Customer service - is this a thing of the past?
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My recent shopping experiences and those of my family's say an unequivocal yes.
What happened to the days when a friendly employee would greet you on arrival and ask "can I help you?"
What happened to the days when you could ring a store, a bank or a utility service and speak to someone.
To me, those days have long gone.
"You're fifth in the queue" and 40 minutes later after listening to loops of nauseating muzak, your call is finally answered only to learn that you've come through to the wrong department.
Errrrgghhh!!!!
As if bank branch closures aren't tough enough, so is trying to speak to someone about your finances.
The dreaded 1300 numbers where you end up getting onto an automated service that can "help you" - what a joke.
I just want to speak to a human being.
When you finally reach someone they're usually located in call centres in Melbourne or Sydney.
My husband was on hold to our insurer one day last week for almost an hour before he could actually speak to someone.
In store and it's a similar story.
Hubs and I were away on holidays recently and I wanted to buy a small vacuum for our new caravan.
A quick search online and I located the perfect appliance and it said it was in stock at a particular store.
I arrived at the store and was surprisingly greeted by a store employee.
I asked where the vacuum cleaner section was and explained what I wanted.
"We don't sell them," the employee said.
"Well it's saying online you do and you have them in stock," was my reply.
"Where is the vacuum or home appliance section," I ask.
"I think it's over near homewares," the employee said gesturing to their left.
Well, it was actually to the right and there it was front and centre on the shelf in front of me.
There have also been times when I have been in some major retail stores wandering aimlessly trying to find what I'm after.
In fact it's harder to find a staff member to help you these days.
Last week when my husband took our two grandsons to buy soccer boots he asked a store employee where he would find a particular brand he was looking for.
He was told there were none in stock.
All this played out while the employee was scrolling through his iphone leaning on the counter.
My daughter and her friends from interstate were dining out for lunch last weekend and staff at the restaurant decided to start stacking chairs around them in preparation for closure.
You'd think they would politely say: "is there anything else we can help you with? We're just preparing to close for the afternoon" - my daughter and her friends got nothing, the staff members' actions making them feel uncomfortable.
But my award for the worst of the worst in customer service came last week when my daughter was again out with friends and she found a maggot in her salad.
She showed the staff member.
The staff member's reply? - "A little bit more protein won't hurt you."
No apology, no offer of reimbursement.
The group of six, just two mouthfuls into their lunch, got up and walked out.
Donna Sharpe, ACM editor
Donna Sharpe
Donna Sharpe is a multi award winning journalist who has covered news across Newcastle and the Hunter for 40 years. She started her cadetship with The Maitland Mercury in 1981 and in 1995 moved to The Newcastle Herald where she spent 17 years covering local government, crime and general news. She returned to The Mercury in 2015 and has been editor since July 2021.
Donna Sharpe is a multi award winning journalist who has covered news across Newcastle and the Hunter for 40 years. She started her cadetship with The Maitland Mercury in 1981 and in 1995 moved to The Newcastle Herald where she spent 17 years covering local government, crime and general news. She returned to The Mercury in 2015 and has been editor since July 2021.
