I’ve often been annoyed and amazed at the following situation (and similar instances at other retail establishments):
You approach a fast-food restaurant drive-through (other than Chik-fil-A; their employees really are polite). The employee says, “Welcome to XX (their establishment)” or something similar, and then you place your order. Normally, they’ll simply announce the price and command you to drive to the window without saying “please.”
When you get to the window, the person on the other end of the speaker who may (or may not) have given you the initial greeting is unsmiling and fails to say thank you — or, often, doesn’t say a single word… which causes them to appear extremely rude and surly.
I was taught to be polite, and I almost instinctively thank the surly server, then drive away and say to myself, “Wait a minute! They should be thanking me!”
If I purposely try not to thank the person, I feel rude — as if I’ve stooped to their level.
Do you think there’s any way to solve the “bad customer service” epidemic in America today?
See my “Rant #2: An Open Letter to All Retail Employees and Managers” tomorrow for my ideas.
