Customer Serviced?

Am I the only person out there whose noticed that service at most places has taken a nosedive? I had three instances in the past week where businesses have just plain done a terrible job.


First, I was at von Maur - a department store which sells some higher-end clothing & fine gifts. There are three people for whom I shop there exclusively. To say I'm a regular customer might be an understatement since my Mom, little sister & my friend Amy all receive gifts I purchase there.



I stood in the Gifts area for ten minutes & made direct eye contact with the sales representative to let he know I was ready to make my purchase (a rather exquisite piece of silver crystal).



Nothing. Not so much as a signal that she'd be with me in a moment...


After this brush off, I decided I'm not going to take this lying down. Instead of walking over to this obviously disinterested-in-a-sale person, I went to the back of the shop to Customer Service & asked for a manager. I politely explained that waiting is fine when the department is busy & yes, I am in fact a patient person when it comes to this. However, waiting for over ten minutes when NO ONE ELSE IS AROUND is pretty well unacceptable.


The manager agreed & took the transaction from start to finish. Still, it's disappointing for this to happen at a store I frequent largely because of their excellent service.


The second & third instances were at local restaurants (Red Robin & Ruby Tuesday). Now, Red Robin has always done well but this time just teed me off. Probably the fact it was the day after the von Maur issue didn't help. The waitress just plain ignored us for ten to fifteen minutes & a different waitress was actually the one to help us out. Ridiculous doesn't begin to describe it.


Ruby Tuesday was actually a problem tonight. The bad impression started when the hostess practically rolled her eyes at the fact we walked in the door a few minutes before 9pm (they close at 10pm). It didn't help that the server wasn't particularly attentive. Look, I'm not high maintenance at a restaurant: I don't need every single thing to be just so, nor do I complain about minor stuff. Just refill my drink when it's empty & I guarantee you get a good (20%+) tip.


Of course, that wasn't to be for this guy - who seemed more interested in yapping with other patrons (he obviously knew them) than taking care of customers. Small tip? Yeah, you know it.


All I'd like to see is people give a crap about doing their job well. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by this apathy. After all, the people at my work can't stand the fact I make them, "look bad". Yes, I do that by exceeding all my goals & setting a good example.


For all of you that feel that way, let me just say that if *you* did a good job while you're at work, then maybe you'd have less complaints about the people who do. Focus on your work, don't worry about what the other guy is doing & for Heaven's sake service the customer so they don't feel like you've "serviced" them in another way!