Seriously, what’s hard about providing decent customer service?

For me, it’s part of an unspoken contract between a customer and a goods/service provider: I am pleasant (if not outright friendly) and the goods/service provider is attentive and courteous (if not downright friendly themselves); we do our business; and everyone wins. But it doesn’t always swing that way. And that seriously sticks in my craw. I’ll take my business elsewhere and it could be years–decades even–before I think of coming back, if ever.

In managing the business of my aunt’s Estate I’ve had a chance to get to know a new bank. Their Estate Representative is excellent, a pleasant young man who offers attentive service (as he should). One of the bank’s tellers recently subjected me to a Top-Five-Worthy Worst Customer Service Experience. If it had been an option, I would have closed the accounts on the spot, just on principle. In spite of the fact that the other representatives had delivered good service, she spoiled the whole broth. That’s how steamed I was. And remain.

So I was moved to write an editorial about it for The Navigator Newspaper, and felt somewhat slightly better. The face-to-face apology from the bank’s Branch Manager helped a bit. But the damage is probably irreparable. We’ll see what happens when the business of the Estate is wrapping up. I mentioned that I tend to hold a grudge, right?