Customer Service

What has happened to customer service? I don't think I'm the most important person in the world. When I shop, I don't think I'm the most important customer in the store. When I dine at a restaurant I don't feel like I should be treated like the only person there or the most important one. Recently I recounted my experience at McDonald's in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It shouldn't take 20 minutes to order and receive your food. When I hand the clerk my money they should be able to hand me back my change in some sort of way that shows they have a concept on making change. It shouldn't be all wadded up and handed to me with a dismissive look telling me to get to the side and wait for my crappy food. When I was a young man you could walk into McDonald's, order your food and by the time you had your change handed back to you by someone who could count it back, your food was on the counter ready to go. By the way, HOT and ready to go. How can you fix it to order and it still arrives on the counter lukewarm? Does anyone remember when the cheese on a McDonald's sandwich actually melted? I think it did when I was younger. Seems like now you couldn't melt it in a nuclear reactor. Would it hurt the clerk to welcome you to the store and thank you for your order? What set this off?

Tuesday I called A C McCartney Equipment because my Kubota BX 2350 needed spring service and the mower blades sharpened. My L class 3940HST needed an oil change and all the filters replaced. I wanted an appointment to bring them up and drop them off so I could pick them up at the end of the day. They said Thursday would be fine. Bring them first thing in the morning. So Thursday I load the small tractor on the trailer and haul it to Wataga with the big tractor. Drop them off, make sure to talk to the service manager so he knows they are on the lot and what I want done. No problem, we will call you when they are done. No call Thursday afternoon but sometimes things take longer than expected. Friday noon still no call. I call them and the service manager says they aren't done. As a matter of fact we haven't started on them yet. His service tech was backed up farther than he thought. He said he would check on when they could be done and call me back. A few minutes later he calls to say they can't be worked on until Monday. When I called it was to find out when they could do the work so I could use them until the day they could work on them. Now I lose 4 days work because my tractors aren't available. I used to work in management. When you scheduled something you made sure before you scheduled that you had staff available to do the work. All that the service manager had to do was ask the service tech what his work load was. It isn't rocket science. It is simple, basic customer service. If you tell someone you are going to do something on Thursday then do it or call and explain and apologize. He did neither.

This was just part of a series of poor service. I had an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday at 9:15 am. I sat in the waiting room until almost 10:00 am before getting called back to see the nurse, do some eye tests and have my eyes dilated. It takes another 15 minutes for that to work and then wait to see the doctor. So my 9:15 appointment for about 2 minutes of the doctor's time took an hour and 45 minutes. I understand things happen and you have emergencies. He didn't that day. All I'm asking is for some respect for my time.

WalMart is a customer service nightmare all its own. They have reduced staff so much in order to maximize their already obscene profits that you can feel yourself grow old in line. We were standing in line in Georgia a while back and they guy behind us stated: "I think I could walk out the door with this, get arrested, serve time in jail and get out before I get through this line." Sadly it was almost true.

So, if you want to be rich and famous. Have customers flocking to your business. Try this, treat them with respect. Welcome them when they come in. Thank them when they leave, even if they didn't make a purchase. Know what your business does and when it can do it. Be able to make change without a calculator or a cash register. Be polite. Provide service. Smile. Enjoy what you do. Make the customer feel special. Very few businesses know how to do that now.