Customer Service is Dead.

Now this is a pretty girl, and she looks plenty happy to satisfy a customer, perhaps take a credit card application over the phone or place an order for a nice set of discontinued flatware. I'm not sure where she works, but wherever it is, it is not on planet Earth.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking a trip to Florida and I have to say that for the most part, it was quite enjoyable. I met some new friends, I learned some new skills, I was able to be a part of a team and work together with others towards a common goal. It was a welcomed change from my everyday phone call and real estate infested life. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, but its nice to take a break and live another one for a week.

I realized, that not only was customer service dying off (or dead already) in Utah, it is also horrible in other parts of the country. Although Sebring itself supplied surprisingly decent service, Tampa, to and from were a completely different story. I will cite three occasions. One cab ride, one meal, and a flight.

The cab ride was from our hotel to what reminded me of mardi gras in downtown Tampa. We were in search of some dinner, but instead stumbled across the Girls Gone Wild bus. Don't worry, we steered clear of that dark alley. We were originally hoping for a ride from the complimentary shuttle provided by our hotel, but when he showed up, we got in, and he literally kicked us out saying he had to go pick someone else up (they showed up via taxi about 10 minutes later). We took their cab to our destination (about 3 miles away). We ended up on a fifteen minute tour of the backside of downtown due to a "closed road" that wasn't really closed. The return trip cost us half as much and took about five minutes. What a ratbag. He will burn. We affectionately refer to him as "Fumar" (don't ask).

The meal was at the on site restaurant at the Riverwalk Sheraton. We stood at the concierge's podium for ten minutes waiting to be seated. Our food was wrong, but received no apology, only dirty looks and sarcastic tones when we disclosed this to our server. The plate with the missing bacon was tossed on the table, as hard as you would dare without breaking it. Whoever you were, you horrible server, shame on you and your entire establishment.

On the trip home we had a connecting flight in Phoenix, with a one hour layover that turned into five. The plane was on time, don't you worry, but the crew was not, or so we were told. This was during the big storms in NY and America West (along with many other airlines) had to cancel a lot of flights. I can understand that. They boarded us around 8pm (we were supposed to leave at 6pm). We sat on the plane for around two hours when they announced that the crew that was supposed to be there had gone home. Right. Well, I don't understand. About thirty minutes later, some crew came on board, and as the flight attendant passed our row, I asked, "Are we leaving now?" She laughed and said, "I hope we're leaving soon." This was not in a joking voice, but more of a scoffing one. This upset me, and I told her that she didn't answer my question. She started to get mad at me before someone asked her for something. I'm surprised we weren't thrown off that flight to be honest. She was rude the entire flight. We did not get drinks. Shame on America West and shame on you flight attendant.

Is this the current state of American business? I run an e-commerce website, and I do not provide phone support. Should I? I do provide very courteous email support, and have only gone off on about four customers in six years. I'd call that decent service.

So the mighty dollar prevails, and we hand it over for little or no customer satisfaction. Perhaps my experiences are the exception, but it happens so often, I can't help but think that everyone just hates everyone else. Well, I'm not going to stand for it anymore. I will, from now on, make a ruckus whenever I am getting sub-standard service, and I advise all to do the same.