Anyone who has ever dealt with any sort of business likely knows that customer service can be what makes or breaks the experience. When the service is good one rarely pays it much heed, but when it is bad it can really carve out a nice little space in one’s memory.
Whether it be a restaurant, a store, or any other kind of business that deals with customers, poor customer service seems to be inevitable at one point or another. Grand Junction is, of course, no exception to this rule.
I myself have run into poor customer service at a local diner, where I was served a healthy dose of wax paper as a substitute to the cheese on my breakfast sandwich. I have also noticed that the time spent waiting on a quesadilla from the Flat Top Grill can be quite excessive, although it is hard to know whether this is due to poor customer service or simply overworked employees.
Casey Smith, a student at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) and Photo Editor for The Criterion, recalled one particular occasion during which she requested water from a McDonald’s. It took them seventeen minutes to get it to her, during which time she was presented with several other drinks that she had not ordered.
Collin Jackson, a student at CMU, was also willing to recall an incident of poor customer service. He was at a Best Buy purchasing a computer. Jackson required assistance from an employee to get the computer and finalize the transaction.
He said, “by the time I got to the cash register it was nowhere to be found, and the employee had gone missing.” Collin did point out, however, that “there was someone else at the Best Buy who helped me a lot and was very patient.”
He also recollected another incident at the local Picture Show movie theatre, when an employee sided with another overly angry customer over a simple mistaken seating arrangement.
Experiencing poor customer service can certainly be frustrating, whether it is seemingly antagonistic behavior on the part of an employee or simple forgetfulness. Yet it is also important to remember that there are good employees out there, and interacting with them can make up for all the other less-than-stellar experiences.
Chick-fil-A is commonly thought of when picturing awesome customer service. Their friendly and courteous staff often is the biggest draw in for this chain.
