Is Customer Service Extinct?

My family and I went shopping last night and enjoyed an evening out and about. It was really a good evening - not too cold, very bright and clear. In all we went out to eat, to a few stores and to return a video we'd rented. In visiting these stores, however, we got a mini-study in customer service that was very enlightening.

The first restaurant we visited was Fatburger on N. Academy. I was really craving a burger last night and since I really shouldn't eat that, I could opt for a Veggie Burger at Fatburger that is a reasonable substitution. Unfortunately, Mondays are buy-one-burger-get-one-free nights and they'd already sold out. Big Bummer! So, we decided to eat at the deli next door believing I could eat healthily there, too. The manager followed us to the door, apologizing for their outage and offered us a free veggie burger the next time we visit. I felt valued. Even though they were temporarily out of what I needed, I felt that my business was important to them - and I WILL go back because of it.

After we ate dinner at the deli, I walked a few doors down to a scrapbooking store that shall remain nameless. I love this store and it was a treat to go. The kids quickly misbehaved, however, so my darling hubby took them to the car so I could shop for a bit. I wanted to look specifically at the Sizzix dies but I had some questions. So, I looked for a clerk. Moments ago there were three of them but now there was only one. So I waited - patiently at first - while the lone clerk rang up someone's purchases. They took their sweet time going through the transaction having a leisurely conversation about Christmas, Orlando vacations and home-based businesses. Then my patience paid off - 10 minutes later - the transaction was done...but they continued to talk. Their conversation switched to a clearly personal nature and kept going. The customer's daughter wandered off skating about the store in her Heeley's (have I mentioned how much I hate those things?) while her mother continued jabbing on about who knows what.

My husband finally came in after 15-20 minutes and needed relief. While he didn't want to pull me away, the kids were driving him nuts cooped up in a car. I put down the items I'd collected and left. The clerk never acknowledged me despite the fact that I was less than 10 feet away the entire time.

As we were pulling away a second clerk emerged from the back, but it was too little too late for me. I was livid! I still am, in fact. Apparantly customer service is now extinct unless you own the business, are in management or get a commission. Hourly employees really don't seem to care...and the real shame is that everyone loses in that scenario - the customer (I didn't get to buy anything), the manager (she lost between $50-75 worth of business) and the employee (who'll eventually be out of work if the store can't turn a profit.)