Commentary

May I 'not help you' please?

By FRANCINE BLACK Staff Reporter

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE has been a thorn in the back of several of our local businesses for a long time and despite several complaints and calls for it to be improved, the problem persists.

Last week, my mother and I went to a copying centre to have a document copied. As we entered the store, the customer service representative who was several metres away from the counter, looked up with his headphones covering his ears and turned in his chair to look at us. We went to the counter and waited for someone to assist us, however, the representative sat in his chair, with his headphones firmly planted over his ears, staring at us as if we were zombies from another planet. My mother, who can be quite impatient, could stand the wait no longer and finally asked for some assistance.

"Yes, may I help you?" the representative asked while still seated at his desk with his headphones still on his head.

We asked to have the document copied and enquired about the price for having it done. But this simple task turned out to be even more difficult than we expected. This was made so because the clerk would not listen to what was being asked so as to provide what was needed. After rephrasing and repeating the question several times and almost getting into an argument with the representative, he finally quoted the correct price. We then had to wait several minutes while he copied the document and tried to prepare a receipt for it.

Frustrated and fed up of waiting almost nearly an hour for a task that should have taken only a few minutes, we paid for the document and left the store without the receipt.

This example has been something several Jamaicans have complained about time and time again. You go to a store or business place and the staff there behave as if you are begging them to help instead of them being obligated to assist you.

Many of them seem to fail to realise your importance to their staying at the organisation. I mean, if there are no customers who support the business, it will not make a profit and eventually if the business loses enough money, it is likely to close down and then all the staff will become unemployed.

The fact is, customer service is in general need of improvement and business owners and operators are the ones who must ensure that everything is done in the way of training and selecting workers to ensure that their staff delivers quality service to the public every time.

e-mail me at francineblack@lycos.com