Customer Service with Penny

Working in customer service sucks. We've all been there and we all know it. Hopefully we get lucky and end up working with a group of like-minded individuals, each so equally scathing of the world that somehow the day seems somewhat brighter by a shared hatred. It's lovely really how group loathing brings people together.

Having to deal with the general public and their general problems (by "general" I refer to a problem with you,my our product, their lot in life, whatever seems to be disgruntling them at that moment in time) is soul destroying, but having lived through it for the better half of my life, I've come to take a certain amount of pride in my work.

As such, it truly irks me when confronted with a "customer service representative" with about as much people skills as a dried up prophylactic. Today, I have had the pleasure of such service.

It's funny really; it seems that the cheaper the product, the better the service. Go into 90% of cafés or coffee houses across the country and you are more than likely to be greeted by a cheerful server, more than happy to share a joke as they prepare your steamy chai latte. Same goes for pubs. When was the last time you were confronted with a genuinely grumpy barmaid? Personally I can't remember.

Today, prior to leaving the North East, I decided to pop into my local comic shop simply to thank the guy that handles my orders for his help over the last however many years. I didn't have anything to pick up, but his advice and knowledge of his wares has meant I've achieved the maximum enjoyment with the minimum spend on my monthly subscription. Is he a smily chap? Not overly. But dear god is his service great. So thanks were in order.

Compare that then to the rent-a-car representative who I've had the joy of dealing with this afternoon. An expensive transaction, and one that was conveyed with about as much warmth as a snowhair's ear. Sure, I'm not looking for a bar-mitzvah style hootenanny when I'm hiring a vehicle, but at least tell us how to use the keyless car instead of just disinterestedly thrusting an envelope upon us and pointing to a car out back. For a moment I felt like busting out a Planes, Trains and Automobiles inspired rant. But no. Won't be seeing her again, so stuff her.

All I'm saying is take a little pride in your job. To coin the cliche, a smile costs nothing. If you're working in a restaurant, it should get you a tip, in a shop, repeat custom and a satisfied shopper. Anywhere else, and it might eventually get you somewhere in the world. I mean Christ, none of us really want to be in the industry anyways. The general public are generally freakin' douchebags.