Serving it right

Customer service seems like it should be a simple concept.  But far too often it looms out of the grasp of those who should be embracing it. Have we become a culture where we expect poor service and thus condone it?  Bloody hell, that best not be true.

Yet that is what seems to be slowly happening, as we quietly accept feeble assistance and are grateful for any attention. It’s an ethos being created by corporate co-ordinators who worship sameness and is slowly filtering down to employees. The end result being that even a minimum level of service now seems to be exceptional.

Take the fake Starbucks, which for all purposes appear to be a fully-functional operation – it’s got the logo, the treats and the inane music. But it’s not real – as it can’t accept rewards. One of the main reasons for giving your custom to the Seattle monolith is the accumulation of reward points and being able to use them when you want. If the store is unable to process those rewards, it’s not a real Starbucks. Put a sign up, call it Joe’s and say ‘Proudly Brewing Starbucks’ and then Buck is your uncle; but don’t pretend to offer a service you can’t, it’s devalues the brand’s reputation and is wildly annoying.

When food or drink is involved, I’m a simple man. Never send food back, don’t sniff at the wine or snap fingers for service – basically a server’s low-maintenance best friend. The one attribute I can’t abide, though, is lack of acknowledgement. The idea that a variety of folks can wander by and not greet because it’s not their table is asinine. It takes nothing to say ‘have you been helped?’ or ‘here’s the menu?’ Walking out of places seems extreme and a step rarely taken, but I do take it when ignored for more than 10 minutes (sometimes 12).  It’s happened more than once in Victoria.

Then there’s retail. It seems there are only two extremes: willful negligence by the staff or obsequiousness that is embarrassing for all concerned. And that’s it.  Snooty service is not restricted to high-end stores, sometimes it’s like class war reversal is in play. The more utilitarian the store the more the customer is left to their own devices.

Not all retail is like that: some, which maintain a family tradition to the business of service, know how to find that right balance. Which is pretty basic: ask if assistance is needed, if answer is no, then back off and watch to see if further aid is required and which point try again. If you’re lucky, you will find a guy/gal who understands these rules and will offer suggestions and, more importantly, stop stupid purchases. Not everything looks good, not everything fits and not everything is meant to be worn off the runway. Finding someone who will stop a sale today means they’re worth buying from tomorrow.

Now, I expect that at my regular clothing haunts, as you build up something approaching a relationship, but it recently happened when purchasing spectacles. The fellow simple said no: I was ready to whip out the credit card but he declined the sale saying the fit was wrong. Now that’s customer service. That’s why I will go back to Diamond Optical.

Maybe it’s just in this new world of pop up stores full of trendy, disposal goods, where quality doesn’t matter, that the ritual of trade has become a throwaway at the altar of quick turnover. Or I’m just an old codger who thinks everything used to be better, dammit, and get off the lawn.