Newsroom Notes: Service with a smile sometimes difficult to find

With the recent warm-again, cold-again weather, it's hard to tell whether the frost is on the pumpkins. But my calendar says we're fast approaching the Christmas season. What better time than now to think about customer service or in some cases, the lack of it.

A little background: My mother was my boss at my first job, working the popcorn counter in the local theater in my hometown. She has an incredible work ethic. From her I learned that when you work for someone, you do so with a smile, abide by the rules and treat customers and co-workers with respect.

Those are lessons that have served me well. At the job I held during college, at a fast-food restaurant, I worked for a man who taught me that customers should always be greeted with a smile, and, in most cases, the customer is always right.

Recent events have left me wishing that more people today had been able to learn from my mom and my old boss. Customer service seems to be lacking in some cases, and woefully nonexistent in others.

A case in point: Now that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, my kitchen stove has developed some sort of malfunction. My husband and I, being the responsible stove-owners we are, referred to our owners' manual for help. After locating the appropriate problem code, we called the toll-free number as directed by the manual.

Lo and behold, the voice on the other end instructed us to log onto the company Web site because the toll-free hotline doesn't offer technical support. Hello? Is it necessary to call a hotline (and wait on hold for several minutes after wading through the automated phone system in the first place) only to be directed to a Web site?

The better option would have been to simply refer to the Web site in the first place and forget about the hotline the purpose of which I can't quite figure out.

I only wish the stove saga ended there. We went online, got some additional information, tried the suggested solutions, and are now in need of a service call, or at the very least, qualified advice from a professional about parts replacement.

We left one message at the service center, but there was no return call. On our second attempt, we actually got a live person! However, he noted that the service center was extremely busy at the time of our call. He didn't have time to tell us what parts we need; someone will have to call us back.

As I write this three days later, we're still waiting on that call. With any luck, we'll get some help in time to roast the Thanksgiving bird. Otherwise, maybe we'll just order a pizza. But if I'm your customer, and you're billing yourself as someone who can help me, then shouldn't you do so when I ask for help?

Because of what I was taught, it's possible that I'm unreasonable in that when I shop, I tend to look for a smiling associate to help me when I check out. Sometimes, it takes a while to find that smile and sometimes, there's not one to be found in the whole store. As a customer, I try to greet cashiers with a smile, and sometimes, even a "How are you?" Too often, the response I get is a grunt, with no accompanying smile. I realize that some customers can be difficult, and long lines can be discouraging, but I still think there's something to be said for a friendly manner and a smile. It annoys me to get to the front of the line, flash a smile, and then stand there while someone methodically and even a bit grumpily rings up my items without so much as a "Hello" or a "Thank you" in the entire process.

On the other end of the spectrum, though, I also don't care for the overly friendly associate either. Once upon a time at a local retail store, I used to have to go out of my way to avoid a certain employee at the checkout stands. This man was obnoxious in his commentary, not only to me, but to other customers. For instance, if someone purchased alcohol, they were treated to a lecture on the immorality of excessive drinking. There was also commentary regarding the purchase of junk food and other items he deemed inappropriate, like it was his business to oversee the purchase choices of customers. Just ring it up, take the money, thank the customer and move on.

As the holidays draw closer, I understand that frustration will mount behind the counter. But at Christmastime and all the time, I think it's important to remember that customers count and a smile can go a long way.