May 15th, 2007
Customer Serivce
It amazes me when I come across poor customer service. I am convinced that many businesses look at black people like me as dumb nwords. Often times I will accept poor service because I just want to move on. When you have lived in this country as long as I have and experienced condescending whites all your life it is easy to tell when you are being treated different because of color.
I went shopping in an affluent neighborhood, River Forest, Il at the Jewel Grocery store. It was Mother’s Day and i picked out a card for my wife.Standing in line, I noticed some gift cards from American Express, they were gold cards and came with 50 dollars worth of credit. I thought my gift selection skills have not been satisfactory so I would get 4 gift cards and my wife could select as she wished.
As the amount was being rang up, I noticed a 4.95 cent charge per gift card. I asked the young man cashier, were they charging 4.95 per card. He replied no but upon inspecting the reciept, he ackndwledged the almost 20 dollars charged was a handling fee. I did not want to hold up the line so I said I would go to the customer service desk.
I explained to the desk my situation and that the service fee was extravagant and I wish to have my money back. I was willing to pay one service fee but not four. Their response was incongruous. It was unfathomable how they could utter, you have to call the 800 number to speak to American Express. There is nothing we can do.
I became unglued, who is the highest ranking manager here, I was told they are on break, I said get him off his break, I am an unhappy and important customer. The first manager came over with his white supremacy attitude and explained the same bs, I became more upset. Before he could use the ultimate way to handle an upset black customer and threaten to call the racist police, I mentioned, I would contact the State’s Attorney office.
Another level of management and common sense came to the rescue. I went over my story, including the 300 dollars a week I spend in his store, and how I could not believe they would want a good customer to leave the store angry. Other shoppers had come around and asked me what was going on, I gladly shared my story, a customer said they have a clerk mentality.
The end result was, the head man refunded all of my service charges and my wife received a wonderful card with 200 dollars of America Express Gift cards and I left feeling like my voice was heard.
Have you experienced poor service, Is it me or are black service complaints not as important as white complaints. It seem simple, provide good service, make your customers feel important, and continue to grow your business. Score one for the little guy!
May 15th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Hi Jim,
Customer service skills are certainly lacking today. Yet, while sometimes we can attribute poor customer service by folks to the fact us Black folks may not be liked by them, I don’t think it’s necessarily racist all the time. In fact, I’ve come across alot of Black folk who would’ve reacted the same way, unfortunately.
These days, it’s not important to greet the customer with a smile. The mantra, “The customer is always right” has flown the coop long ago. This happens whether you’re dealing with White folk, Black folk, Yellow folk, Brown folk, Green folk, or whatever (in my experience).
That’s not to say, though, that I haven’t encountered this sort of behavior. I’m just saying that people of color, unfortunately, do it too.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
KWiz, how are you? Your point is well made. There are times when blacks will treat whites better than their own. It is perplexing, we have power as customers and many times we do not demand proper service. I have been very buzy and unable to keep up with all of the great blogs out there. I hope to visit your soon.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Hey Jim.
Customer service? You and I must be about the same age, ’cause that is definitely old school, my brother. I have to agree with KWiz on this one. Although you’re right that it’s not hard at all to tell when white folks start getting their supremacist working on all cylinders, I also know as a resident of Detroit that we as black folks can give some customer “service” that would scare you.
I love our folks like none other, but my brother, my brother…
May 15th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Keith, I know how we can treat each other, and I have seen my people bend over for whites and not want to give us any service. My point is when making a complaint as a blackman the dynamics of race are at work, and you are right, it can still be an issue with other blacks. It is sad service is a thing of the pass. As a businessman, it could be a means to opportunity. Thanks for the comment
May 18th, 2007 at 4:07 am
Bad customer service is everywhere. If an employee is having a bad day or just plain cranky, the customer is a pretty tempting target.
I’ve been on both sides of this issue as some customers are walking nightmares for sales reps.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Leroy, I have been on both sides as well and if as a sales rep, I wanted someone’s business I would bend over backwords to meet their expectations.I feel strongly, regardless of how bad your day is going, you should never let your customer be a victim of your anger.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Argh, I just had a bad experience with cards recently, they can’t figure out what was causing the prob and gave me the runaround by calling customer support, I decided it would just save more time and energy by dumping the card and use one from another bank.
Shopping these days aren’t much fun dealing with ignorant and indifferent sales people who think it’s their birthright to get docile customers with no questions or complaints, maybe it’s because they are getting minimum wage (?) but I found that shopping online is a much more efficient and enjoyable experience overall.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Jo, I often you some people forgot to keep it simple. Bring value, treat people with respect, say thanks and provide good service. I may use the net more often as well