It seems to me that with the onset of the latest generation coming of age and now taking jobs in fast food places and walmart, that customer service is lacking in many places. Of course not all of the new generation is inept at conveying that the customer is king, but there are quite a few mumblers, eye avoiders, and lazy workers that will answer a question with "I don't know" and "I'm sorry that's not my job" and then look at you like those answers should have been sufficient.Usually, I ignore these little jibes at customer relations on the premise of being polite, but not last Wednesday.
Last Wednesday, I am sure I completely embarrassed and somewhat awed my nine year old the same way that my own dad used to embarrass and awe me. My dad, usually a gentle soul, would become fiesty at times during egregious bouts of bad customer service and I remember them with clarity.
There was the one time when Long John Silver's (yes he used to eat there) messed up an order and we sat in the drive through while my dad loudly complained and got his compensation. There was the pizza incident where he raised his voice and I remember thinking the whole restaurant was watching, but again it was made right.
My favorite father moment of this kind was when we stopped at a rest stop on a road trip and the Hari Carishna (sp) man gave him a book of faith, which my dad took without giving the guy a donation. This evidently was not the way that man thought it should go. He confronted my dad, who again refused to give money. The HC man then blocked our exit by climbing onto the trunk of our car until my mom demanded that dad give the book back. I was in awe that my dad could stand up to that man and I obviously saw my mothers frustration at the whole event. Because really, dad knew that when an HC gives you something he wants something in return.
But last Wednesday the tables turned. I walked into Pizza Hut for a late lunch with two very hungry children. We saw the beautiful and bountiful buffet table and began to salivate immediately. I told the lady behind the counter that we would have three buffet meals. She immediately responded that the buffet ended 15 minutes prior and was no longer available. I checked my impulse to gripe at the fact that there were about 8 full pizzas sitting on the buffet table while no one was eating them and said out loud that we would just order a pizza.
We were sat toward the back of the restaurant but in full view of the main kitchen area. In other words, I could see everything that was happening in the store. And there we waited. I chatted with the kids, watched a waitress clean tables, and saw other patrons leave. Still we sat. We watched a Hot Dog eating contest on the t.v. screen. I saw another worker emerge for the bathroom area with cleaning supplies and make her way to the counter to clean something else. And, I also saw the girl who seated us yakking away with two teenage boys in the kitchen. They were clearly having a good time. She was using her towel to playfully hit at them as they teased her and the boys were smiling pleased at the attention they were being given. Meanwhile, my children began to complain. "We are hungry. I am thirsty!" "Be patient", I said. And we waited. The group of teens dispersed and I thought, this is it. But it wasn't. Everyone disappeared.
A few more minutes passed and a new set of people came into the restaurant. A new worker sat them down near me and I waved this hostess over immediately and told her in my most teacher-ish voice that we needed service and a manager. Well, Aaron's eyes grew wide with questions. What was I doing? So I explained the concept of customer service and told him that someone would now deal with my wrath. At this point the worker that cleaned the bathrooms approached us to apologize as well and beg for mercy for her fellow workers. She stated that the waiter didn't know we were even there and she would have helped but she had not been feeling so well, and didn't want to get too close to the customers. - Really!
I calmly told her that someone knew we were there because they had seated us, and that this was unacceptable, and I needed to see a manager immediately. At this point, Aaron's eyes grew even wider. "Mom, are they going to get fired?" He said, beseeching me to show mercy. But no, I would have my gripe this time and I did.
One of the teenage boys who had been yakking it up came to serve us and to his credit apologized profusely for not knowing he had a customer. The manager did show up (eventually) and said that all would be written up and then comped us our meal.
Once again, all was right in the customer service world, and because of their well chosen use of humility, I agreed to eat at Pizza Hut again - and of course to amend my FB rant at the customer service we were given.
I hope Aaron learned a couple of lessons in that exercise in flexing my consumer muscle. I want him to know that customers count, but most of all I want him to know that when he has that first job. Take it seriously, work hard, and show the customer that they are KING at least while they are standing in your serving line. :)
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