The Death of Customer Service

There was a time not too long ago when businesses thrived on their outstanding customer service, but that day has sadly passed in lieu of pure profits. I went shopping with my grandmother today, as I do every week, to help her with her weekly ritual. This in itself is not unusual considering more children and grandchildren are happy to help out when it comes to this stressful time each week. We rounded out our shopping trip by stopping at the Wal-Mart on Albert Pike, as we always do. Not only did they have the air conditioning down to almost nothing in the 90 degree plus heat, but their customer service was non-existent at best and downright hateful as a norm.

This serious lax starts when you enter the door and are shepherded around like cattle being led to the slaughter. Getting around the store can be difficult with them changing the location of everyday items and not having things grouped in the way that most would be consider convenient, but also the fact that they were out of many things that are very popular during this season. This deficiency can be blamed on the popularity of many products that Arkansans use, but at the same time Wal-Mart should be able to plan accordingly.

Once my grandmother and I finished making our selections the next phase of the nightmare began when it came to checking out. It was the 15^th of the month, but there were at least 10 cash registers that were closed while the lines were on average 6 to 7 customers deep. When we finally chose one of the "shortest" lines, "short" being a relative term, I saw a manager standing around, so I went over to complain about the lack of cashiers. This got a very rude and uncalled for response from the manager, which only added to our frustration.

It is very difficult to believe that a billion dollar organization like Wal-Mart can be so strapped for cash that they cannot even hire enough employees to take care of their customers. This should be especially true in cities like Hot Springs, which have a large retirement community. While my grandmother is still in very good health, I don't believe that a 70 year old woman should be made to stand in line in sweltering conditions so Wal-Mart can make a buck.

It is a very pitiful pass when a company will choose their bottom line over their customers. Don't these organizations understand that the reason why they are making so much money is because of the very customers they treated less than human beings? Things were very different when old Sam Walton was still alive and it would be nice for the younger generation to develop some of the same values and respect that one older gentleman had for the individuals that he serviced. Unfortunately, I fear that things will only get worse and Wal-Mart is leading the charge to kill off any sign of customer service left in the city of Hot Springs. Something should be done to bring back the old traditions when your customers were the most important part of any business big or small.