UNITED STATES—I know I have had this discussion before in the past, but it seems that customer service is NOT as important as some businesses think. Look, I worked in the retail industry for years before officially moving up the corporate ladder. I know all about the importance of good customer service, but at the same time I am well aware that there are customers who can be complete a**holes. Just because you are the customer does NOT mean you are always right 100 percent.
Sometimes those people have to be called out on their antics rather they want to or not. I’m referring to an incident that I encountered at a retailer that I frequent quite often. Well, let me say I frequently enter this establishment even though there are various locations, I did NOT visit my go to usual location. The level of customer service that I received at this particular establishment was disheartening and left me rattled.
I mean the cashier just had a bad attitude. I had never encountered someone so rude or dismissive. I was simply attempting to purchase a case of water. However, instead of informing me that I did NOT need to place the water on the conveyor belt, it was almost issued as a threat and her attitude quite frankly pissed me off. Look, I get you can have a bad day in the retail industry it happens. However, if you need a moment you need to take that moment and not let it be known to the customer.
Her response was simply unacceptable and as a result I decided not to purchase any water and I did throw it at the cashier’s face that I would take my money and spend it at another retailer who would appreciate my money and actual business. I think that was a sign for the cashier that I meant business. To be honest I was literally this close to telling the cashier, screw the items that I placed on the conveyor belt and force the cashier to have to remove them because of her dismissive and rude attitude.
With that said, I was so annoyed by the customer service I received I made a complaint with the establishment. I sent a lengthy email explaining the situation that transpired and how upset I was with the service I received in recent days. I choose my words carefully and I think I was as detailed as I could be in my explanation of what unfolded. As of the writing of this column I am still waiting to hear back from the company, and I do hope I indeed hear back from them because if I don’t that will put me in a situation where I completely stop shopping at this establishment.
To me prices do matter when it comes to how I spend by hard earned money at a business, but at the same time, customer service is so much more important and I seriously think a ton of businesses fail to realize this importance. This is NOT just in the restaurant industry people. People so much think it’s all about the customer service industry particular where this matters and as a result it is ignored more than it should be.
If I get stellar service at a restaurant I will ABSOLUTELY return to them over and over, but if I’m at a business and I receive terrible customer service, I will without a doubt stop shopping at that establishment. I don’t give a second chance because you’re telling me you don’t care about me as a customer, you only care about the money that I’m spending and that is never a good sign in my personal opinion. When a company loses money as a direct result because of bad customer service I do believe it is a wakeup call to make changes to their service or how they approach business operations because when you lose loyal customers that is a detriment to business in the long run.
Written By Jason Jones
