Where Did Great Customer Service Go?

I do remember the days when the nation was all about customer service. Every corporation had a do whatever it takes to make the customers happy attitude. The times when you were able to go enjoy a meal at a restaurant where nothing was too much when you asked for something special. Employees were going above and beyond what was expected of them. Managers were going out of their ways to make your visit an enjoyable time. These days it seems like these philosophies are demolishing.

Corporate American have became to enormous way to fast. Now one unhappy customer is acceptable. They have forgotten the reasons for their success. The basics that brought them to the position that they are in right now. Corporations are too occupied with profits and losses that they forget the customers. Many consumers may have felt this way when eating out or shopping. The time when a simple smile and a sincere apology will make a customer smile away is forgotten.

Once I have visited a restaurant and obtained a nice table ready to eat. I have just got my wisdom teeth pulled. When the server approached me I have asked if I could get the soup without the meat and vegetables. His first response was no. Wow that was fast. Then explain to me that they cook the soup with the meats and vegetables in it already. I kindly asked to talk to the chef. I explained what I wanted to the chef. His response was the same. I left my case at that. However, if the chef would have used a strainer to strain out the meat and vegetables maybe I would have revisited the restaurant at a future time. A simple task would have kept me happy and walk away but these days this is so much to ask.

I have read The Houston Chronicle once that Sprint had dropped some of its customers because of their frequent calls to customer service. They claim that it was costing the company more money to keep them on the plan. I found this very interesting because if they were providing great customer service maybe those customers would not called so often. I have once called a cable company because my service was interrupted and they told me that it would take a month for a technician to come out. I see this happening with so many companies throughout America.

Many consumers do not ask for much. Just the basics like being treated with respect and getting a quality product for the money they spend. This seems to be so much to ask these days. The attitude that they can spare customers is not how the company was built. The attitude that there was no customers to spare made them prosper. Are the basic principals of business now forgot?