Customer Service Revisited

What is the problem with customer service?

I watched as a man received poor customer service at a dental clinic.  The man was so frustrated, he walked away without getting help from the front desk staff.

The journalist in me listened to the interaction between the man and the receptionist.  I wrote a piece about customer service and the ways in which it could improve.  As a fellow human being, I listened with empathy.  It is horrible to take time out of your day to visit the dental clinic only to be turned away like your time and efforts mean absolutely nothing.

Details of the incident I do not know.  From what I heard, the man was following instructions given to him from a dental clinic worker to visit the clinic and receive a treatment.  The receptionist dismissed him, saying that the information was incorrect.  She looked at him with a dull, uninterested face.  There was no offer to make things right.  There was no clarification to his request for services.  She kept the dull face and did not even express her apologies for the misunderstanding.  The man looked like he was tired of explaining how he ended up at the clinic.  He spoke louder, turned red, and waved his hands around.  People in the waiting room stared at the man.  I stared at the receptionist.  Somehow I was hoping that she would make the situation better for the man.  She did not.  He stomped out of the receptionist area, pausing in the hallway before he got in an elevator to say, “This is bullshit!”.  Again, people stared at him.

I feel for the man.  Although I do not know the details of what happened to him, I do know that he deserved to be spoken to with respect, empathy, and human kindness.  There has to be a way for employees to recognize the need to speak to all customers with good manners, good customer service.  Managers have to take notice of the need for staff training so that employees have the language needed to make customers feel respected.