Customer service in Corporate America. Or the lack of it.

Customer service, this use to mean something in the U.S. and still does to a few small companies but it's lost to most others.

I run a small home based business and I purchase a lot of different items. In the past month I have had product shortages, wrong products, products packed incorrectly causing damage and more from no less than 6 vendors. I pay up front for my products and it would be nice to actually receive what I order in good condition. But alas it seems I cannot anymore.

Restaurant service, well this one has been an issue since the economy here took a down turn. You would think that owners would take better care of customers to keep the few they have happy. You would think with jobs hard to find that servers in these places would go the extra mile to assure they keep that hard to find job. Alas you would be wrong. Service has gotten so bad that I started using tips as they were meant to be used, tips are for service above and beyond normal. (originally tips were given before service to assure you got prompt attention).

Anymore I walk in with a tip amount in mind, the staff can raise or lower that amount by their actions. If I don't get a drink refill the tip lowers, if you take a long time to take my order the tip lowers, if you are pleasant, expedient in your service and don't make mistakes the tip goes up. Lately my tips have been lower and lower.

A few days ago I was hungry for some eggs so I headed to our local Denny's. Normally I get pretty good service at this Denny's. This trip was different. My eggs were over cooked, my hash browns were burnt and I never got a drink refill despite the fact it was empty when my meal was served (my meal was dropped off as the server went by at Indy car speed with no time to ask for a refill. At the check out they asked how everything was and I voiced my complaints, the cashier just looked down and gave me my change, not one word from his mouth after that. Oh, and I left no tip.

Now, you might think there might be extenuating circumstances that were responsible, however, the place was not busy (maybe 4 other tables) I saw 6 employees walking around (not including cooks). Only 1 seemed actually busy as he was wrapping utensils in napkins, the rest were chatting with each other and the occasional customer they seemed to know personally.

In my small business I pride myself on customer service above all else, if I do make a mistake (and it happens) I make up for it right away. Over the years running my business I have received hundreds of emails thanking me for  my great customer service and for going above and beyond when there were issues. I guess I just treat customers like I would like to be treated when I am the customer. No matter how hard I try though I just can't seem to get a response from corporate America.

As a side note, I have noticed that most mom & pop businesses still over service that goes above and beyond. I try to always frequent these establishments whenever possible. I hope you do the same.