Does quality customer service still exist?

THE EDITOR: “The customer is always right!” no longer holds true for the buying public. I am disgusted at the business world’s approach to the handling of a customer in Trinidad and Tobago. I think I have reached the end of my rope, and something has to be done by making it illegal for sales representatives/clerks to speak to me however they chose.

Whatever happened to the friendly greeting, “Hello, good morning, how can I help you?” Because of the employer’s need to make the quick buck, he substitutes experience for qualifications. Good common courtesy starts from home. These sales reps are no longer seeking your interest (the customer), but instead they tend to be caught up in the gossip of the day. Isn’t it the sales representative’s job to be quick, knowledgeable and eager to please me, the customer? Why is it now when every time I go browsing, a customer will sprint behind me breathless to ask, “Do you work here?” only to find out I am just as desperate to find a clerk. Where are they? Do they no longer flock to you at the entrance, like in those fabric stores and follow you around like a puppy dog.

If that’s what it takes to get service, I want to be followed. Why should I be the brunt of a date gone badly? A pleasant, “How may I help you?” would suffice instead of receiving a “hog-norant” (Trini for piggish) next please! You place your order, however simple it may be and she still gets it wrong! When you ask to see the manager, he/she automatically takes the side of the cashier, because we (the customer) could never make up our minds. Well sorry for trying to buy something here! Well no more I say! I leave these few words of advice to the employers of these “hog-norant,”  discourteous, “why do I work here” sales clerks. Good customer service is the ability of the business to make the customer’s business feel welcomed and appreciated, because without the customer you will have no business, no sales and no profit!

JACQUETTA WILLIAMS-CUMMINGS
Laventille