Service with a Smile

[+ azdr0710]

[+ purplekow]

Is this a recent campaign speech?

[+ poolboy48220]

I find as I get older that the customer service experience is a bigger and bigger factor in my choices of where I shop, eat, etc. Ann Arbor, Michigan has a pretty famous deli / sandwich shop called Zingermans. They're pricey, but the food is good and the customer service is so good it can almost make you cry. I've never seen a surly or indifferent worker there, they accommodate all special requests without a blink of an eye. They put out a book on customer service 10 or 15 years ago, which means they literally wrote the book on customer service :-) Ditto for the pet supply stores I shop at; our first trip there, the guy (about 19 years old) was was incredibly helpful when we picked out food for our new dog, and during the whole conversation was absently scratching our dog's head while he talked to us.

 

Actor61, be thankful your day didn't include a stop at the DMV :-) Although those, at least here in Michigan (where it's called Secretary of State), they've gotten MUCH better in the past five or six years.

[+ deej]

Actually, as a fellow Chicagoan, I can attest that pretty much all of our post offices are terrible-Lincoln Park ones sound just like what you've described.

 

The Lakeview area was at one time the worst zip code in the nation for mail service. It seemed like weekly there were stories of letter carriers burning or otherwise discarding mail instead of delivering it. I know I had several instances of mail returned marked "Undeliverable as addressed" but if the sender just dropped it back in the mail (with a new stamp) it was delivered fine.

 

Glad they're getting a handle on it!

[+ deej]

Actor61, be thankful your day didn't include a stop at the DMV Although those, at least here in Michigan (where it's called Secretary of State), they've gotten MUCH better in the past five or six years.

 

We're spoiled in CA. Much of our dealing with DMV can be done online, and when a live visit is required you can make an appointment online. I usually arrive before my appointment time and get served and out the door in only a few minutes, often before the original appointment time.

 

If you ever have to walk-in though, woe is you! Walk-ins are queued up last, behind those with appointments.

[+ ArVaGuy]

As I get older there are days I feel as if I just walked into the middle of a Monty Python sketch. Any minute the Spanish Inquisition will arrive and then all hell breaks loose.

[+ OliverSaks]

I find as I get older that the customer service experience is a bigger and bigger factor in my choices of where I shop, eat, etc. Ann Arbor, Michigan has a pretty famous deli / sandwich shop called Zingermans. They're pricey, but the food is good and the customer service is so good it can almost make you cry. I've never seen a surly or indifferent worker there, they accommodate all special requests without a blink of an eye. They put out a book on customer service 10 or 15 years ago, which means they literally wrote the book on customer service Ditto for the pet supply stores I shop at; our first trip there, the guy (about 19 years old) was was incredibly helpful when we picked out food for our new dog, and during the whole conversation was absently scratching our dog's head while he talked to us.

 

Actor61, be thankful your day didn't include a stop at the DMV Although those, at least here in Michigan (where it's called Secretary of State), they've gotten MUCH better in the past five or six years.

Zingermans is the most divine place. The type of place you would only go to as a student with a parent in Ann Arbor (because that superb service ain't cheap).

 

Trader Joe's always strikes me as a lovely, good customer-service place to be also. I never leave there feeling worse than when I arrived.

[+ azdr0710]

 

Trader Joe's always strikes me as a lovely, good customer-service place to be also. I never leave there feeling worse than when I arrived.

 

Yes, those Germans really know how to run a place!! Always a great experience there.

[LivingnLA]

@actor61, thank you for being open about having a bad day.

 

I agree with many of the comments in this thread. Yes, generational attitudes and expectations have changed around face to face interaction. And yes technology plays a role, just as both parents working, media, and more all play roles too.

 

We intentionally control our children's technology use and we've tried to put it all in context. Our kids can be rowdy, but they're all able to socialize and interact with kids their age on up to adults our age without being overly rude, dismissive, or worse. Sometimes they drive me up a wall, but at least they're generally looking at me and not their phones when they do.

[LADoug1]

I was trained in customer service at Neiman-Marcus so I have high standards which rarely get met.

 

Unfortunately gracious and competent customer service has all but disappeared. These days Nordstrom is the exception. Too bad I rarely can afford to shop there. Lol.

[handiacefailure]

+1 on Zimmerman's in Ann Arbor. And they treat their employees great and compensate them very well (but their prices reflect it as well). Great selection of hard to find cheeses and I love their bakery (I really recommend the moonpies, the sweet cream biscuits or the chocolate chunk sour dough bread).