Customer dis-service

After reading the review in a recent Weekend Telegram by Karl Wells about the customer service at a restaurant, I would like to make a general comment and say that customer service is abysmal in many places in this province, not just restaurants.

This week, I decided to upgrade my mobile phone after receiving numerous pieces of mail from my provider requesting me to upgrade. What followed next was perhaps the worst possible customer service ever.

First, I reached a call centre. After 30 minutes on the phone with a sales rep trying to convince me that Saint John, New Brunswick, was indeed St. John’s, Newfoundland, I finally hung up in frustration.

Then I decided to visit a retail outlet where I could speak with someone in person.

There, I encountered two sales representatives who were rude, condescending and completely uninterested in me as a customer. They spoke loudly to each other as I was trying to conclude my transaction.

Other customers dropped in and they gladly advised them that “we do not take customer payments, we don’t do this and we don’t do that.” The person who collects waste disposal from the site dropped by and both reps left their station to loudly exclaim about a bug being in the room where garbage was stored.

As a customer, this encounter left me totally frustrated.

Obviously, the two reps serving me have not received the minimum of customer training and were lacking in basic manners.

As customers, the only way to address these issues is by way of public medium.

If you try to reach a “real”person to complain, you’d best have plenty of time on your hands to wait and get through the voice mail jungle.

And to Mr. Wells’ point on the glitzy tourism ads, I feel the government is doing a lot to promote tourism in the province. Businesses have to assume responsibility for the proper training of employees; we cannot expect government to do everything.