Service with a Smile??

A random vent...what ever happened to service with a smile? Whenever I go to any retail, restaurant or any other public service facility, I expect a certain level of customer service. I'm not high maintenance...a hello and a smile works wonders! It just seems that no matter where I go, the customer service I get just lacks a certain "Thanks for coming, we appreciate your business" feeling! Instead, I feel as though I have inconvenienced their lives by being there.

Here is an example of a recent experience. I stopped to order lunch at a restaurant and the girl at the counter asked if she could help me. I walked up to her register with a big smile and said "Hi, how are you?." She responded with, "For here or to go?" Okay...so I answered, "to go," and began my order. Before I could even finish my sentences, she was interrupting me with "What to drink? What sauce? Do you want fries with that?" etc. She looked at me blankly and waited for my responses. Yikes! Could she be any more impersonal? She stuffed everything into a bag and handed it to me and asked to help the next customer in line. No "have a good day" or "thank you," I was just sent on my way.

On a normal day, I wouldn't mark this as a terrible experience. I have just experienced far too many of these types of customer service situations. I am sad, in a way, to see common, descent politeness lost. Maybe this girl had a bad day, but hey, we all have those right? I don't harass my client because my printer is jammed for the 100th time today and I want to throw it through the window! It isn't their problem. I may screech and scowl at the miserable events in the privacy of my office, but I understand the importance of good professional relations and just being plain courteous.

I have been on the other side of the counter myself. I worked 7 years at a McDonald's restaurant, 2 years at a photo processing lab and 8 years at a hospital (overlapping of jobs did occur - I certainly didn't start any of these jobs when I was 11). All of these jobs required good customer service. My philosophy was this...if you smile, the customer will usually smile back. If you give a nice greeting, the customer will do the same. I know there are customers out there who can't be pleased...I have certainly had my run ins with them. There was a time where a woman came into McDonald's, was ticked off about receiving the wrong soda and she literally threw it at one of the employees...that was a bad day! But hey, it made for a good story right? Anyway, customers are unpredictable but the people who are suppose to be serving the customers should be the ones to initiate the pleasant experience, right?

Maybe there is another side to all of this? Maybe people in general have lost their respect for each other? Maybe it isn't the people behind the counter who should be held responsible? I have also wondered why people have lost the ability to say "thank you" when you hold a door for them, or "excuse me" when someone has to push through. Maybe WE need the better customer service skills? Have WE lost our abilities to be civilized and respectful to each other? What happened to old fashioned politeness and manners? Maybe that is the underlying answer? Who knows?