I am not a patient person. I like things to work as they should, when they should. There is no more certain sign that I will not survive an apocalypse than the absolute meltdown I feel when my smart light bulbs go offline and I have to turn the lights off BY HAND.
All of this is to say that I get annoyed, inconvenienced and downright vexed by things not going as planned. What I do not do is get mean.
Patience, kindness and the base assumption that most of us are doing our best should always be the norm. As a customer, I do not feel the customer is “always right.” In fact, I have seen far too many situations where the customer is insufferable and entitled. Who raises these people?
I normally like to take the high road. This year, my high road was detoured for construction with a costly repair on a vehicle. I’m serious when I say that the new was barely worn off — although the warranty certainly was — when our truck suffered engine issues to the tune of many (too many!) thousands of dollars. That was really disappointing. It was so unfair.
What it wasn’t was the fault of the service technician that had to call and give us the staggering quote to repair it. It also wasn’t the fault of the dealership. I know they sell the trucks, but I’m fairly certain they don’t manufacture them. I stayed calm and polite with them. They already had to give us bad news. Behaving as if they had personally damaged our transmission wasn’t going to help things any.
Yesterday, a pharmacy technician struggled to figure out how to apply insurance and a manufacturer’s coupon at the checkout. By our calculations, my prescription was going to cost somewhere between $892 or 89 cents. This seemed wrong.
At no time was I impatient with her. She was still ahead of me. If I had been tasked with figuring it out, we would still be there. She got it to work properly eventually. I think the key is to not show fear. We settled on $250 which is ridiculous, but I like being alive so there’s that.
I do think customer service is key to good business. I also know that customers seem somehow more demanding even as they appear to be less able to help themselves. I see customers every single day blithely ignore posted signs.
In addition, a variety of websites, social media and a plethora of options exist to get information to the customer in the most expedient manner. Yet, far too many people steadfastly refuse to take advantage of technology.
Saying “I don’t do computers” in 2024 is like saying “I don’t do air.” It’s real. It’s prevalent. You should try it. If all else fails, you can use the telephone, no? “Let your fingers do the walking — through the Yellow Pages” was an advertising jingle of my childhood. Does no one else remember that? Look it up. Call ahead. This is how you can lessen the frustration of arriving to find the date, time or inventory is not to your liking. Screaming at employees will not be nearly as practical nor will it lead to the desired result of great service with a smile. In this day and age, refusing available technology is just not an excuse to be ill informed — or mean.
This is the part where you want me to tell you how to get other people to change. Believe me, as a control enthusiast myself, I would love nothing more than to provide that secret formula.
The truth is, however, that other people generally do what they want. This is true even if you ask politely. Even if you remind them. Even if you threaten them and especially if you get mad. The good news is that you always get to decide how you want to think, feel, act and, perhaps most importantly, react in any situation. I think we should try to relax, take a deep breath or 10 and assume most people are doing their best.
In the meantime, may life treat you exactly the same way you treat servers, store associates and absolutely anyone who has to give you the quote on a new transmission.
