Posted by Matt Markins in 
One of my ongoing frustrations in this temporary life is customer service…or shall I say the lack thereof. When I was in the San Diego last week I experienced the ultimate example of What Not to Do in customer service.
Now, before I go on any further, let me say that I operate under a few basic assumptions when it comes to customer service. I expect good customer service. Not because I walk from my car to the door on a red carpet, but because # 1, if you are in business you should be responsible and # 2 good service is the standard we hold ourselves to at RHP. With that said…
I head out one morning to Jack in the Box to grab some breakfast to take back to the room while my lovely wife is stillllllll getting ready (Just Kidding Baby). On my way back to the room I have to suddenly stop, forgetting about the 2 sodas in the drink carrier in the floor board. You are one step ahead of me…both drinks entirely empty out onto the floor board. BUT, no worries, a gas station is just on the other side of the intersection.
Once the light turned green, I drove right into the ARCO parking lot (never heard of this particular chain before this event). After going to the pumps and realizing that they do not offer complimentary paper towels (or a window squeegee for that matter) I marched straight inside the store to grab some paper towels near the hot dog stand. Once I was half way through the parking lot to our soda soaked rental, the station manager began following me out to the car with hands up in the air hollering “what are you doing?”
I am very much on task at this point so I do not even break my stride, but I did turn my head to tell him “I’ll be right back in.” As I am soaking up coke from the floor board, I am thinking to my self “Surly this goofball is not upset because I took napkins from his store without buying something…Little does he know, I am about to go back in and get two bottles of soda to replace the ones that are now soaked up by his paper towels.” That way he wins!
Once the quicker-picker-upper had done it’s job, I headed back into the store and to be honest, I was ready to talk. After all, customer service is a large part of what I do for a living. I grab my Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper and headed to the cash register. I ask the gentleman with a slight tone of sarcasm “So, are you not into helping customers?” He replies with an abrupt and passionate “No!” I was stunned! Dumbfounded! I continued…”So you don’t like to help your customers and try to meet their needs?” “No!” he replied “those napkins cost money. Nothing’s free!” I continued again by asking “So building trust and relationships with your customers is not something you strive for?” and again he responded with a “No.” At least he is consistent with his philosophy.
If I could go back in time, I might would ask him what his per-unit retail price per napkin is? How many napkins does he like to move in a day? What are his napkin sales goals for the third quarter? How ridiculous!
You know, I guess I just get stuck in my little bubble and forget that not everyone thinks like us. Helping others, customer service, and relationships are premium. Paramount. Without these, we can not expect to make an impact. Without an impact, we are nothing but just a bunch of yack, yack, yack and a back pack full of theory.
PS: to the owners of the ARCO Gas Station at 6899 Friars Road, San Diego, (619) 295-1169, best of luck to you.
