What happened to customer service? And when did we stop expecting it?

It’s sad, but true. The words “customer service” barely even exist in our vocabulary anymore. We barely get the “service” part, anymore, from the businesses we patronize. Respect for the customer has been trodden, and blown away on the winds of indifference. Sloppy, apathetic, and rude have taken the place of helpful, thoughtful, and friendly. We are no longer kings and queens when we walk into a business with our hard-earned money in our hands. Instead we have been relegated to wandering around, aimlessly searching for a certain item, or a salesperson just to help.

In today’s consumer market, with the economy struggling as it is, you would think businesses would treat their customers with an ounce of respect, and gratitude. As patrons, we are essentially paying for them to stay in business, keeping food on their tables, and keeping members of our community employed. Instead, we get careless, slipshod service from employees who just don’t care.

I know in today’s hard times it’s hard to care anymore about anything, or try and keep an upbeat appearance, but on the other side of the coin, we have to stop justifying, and stop excusing the horrible “customer service” we receive. It’s to the point where if we get good customer service we are put into a state of shock. I know, anymore, if someone offers assistance, or says a simple “thank you”, it stops me in my tracks. It should be the opposite. We should expect businesses to keep us in their good graces, and we should expect that a business will do almost anything to keep our patronage. We as consumers know that good service brings back paying customers.

In my way of thinking, I believe when you take on a job where you have to deal with the public in any way, it should be a requirement that you have a personality. Good customer service should just be a given. We shouldn’t be taken aback when someone smiles at us from behind a counter, or when an associate offers help.

Respect for the consumer has, somewhere down the line, been pushed off a cliff to rot. It’s rare to even get a “thank you” or “may I help you” anymore. It’s sad to think that no one cares any longer, but that is the way it has become. And it will never change unless we, as paying customers, take our right to good service back from these businesses. It shouldn’t be backward where we think someone has just done us a favor by smiling at us, and asking if we need assistance. It should just be expected.

As consumers, we need to rise up. We need to show our dissatisfaction, and force businesses to realize that they wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for the money we hand over to them for their goods or services. We’ve been too tolerant, and too used to businesses treating us like they are doing us a favor by allowing us to support their business.

Come on people! Wake up! It’s time to start demanding better service. It’s far, past time to begin to require, or expect that when we choose to spend our money somewhere, we are treated with respect; that we are valued.

It could be a big name store, or the little general store in town. It could be the doctor, or dentist. It can be anyone, or any place where we hand over our money for goods or services, where we should demand, and expect to be appreciated, that we should be listened to, and most importantly treated with respect in every sense of the word.

So next time you are thinking of handing over that hard-earned money of yours, hold your head up knowing you are part of the reason they are allowed to stay in business. Take notice of how you are treated. If it isn’t to your satisfaction, say something, do something to show your displeasure. Let’s start taking back what customer service used to mean. Let’s make these people realize we are doing them a favor.