Sunday, July 15, 2012

Good Customer Service

Most of the time, my cochlear implants make it so that the person I am conversing with has no idea I am deaf. Occasionally, however, conversations are a struggle. One such incident occurred when I went to order lunch at a bakery a few weeks ago. It was noisy and the cashier seemed to see no reason to speak any clearer than a mumble. The interaction was painful as I struggled to catch onto a single word that was said.The cashier made the situation much worse, making sarcastic comments about me not being able to hear him. Flabbergasted, I told him I was hearing-impaired, but his rude attitude continued. Embarrassed and angry, I took my food and left.

On the drive home, I was fuming. Why should I have to apologize for my hearing loss? And why should I allow someone to make me feel inferior just because I struggle to hear them? The AG Bell Convention was just a few days away, and I was in full-on advocacy mode. I went to the company's website and filed a complaint with the local restaurant.

A few days later, the manager at the location I went to contacted me and apologized profusely, stating that the employee was reprimanded and that his behavior would not be tolerated. Then, they asked for my email so they could send me a coupon.

Sure enough, they sent me not one, but two coupons for a free meal! Now that's what I call good customer service. Good move, Paradise!


5 comments:

  1. I would have said "sue 'em!"... but your solution works too ;-) Heh heh...

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  2. Hello,

    My name is John and I have a quick question about your blog! Could you please email me?

    Thank you,

    John

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ouch. What happened to you in the bakery was really upsetting. Filing a complaint is a good idea so that the unpleasant situation won’t happen again to you and to the other customers. The manager seems to be really regretful of what happened and that he is so eager to make things up to you. Good customer service! I hope you enjoyed your free meal!

    Noreen Clay

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  4. What the cashier did to you is not good customer service at all. He should not be treating you like that whether you can hear him clearly or not. You have every right to complain about it my friend. I’m sure his manager felt disappointed, and sorry – I mean really, really sorry about what happened. I am glad though, that they were able to make things up to you. You deserve to experience a decent meal experience to recover from that previous occurrence.

    Ruby Chelmsford

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