Vision Circle

Customer Service

I believe in customer service.

On weekend, my future wife and I went to New York to see a play. We decided to eat dinner in the theatre district and then walk to the play. I chose to go to a French restaurant that turned out to be a 4 star establishment. The food was great and the service was even better. I paid the most I had ever paid for dinner that evening. Including the tip, I paid $175, and I didn't mind at all.

Fast forward to today. Today I got a teenager fired.

I went to McDonald's to get a side salad. I avoid the drive thru window, but I took the chance and went to the window.

When I order the side salad, I was asked which dressing I would like to have. I asked for the choices. At this time, "the voice" gave me the options in a rapid fire manner. I didn't understand the choices and asked again.

"The choices are the same as before, they are..."

I was livid. I told him that he was rude and canceled the order. He apologized. I then told him I was coming inside to tell his manager, which I did. He was fired.

I'm glad that he was fired. I don't care if I pay $0.99 for something or $175, I want good service.

Think about this for a moment.

We want cable "so bad" that we are willing to accept a "4 hour window" to get the cable installed or repaired.

We are willing to accept an appliance repairman or a plumber giving a "4 hour window" for them to take our money to fix something for us.

We are willing to go through all sorts of inconvenient to get a contractor to work on our homes. Have you gone through that hell?

I wanted to get a full bathroom put into the basement and to have the laundry room/storage room in my basement to be fixed up. I contacted 6 contractors. One came at the time he said he would, walked through the details, took good notes, presented options, presented his bonding, insurance, references, and pictures, and said he would call back in 2 weeks to give an estimate. When I called him back in 3 weeks, he acted as if HE was being inconvenienced.

Another contractor had trouble returning my calls, came late for the inspection, was rude, and gave a telephone estimate promising he would follow through with a detailed estimate. It never came, but he did call later wondering when I wanted him to start work.

The contractor I chose was on time, provided all of the information as the first contractor I mentioned, provided a written estimate on the spot and followed up with a letter giving more details and a thank you note. His company was the most expensive and they got the job.