Un-Customer Service

Grocery store- last night.  I am waiting at the deli counter and an older woman, obviously flustered, comes to the counter and asks the man where the produce workers are.

"Should be right over there," he says with a pointed finger.  He returns to his work.  Lady leaves, even more flustered.

There I remain stunned at the worker's approach to customer service.  The lady had already been to produce and then walked 50 feet over to the deli, trying to get help.  That was apparently not obvious to Mr. Deli. 

The next time someone asks for help, try not to point out an option.  Bring them the solution they deserve.  Walk with them.  Be interruptable.  Pick up a phone.  Care.

Comments

[Ken Stewart]

Would you have been upset if you were waiting in line and "Mr. Deli" had left you standing?

I wonder at whose expense some customer service might come?

[catherine]

Funny you should raise this. Just this weekend I went to an unfamiliar supermarket, and had to interrupt a staff member having a conversation with his friend to ask the location of something. He ended his conversation with a courteous "excuse me" to his friend, smiled at me and walked me to the spot on the shelf I couldn't see for looking. I was amazed - I fully expected to be given the aisle number while he carried on talking. I thought he handled it extremely graciously to both parties (after all, his friend was a customer too).

[Mike St. Pierre]

Catherine and Ken, thanks for your comments! Both points seem valid to me. Maybe it's the intention behind the action as much as the action itself.

Stop back often, M

[Mark - Productivity501]

On the other hand I sometimes get annoyed at the people at Wal-Mart who are determined to walk with me to where I'm going even when I tell them I can find it if they just point me in the right direction.

[klz (withold please)]

I am the person (at the library) who tries to help whenever possible. Let's talk about the other side of this story. The screaming across the room (huge building - mini-mall size), the running, throwing things over the balcony, reprimanding the librarian who has asked your kids to stop running and told them that they could be told to leave if they throw something over said balcony. Waiting for a guard to show up to deal with the angry mother all while handling other reference questions. Do I feel like an animal trainer without a whip? Am I within moments of quitting a once great job? Or being fired because administration WILL NOT see what we see everyday? Driving home in tears.

Going the extra mile is what I have always done. Let's talk about the other side.

Frustrated? You bet.