Customer Service

Is it just me, or has customer service changed? I worked at Wal-mart for several summers and during holiday breaks for a few years and I remember the mantra, "The Customer Is ALWAYS Right." We lived by that mantra and we had to do whatever we could to make sure that the customer left our store happy and satisfied. I remember our store manager calling all available associates to the front in order to check to ensure that no one would have to wait very long. We were told to be aware and alert to customers needing help at all times. I worked at the customer service desk for awhile and we had a certain amount of time that we were allowed to let someone wait before trying to help them. I think it was something like a minute and a half. My, has life changed.

Today my friend and I went to Future Shop. She was planning to buy her very first digital camera and she was very excited. We made our way back to the camera department. She had done a lot of research and she had narrowed it down to two choices. She wanted my opinion, and she also wanted to look at all of the bells and whistles of the two, just a few more times. She was, after all, looking to plop down about $300. She was well within her rights to want to check things out.

We got to the counter and found the two that she was looking at. Immediately after she picked up one camera, the salesman tried to direct us to the camera of the same brand, yet about $100 more.

"This is really the same camera with..." he started into his sales pitch.

My friend: "Yes, but this is what I can afford, I think I want to look at these two."

We began to check out the cameras. We sampled the different settings and suddenly, the screen was black. We shut it off and tried turning it back on again. "PLEASE CHANGE BATTERIES" flashed across the screen.

My friend: "Can you please put new batteries in this? I would like to look at it."

Salesman: "Uhhh....yeahh....sorry. It's too hard. It's this really big deal to put new batteries in it. I have to call a manager and he has to take the block off and, it's just a really big hassle."

My friend and I, with incredulous looks at one another think in our minds: "Huh? Did he just say that he COULDN'T change the batteries?"

My friend: "Well, it's just that I really wanted to see how it works, and that's hard to do."

Salesman: "Well, I WILL do it, but it's just a lot of work."

I am standing there, thinking "What else does the guy have to do? Isn't this his job?"

My friend: "Well, okay. I guess so."

So, we pick up the other camera she has been eyeing. We begin to check out the settings on this one. Suddenly the screen on it also goes black.

My friend: "Um, this one died too."

Salesman: "Yeah, people leave those cameras on all of the time. The batteries are always dying."

Finally, my friend gets brave. I guess she realized that she was going to be spending close to $300 in the store, and deserved to be able to SEE what she was buying before hand.

My friend: "Sorry, I'm going to be a pain and ask that you get new batteries in these."

Salesman: "All right."

Once we finally got the batteries changed, she was able to decided what camera she wanted. Once she did, she went to pay. She had saved up Airmiles points and such and gotten several Future Shop gift cards. She also had cash from her birthday and she said she would pay the rest on credit card. It's all money, so I'm not sure what the problem was, but...

Salesman: "Sorry, we can't do that. It all needs to be on ONE gift card. You will have to go up to Customer Service and get them to put it all on one gift card for you. I also can't take cash here, so have them put THAT on the gift card as well."

My friend and I, slightly confused at the fact that they could not use four of THEIR OWN gift cards, made our way to the front of the store and got into the Customer Service line and waited. And waited. And waited. There was one girl behind the counter simply taping a box shut. One other person was walking around, seemingly doing nothing. I wondered if we could get the cards combined at a cash register, so I went to ask.

"Nope, I can't do that. You have to get to Customer Service."

Okay, so back to waiting. After we had stood there for about fifteen minutes, the man in front of us finally asked, "Are you guys going to be helping anyone else today?" The girl taping the box looked at him, and they motioned him forward, only to say that they couldn't help him at that cash register. What? Aren't they all the same?

So, he came back to line. Finally, about five minutes later, we were able to get to the front of the line and combine the cards. Then we made our way back to the camera counter, where the salesman again tried to sell my friend just a few more things, and finally we were out of there.

After leaving, we made our way to another store. We needed to buy a bridal shower gift for a friend. After perusing the store for several moments, we found the perfect item. Unfortunately, it was up too high to reach. We stood there waiting for an associate to show up for a few minutes. We could see three of them. Two were standing behind the counter, just seeminly hanging out. The other was ringing up other customers. Finally I made my way up there and said, "We need help getting things down."

Once we got our items, we made our way to the cash register. Again, there was a bit of a lineup. There were two registers, but only one was being used. Again, two girls were simply standing there, not really doing anything. Meanwhile, the other girl was ringing up orders, gift wrapping and doing it all. Once she rang us up, we asked her to wrap the items separately.

Her: "I will but first I have to help this next woman in line."

What? Don't you finish helping one customer before helping the next? And what about the two girls just standing there? Frustration!

The saving grace of the day was our lunch at the Olive Garden. We got a sweet waitress, who although she had to charge us an extra $3.50 for sharing a dish-what is up with that?-still seemed very attentive. She even split our dish for us into separate bowls so it wouldn't slop all over the table and when we were done, although she could not split the bill on the till, she did it by hand so we would know exactly how much we each needed to pay.

The experiences of the day caused me to think. What has happened to customer service? Is it just me? Am I expecting too much? What do you think? Have you had a disappointing experience with customer service lately?