What Ever Happened to Customer Service?

By Stormy Daniels on 05/20/2008

Seriously! Maybe I am just getting old and bitter and less patient, but I really think people are just becoming bigger assholes. If you are at work and it is your job to somehow serve people perhaps you should just start doing that! I mean how are rude, incompetent people keeping their jobs? Now you guys are probably thinking I must be one of those difficult bitches who enjoys sending weak drinks back to the bar and yelling at servers over spotted silverware. Actually, I am quite the opposite. I am far more likely to just suck it up and not say anything, but lately the customer service has been so atrocious that I feel the need to speak up.

Here are a few examples...Last night was my friend's birthday party. I had received a mass text message invite (don't even get me started on those...that is an entirely different rant). It said her party was going to be at a club called Hyde. I usually avoid Hollywood at all costs, but I got dressed and headed over. The guy working the door did not say hello or smile at me when I approached. I smiled and said hello. He still did not. Whatever happened to door hosts saying, "Good evening and welcome to ____"? I tell him that I am there for Lexi's birthday (per the instruction on the invite) and he just snarled at me. Without offering an explanation or help or going to ask someone else, he simply growled, "I don't know who Lexi is." and turned his back to me! This did nothing to encourage me to EVER return to this establishment and it certainly did not make me feel any better about paying for the ridiculously overpriced cocktails. I left.

Last week I went to the UPS store on the corner by my house to overnight a contract. There was no one in the store so I figured I would be in and out. The guy working the counter was talking on his CELL PHONE. Not only did he not hang up when he saw me (a customer) enter, he informed me I would have to wait while he continued his chat for another five minutes. It was not a polite, "Excuse me, ma'am, but this is important and I will be right with you." Nope. It was, "You're just gonna have to wait". I was floored, but I had to get this item overnighted so I waited. He finished his call (never apologized for my inconvenience) and took my letter. I paid. He huffed profusely when I asked for a receipt. I left. Now for the good part: Two days later, the item still had not arrived at its destination. The tracking number said it had been delivered. I could not figure it out. Then the mystery was solved. Oh it had been delivered! The dipshit at the UPS store had put the labels on the package wrong and it had been delivered back to my house. Now, why the fuck would I pay $100 to overnight something two blocks away? Don't you think that would have been a red flag for him? Don't you think anyone with any common sense would have checked the label? This ended up costing me a couple of grand! AND they won't refund my money!!

I very recently purchased a home in Florida. I decided to ship one of my vehicles there. I used a reputable auto shipper (Dependable Auto Shippers, to be exact) and paid the large extra fee to guarantee arrival on a certain date. That date came and went. Once again, I used an online tracking number. It said my vehicle was about 25 miles from my house so I thought it would be delivered that day. ANOTHER FOUR DAYS went by and I had no car. I called DAS over and over and no one could tell me where my (very expensive new car) had gone. According to the tracking, it was still 25 miles away. Now my car was SIX days late and MISSING! Finally, one of the girls on the phone confided to me that the truck with my vehicle and four others had vanished and the driver stopped answering his cell phone. WHAT THE FUCK!? Isn't that something you should have called and informed me? My vehicle is equipped with LoJack and I could have located it days ago. Now it was probably in Mexico or at the very least stripped to nothing. In the end, they found the truck and miraculously all the the cargo was safe. The driver was holed up in a motel on some sort of crack binge. Not only do I think DAS owes me a full refund, I think they should reimburse me the $600 I had to spend on a rental car during this time. What did I get? NOTHING! Not even a fucking apology!

The airlines are the worst! I asked a flight attendant last week for a blanket and she looked at me like I asked for her firstborn. Now not only have they changed the weight for luggage, but now you have to pay for your second bag! And don't think for a moment they are going to let you get away with it. My bag weighed 50.5 pounds and they wanted to charge me for excess weight. I am convinced they are working on commission....or they are Nazis.

These are just a few examples from the last seven days! I could go on and on, but you don't have that much time and I feel my blood pressure rising again. Please tell me I am not the only person who has noticed this. Fuck excellent customer service. What about just common sense and decency?