Servistar is an Oxymoron

I’ve always been a stickler for customer service. Whether you’re a petrol pump attendant or a CEO, a pleasant greeting and a smile can go a long way. I think it comes largely from the 2 years I worked as a waiter at a pizza joint called St Elmo’s. I really leart a lot there from both personal experiences and the training we recieved.

As a result, I’ve become very sensitive to trying my best to give good, nah, incredible customer service. I’ll bend over backwards to make sure that my client is happy with the end result. There mustn’t be the slightest ‘bad-taste’ left in his proverbial mouth after the job is done.

I’ve come to expect the same from the people I deal with. Having this expectation though, I must admit, has led me to many disappointments as great customer service in this country…or at least with the people I’ve come into contact with, is shocking. Why? I mean how hard can it be to smile, extend a greeting and be polite. Thats all it takes people.

I recently went to a branch of Servistar (hardware type store), more specifically, the branch on Cape Road, Port Elizabeth, to get a plug. Thats all I needed. Just a plug. I was a little late for their closing though. There were still people in the shop finishing up their business, but their doors were closed and manned by a member of staff. I parked my car, walked up to the door and pushed it open, only to have it harshly shoved back in my face. Shocked, I looked up and saw a man on the other side of the door who instead of talking to me to explain that they were closed, merely waved his hand at me, as if shoo-ing off a fly.

Real nice buddy. Sheer class.

Then I noticed the sign that showed their business hours and I realized that I’d missed closing by approximately 7 minutes… Now come on. They’re in business right? And I was business. But no, Mr Personality at the front door didn’t want to hear it. “Please”, I begged, “all I need is a plug!” The rude egit then proceeded to put his hand up and extend two fingers at my face. Now either he was pulling a ‘zap’ sign at me, or he was indicating that they had closed at two pm. Who knows? He never once made any attempt to open the door a little and talk to me, explaining that I couldn’t come in.

What an ass.. I’m sorry, but there’s no excuse for that kind of behaviour in my books.

At St Elmo’s we had a pizza special that ended at 5pm. I remember going to training though, and hearing the guys there say, “You know what, if a client comes in even at like 5:30pm asking for the special, KEEP HIM HAPPY, make an exception. Do something that’ll ensure that when he leaves your shop, he is feeling happy and willing to return again.

Servistar, you taking notes?

Customer service can go so so far in making your business reputable. Word of mouth continues to be a consistant form of advertising. Especially in the web design business, your clients, inevitably have clients of their own. Do a good job for them, go the extra mile, give them service that’ll blow their socks off and when they get asked about having a web site built, guess who they’re going to recommend?

If business spent as much time and money on educating their staff on good customer service, as they do on the rest of their marketing, what a difference that would make…

If only….

PS…I’ve sent a link to this article to the Servistar Branch concerned and the head office… Lets see what, or even IF they reply to this.