You guys… I am so worried.

I seem to have lost good customer service and cannot find it anywhere!

It’s weird, but I can’t even remember the last time I saw it.  I think it might have been a few years ago at the grocery store, when someone offered to help me carry my bags out to my car.  But man, I can’t say I’ve seen it again since.  (You may be wondering what prompted me to write this post, and lucky for you, I’m in a sharing mood.)

As someone who is a lover of all things TV/internet, when I’m told I need to take action to prevent interruption of service I get on it like brown on rice.  (Ha ha- get it?? Healthy living humor).  You see, our previous internet provider is no longer offering service, so we are forced to look elsewhere.  I decided to check out bundling it with our current television provider (who has been pretty reasonable in the past), and was brushed off from department to department.  I became exceedingly frustrated when I was finally handed off to some disgruntled gentleman, who barely spoke english, and who was unwilling to treat me like an intelligent human being.   Instead he chose to yell at me.  For 20 minutes.  Seriously.  I’m calling you to actually upgrade my services, and you are doling out attitude?  I have no words.  So there I was, hanging up the phone, feeling more confused and frustrated than I was when I first picked it up.

I immediately began to stew over what exactly just happened, and became increasingly more irritated.   Because the real kicker here is that I’m stuck with this company until December, so I can’t even make a statement by switching!  Which leads me to this:  contracts are bullsh*t.  They are merely an excuse for companies to treat us like scum, because guess what, we’re stuck!  Unless we want to pay some astronomical fee, they have us by the jewels and there’s nothing we can do but deal with it.  When I was a youngster, working retail and waiting tables, I was taught that good customer service is the basis of any successful businesses.  Customer is king.  Make them feel special and they’ll be faithful forever.  What happened to this motto?  Why are people who obviously hate the entire human population sitting at front desks and answering phones?  Just today, I walked into an office for a meeting and the receptionist said (in the snarkiest of tones), “And you are….?”  I mean…What kind of question even is that?
A human?
A woman?
A Capricorn?
What do you want from me here, lady??

Meanwhile, here I am, smile plastered across my face, day after day, making sure everyone I come into contact with feels heard and treated with respect.  As they should.  And despite my anger for those who don’t abide by the same mannerisms, I will continue to do so, hoping that somewhere along the line, it will become contagious and be reciprocated.  Or maybe cable and internet will become free someday and not require hours spent screaming, “TALK TO A REPRESENTATIVE” into the phone.  I’m not holding my breath for either.

What are your thoughts on customer service? Do you feel like it’s no longer a priority?

PS- Don’t forget to email me or Amy to sign up for the Blog Bake Swap by THIS FRIDAY! We will be sending out the matches on Saturday, and you won’t want to miss out!  (And if you’re scurred, don’t be, this is 100% for fun and not Americas Next Top Baker. Though if you are that good, I’ll be sure to pair you with myself.)