Want Not

Andrea recently had a rude awakening in the world of 21st century retail:

I know I should start this by saying how pretty you are, as well as patient for my e-mail mix-up the other day. What a bad day that was. I absolutely LOVE your site and check it each day. I’m enjoying my bunco set (I play once a month or so with some friends) and I’m eagerly awaiting my free razor. Thank you for sharing the deals!

So, back to my question: Long story apparently not-so-short, I was told a product was in stock but when I arrived at the store, I learned that their computer inventory was off. I didn’t even receive an apology. Here is the question: How do you, consumer of all consumers, deal with what seems to be the current prevailing notion that the customer is NOT always right? Is there an effective letter I can write? I’m not looking for freebies or what-have-you, but I feel so helpless against companies (and there are many lately, including my homebuilder, satellite TV provider, the company we bought our playground from, etc. etc.) that seem to have given up on treating people right. Where has customer service gone???

Where has customer service gone? Well, that’s a question in and of itself, and something we could spend an entire week discussing. It’s gone away in favor of large chain box stores, who make their money off of volume rather than service… it’s gone away because so many people can and will take advantage that everyone accepts a lower level of service as a result… it’s gone because there’s hardly any job retention in retail and so the person handling your complaint is busy thinking about lunch and how much she hates this job rather than how you can be helped. (more…)