September 3rd, 2010 Customer Service Revisited – at 30,000 feet.
As I type this, I am somewhere above 30,000feet cruising my way from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN to Raleigh/Durham, NC. Our inflight service began about 10 minutes ago. I am in the front row of economy class, and decided that since I am on a mini vacation, I should enjoy a nice cold beer. I ordered a Corona. The Flight Attendant (I will find out her name.. I promise! They don’t introduce themselves at the beginning of the flight like we do at Westjet!) had some issues with her Point of Sale device. She apologized a few times. I replied (a few times!!) that it was no big deal. I even went so far as to tell her I totally understood, having used a very similar POS at our airline. She looked so relieved. I was polite, I wasn’t upset. I had said please when I ordered my beer, and thank you when it was handed to me. At the risk of sounding like a broken record – these are things that ARE NOT HARD. I looked her in the eye when I spoke to her. Do you know what she said to me?? She said “THANK YOU”. Not so much a thank you for your business, or for your purchase… no… her words were “thank you for using those magic words”.
I SHOUT AT YOU
PEOPLE!! THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!! It is absurd that I should be thanked for using proper manners in a public place. Yet, it has become so commonplace that people behave RUDELY, that people are taken aback and overly appreciative when someone surprises them with a Please and a Thank You. I fear for the next generation. If people don’t think twice about treating people in the service industry poorly, you can bet your next paycheque (per diems and all!!) that they aren’t bothering to teach their children manners either. An entire generation of people with a false sense of entitlement are being raised.. raised to be rude to their fellow human beings. I know I have mentioned this before to the people behind the counters… but honestly – it goes for EVERYONE.
Once again, I remind you – people in the customer service industry are just that – PEOPLE. They deserve the same respect as everyone else. Without that lady pouring you coffee, selling you a movie ticket, scanning your groceries, or handing you a bag of pretzels at 30,000feet (or higher!) you’d be lost. Smile at them. Speak to them. Treat them with respect. I bet your days get better! Like breeds like. You are nice to them, they are nice to you.. and they’ll be happier and they will then be nice to the next person, who will smile and pass it along to someone else.
That’s right folks. It’s the “Golden Rule” mentality I would like to encourage – and I do encourage it. Go out there today, and smile at someone. Interact with them. Say please when you need something, and Thank you when you get it.
Pay it Forward – you never know when it will come back to you.
and btw – the Flight Attendants name is Pam.
September 3rd, 2010 at 13:52
I was chatting with someone the other day about this one twitter. I was talking about how surprised some people are (and how everyone always comments) about how polite V is. It’s like, because she’s 3yr old, she gets a free pass to being demanding. The only problem is some parents forget to revoke that free pass, and so their kids grow up to be rude and demanding adults.
I had no desire to go down that road, so I DEMAND that my daughter uses her P’s & Q’s. It doesn’t matter if she’s just asking for a cookie. If she doesn’t use ‘please’, the request doesn’t get acknowledged. This HAS to start at home, otherwise kids will never remember it when they’re outside of the home. And kids are never too young to learn to be polite.
Maybe if we all treated each other with a modicum of respect, we’d all be happier at the end of the day.
September 4th, 2010 at 07:52
Totally agree with everything in this post. I’m a regular business traveler and I receive bad service practically every week from someone in the travel industry. But I never use it as an opportunity to be rude or overly demanding to someone. In fact, there have been several situations where I have actually told other customers to get over it.
Unfortunately, however, I think the service industry has fostered the behaviour of the rude customer by throwing perks and upgrades at those who complain. Being polite is seldom rewarded. if you complain you get a voucher or a better room. That’s a simple fact.