Maybe you can guess: you go to the bank at 8:30am, there are seven teller windows and three tellers; you go to a fast food place, you wait for five minutes while the representative finishes her conversation with her friend in front of you and then she asks, “What for you, pal?” Then, you go to a government office to pick up a document that should have been ready last week and the person at the desk rolls her eyes, interrupts you and tells you that, “You will have to come back next week.” The way I see it, nobody tells me what I have to do but by now you know where I’m going with this. Our customer service is atrocious! Every single one of us has been affected. We always complain and vow never to return to that place but, alas, in small countries such as ours, there is only one such government office and we must return next week.
Yes, we must return but we need not return the same way. I went to a fast food place in town recently and ordered an egg & cheese sandwich from a cashier who seemed to want me gone. I was told to wait 15 minutes for my sandwich (and if you ask me that is way too long to wait for a sandwich). I paid and waited while I wondered how the employee would identify me when my order was ready. After the entire 15 minutes had passed, one woman stood at the counter and shouted at the patrons, “Egg and bacon sandwich! Egg and bacon sandwich!” There was no response from any ticket holder so she rolled her eyes and went to the back, muttering to herself. Now, I’m sitting there with a very strong suspicion that I was Egg and Bacon so I walked up to the cashier and asked whether my sandwich was ready. The woman took a deep breath and told me that they had announced my order and I didn’t show up. I reminded the woman of my order and she checked my ticket and the sandwich and advised the sandwich maker to simply remove the bacon from the sandwich. I’ll tell you reader, I was only seeing red. It took some effort but I demanded that the woman refund my money and cancel my order. She did so grudgingly. Her expression said that she had tried to help but some customers are so impossible. Reader, people make mistakes and customers understand that but simply explaining to me that an error had been made and making amends would have guaranteed a pleasant customer experience.
What incenses me is that persons excuse this behaviour and dismiss it as how it is in the Caribbean. Ridiculous! Is that why the world only sees us as a place to kick back and slow down, not to be taken too seriously? A visitor’s guidebook to Dominica mentioned that when one arrives here, one should forget about watches and clocks because one is on Caribbean time now. Nonsense! Doesn’t the Caribbean do business with the rest of the world? Consider our economy; we cannot afford to run on Caribbean time. And everybody needs to do his part.
Readers, customers, demand more. My solution is this; get mad! I’m not asking you to cause a scene and get on like cavemen but be irate enough to demand more. Do not settle anymore for less than excellent customer service. Not only because it’s your money and you work hard for it, but demand more because you want more for your country and it starts with you. My revolution has started because I am convinced that I can make a difference and be valuable to my county.
This change doesn’t necessarily require a riot or protest but let it start with you. Be respectful, be polite, be pleasant and be firm. Don’t walk away angry, don’t be loud or uncouth and please, don’t use foul language. Demand a supervisor or a manager if needs be. No company wants to lose customers, not even customers who only spend a few dollars. Business owners know that every dollar counts and every customer counts. So in exchange for your patronage, insist on the best service.
Some of you are that type of employee, I think other readers will agree that if you do not want the job, leave it and make space for somebody who will be an asset to the establishment. We don’t care what kind of day you’re having; you don’t know what kind of day we’re having either. Remember there will always be somebody who will accept your job and do more work for less pay.
Let us do something productive for our corner of the world this week readers, be irate!
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