Of bees in bonnets

Customer service -- of both the good and the bad varieties -- has become such a bee in my bonnet, people look puzzled when I walk by, trying to figure out where all the buzzing is coming from. And like most bees in bonnets, once you become aware of their existence, you can't stop being aware of their existence. You hear them buzzing all of the time, you see them coming at you, you feel them pinging off you as they fail to avoid you.

A few days ago, I bought a cheap-but-delicious hotdog from one of those fast food places. This one specializes in hamburgers dressed any old way you want, but I really enjoy their hotdogs and have pickles on the side. I always ask for more than they first give me. I really like pickles. It had been a day of errands and lots of rain. I was tired of the constant in and out of the car routine, so made use of the drive through. Or is it drivethru? Anyway...have you ever noticed that when you actually enter the store, you wait a long time for service, while about 17 people are busy handing coffee or burgers out the window to people sitting warm and dry in their car? This is why I chose the drivethru (or is it drive-through?) on that day. But I had to wait to place my order, and once I got to the delivery window, not once did the girl acknowledge me, or even say a thing beyond "four twenty-five". She used up all her words talking to her friend working beside her.

I've got nothing on Dave Carroll though, and his crazy experience. Check this out: http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars/The link is to his website and his telling of how United Airlines damaged his costly guitar (he's a musician, so aside from sentimental value, his guitar is also his livelihood) and then proceeded to give him the runaround from Halifax to Chicago, New York, India and Omaha in an attempt to pass the buck of responsibility. Being a man of good humour, he determined to use his songwriting talents for fun as well as work and kept his promise to United that he would write of his experience with them and post it on Youtube. That link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo The video (and the song) is simple but clever, honest and humorous. Dave has written a part two, with one more installment to follow after that. From what I gather, there has been no official apology from United, but they have approached Mr. Carroll for permission to use the video in customer service training. Isn't that hilarious?

Which reminds me: I was with a couple of friends on the weekend, and the conversation drifted to the topic of customer service. I don't know how that happened, because lovely beverages of fruits of the forest mixed with a sugar cane by-product was accompanying our very high-brow cinematic experience. Regardless, the gist of this conversation was that both friends were interested in starting up a 'customer service training' business. Teach individuals how to deliver good service, or teach businesses how to train their employees in the principles of good customer relations. I think it's a grand idea. They could have saved United a great deal of embarrassment.

(A note to people who rely on Spellcheck to catch their typos: for every occurance of drivethru/through/-through, Spellcheck suggested diptheria)