remember what else she said. I stumbled back into the emergency waiting room as a cabbie came through the door calling my name.

I explained to the cabbie that I had no ID or wallet on me and she would have to wait while I went into my house to get money to pay for my fare.

As I slowly recovered from this second fall this year, the first in March when I fell and broke my nose, I realized that I could not see through my new eyeglasses, they were indeed scratched. I had just purchased them in August for $174.00 through JC Penney.

On December 8, I set out for JC Penney to see if the lenses could be saved. I gave my name and address to a young clerk and told her why I was there. She put that data into her computer and finally informed me that “the glasses were over a year old …” I took out my paid bill and insurance contract they told me I needed and showed them to her. I said “These eyeglasses are new and here’s all the documentation.”

She informed me that they, JC Penney, did not repair scratches and gave me a business card of a firm in Carlsbad that did. Then I showed her the insurance/guaranty form I had purchased from them and asked would new lenses be covered under this? What seemed like an eternity, I asked her what the problem was. She finally said “You bought these eyeglasses on sale. To replace the lenses will cost you $99.00.” I said “That’s not 10% of what I paid. There’s something wrong. Is this guaranty that I bought worthless?” She would not answer me.

Then, told her I was not interested in what the computer “said” I wanted the name and a website of the company who made the eyeglasses so that I could go on-line when I got home and research it myself. She would not give it to me. Another sales clerk wrote it on a post-it note and handed it to me. As I left JC Penney I told the young woman she needed more training in customer service, especially in dealing with senior citizens. She told me to come back and see her manager.

Neither of these incidents would have bothered me, I’m sure, had I not undergone severe trauma to my body, was in pain and my emotions were raw. Had I not had the accident, I would not have had to go to hospital emergency room, and I would not have to replace my new eyeglasses. Neither would I have encountered such rudeness from clerks working in a service industry. Perhaps someday they will even learn that the customer is their true employer!

My solution was not to go back to JC Penney and be insulted all over again but to start anew. I went to “Lens 4 Less” in Oceanside, talked to the owner, John DiBos, purchased a stylish Oleg Cassini frame, and had my new eyeglasses within a week! I was treated with respect, suggestions, and excellent service for far less money!

I guess the moral of the story is forget dealing with and buying from the big box companies, e.g., JC Penney, and deal with local merchants, small business owners, whom you can talk to face to face, negotiate with and get excellent service and value from.


Shirley M. Carolan
Speaker Writer Artist
Phone/Fax: 760-732-0663
artistwithaflair@att.net
www.shirleycarolan.com
http://angelscross.blogspot.com
http://smcarolan.blogspot.com

Copyright© 2008 by Shirley M. Carolan. All rights reserved. To reprint any part of this article simply contact Shirley Carolan at artistwithaflair@att.net. Thank you.