So it’s time for some more snarky opinion on customer service…
I had to run out today looking for the printing service on my son’s college graduation announcements as the beautiful ones I received were blank inside.
I stopped at an Office Max first hoping I could have my own sentiment printed inside the pre-folded parchment announcements I have that I purchased from the ASU bookstore. The very nice girl there told me that because the announcements were pre-folded it was impossible to run them through their printing machine, especially since they are such high quality thick paper, they would catch in the machine.
So my girlfriend and I moved on, we went to Fed Ex/Kinkos to ask for their expertise. Well! We approached the counter and as one of the girls was busy with another customer, the other girl was looking at a computer screen, looked at us and and grudgingly came over to see if she could “help” us. She should not even have bothered as we obviously were bothering her! Needless to say eventually we left with an awful taste in our mouth and will never return, and will tell all and sundry how awful their customer service is. That’s right, I’m like that, don’t ‘diss me! Nuh uh!
While I tried to explain the issue before us, the girl hardly listened, told me she was working on another project so she couldn’t get to mine ’til later. I understand I’m not everyone’s first priority, but I am a customer with a job proposition for you as the worker perhaps you can fake that you give a damn. If she was too busy to help us, she shouldn’t even have come over to the counter to make believe she was going to “try” to help us, that’s not my problem. I thought as it being a bad economy people would be happy with the prospect of work? I guess that concept doesn’t trickle down to hourly workers…perhaps she should have let the other girl “try” to help us?
She had the nerve, though, to be very short tempered with us. She didn’t even want to take the physical copy of the announcement then and there, or the typed sentiment I had prepared. She wanted me to go home and send it to her by e-mail…why, what? Oh, I guess she wanted me to do the work. She couldn’t do the work of typing it if I left that copy with her whereas if I went home and sent it to her, she would only have to open the e-mail. Oh, sorry. Wouldn’t want you to spend any extra time, even though she wanted to charge me $24.99 for the set up fee… then we looked through a book of paper to use, as they at Fed Ex couldn’t do the printing on the actual announcement either. So we decided to settle for an insert. She didn’t write the name of the color paper down, she said she’d remember…really. I couldn’t even remember again, if asked later. Maybe that’s what she was counting on. Put it this way, I wouldn’t let this unpleasant girl work on the death announcement of my worst enemy!
She wrote down her e-mail, told me then I’d have to come back, even after we explained how it’s hard for me to get rides as I can’t drive since my surgery. It’s just amazing to me that some unpleasant people like this are permitted to deal with the public. I yessed her to death, knowing I would never return, knowing I would immediately go right back across the street to the very pleasant girl at Office Max.
As we entered she welcomed us with a big hello, remembering us, helped us pick out very nice heavy stock metallic paper that matches the announcement to a “T”, helped me pick out the font, which was the same one she used for her wedding announcements and was just all around lovely to work with. She took a copy of the announcement to work with, took my pre-typed sentiment to type herself and the whole thing is only going to run about $15 where the other place was at least $50. So, where would you go? Not a hard decision…no set up fee, nicer paper, nice person to deal with, hmmmm…
Why do people have to be like that? What’s up with people and their attitudes? We did not go in there with our own bad attitudes, I really am a very nice friendly person. So the lesson, it’s not WHAT you say, it’s HOW you say it! I would have had the job done, not run around like a jackass if not for terrible customer service, but it paid off, I got nicer paper and a better price and met a really nice women, who I made sure I told how much I appreciated and as we shook hands as I left! What a pleasure in the long run!
(C) Written by Evelyn Garone 4/2011
The Oracle Of Ahwatukee . . . 