Caveat Emptor

               Lately, I have heard a lot of people bemoan that customer service isn’t what it used to be.  I try very hard to notice the helpers and the courteous people whom I encounter in my day.  There are a lot!  Honestly.

               That said, I’ve had a trio of less-than-polite encounters with people who are dependent upon me (and customers like me) for their paychecks.  So I’m puzzled when these people don’t have, at the least, manners when they interact with folks.

               First up comes my local grocery store.  For reasons that surpass understanding, they have put the “pick-up” entry to the left of the customer entry and the pick-up staging is on the right just as we enter.  Yesterday morning I took a cart from the rack and entered the store.  Thankfully, I was looking ahead and not at my list or rummaging in my purse for a pen, because an employee pulling a large cart of groceries barreled out of the staging area and past me.  Had I not stopped, he would have plowed right into me.  He didn’t say “excuse me” or even look in my direction. 

               Let me add that this isn’t the first time this has happened.  I’m used to watching for wild drivers on the road, I guess now I have to watch for wild drivers in the store as well.  But given that I’m the paying customer, I sort of thought that the employees might think my safety was a tad important.

               Then I got home to find my husband in our yard talking with one of the three men who were digging up said lawn.  Apparently, our county commissioners and township trustees hired a company to install fiber optic lines throughout the county so “rural folks” can have internet. 

               The trouble is – and there’s a lot of it – we already have internet.  We’re the only people on our road and we didn’t want the 300 yards of lawn and field dug up.  We weren’t informed of this in advance.  When we asked the field supervisor (who turned out to be the president and CEO of the company) if they could stop, said person said, in a snarky tone, “We have a permit.”  When asked who issued the permit, he said “I don’t know.”

               When asked if we could contact someone about this, he said, “Sure, call my attorney.”  My husband said, “Okay, who’s that?” and the president and CEO said, “I don’t know.”

               One thing he knows now is that he will never, ever get our money for this service.  Even though it’s cheaper than our current provider.  Because if this is his idea of customer service?  Well, you get it.

               And finally, we went today to our church for our weekly stint at serving breakfast to folks.  It’s a “grab-and-go” kind of breakfast, so we stand in the door way, fill orders, and chat with people.  It’s really a great mission and we’re delighted to be part of it.  The folks who get the food are pleasant and appreciative.

               This isn’t a new program.  Our church has been doing it for years, and it’s right downtown, so city government officials know about it.  But city officials approved the digging up of our streets and sidewalks with jackhammers and apparently couldn’t schedule this work to stop for a half hour every morning.

               We spoke with the diggers and they were very nice and told us when they saw someone walk up, they would halt the screeching noise and dust-producing digging. 

               But they didn’t.  So we had to stand, yelling at people to get their orders and trying to protect the food from the dust. 

               I grew up hearing “the customer is always right.”  It seems the current motto is “caveat emptor.”