Friday, August 10, 2007

$#!+ Like That

Many times has my girlfriend heard me say, "See?! It's shit like that, right there...!" Usually it's because someone has said or done something which, to me, symbolizes so much that's wrong with this world - or my interactions with it.

I thought I'd share a couple of examples (maybe in more than one installment).

Example #1
We were at a local Blockbuster store, preparing to rent some dvd's. Someone had raved about an old movie, Annie Hall, which we'd never seen, so we decided to get it. We couldn't find it in the Drama or Comedy sections, so we asked a couple of Blockbuster employees for help.

Me: Hi. Do you know if you carry "Annie Hall?"

Female rep: If it's not in the Comedy or Drama sections, we don't have it.

Me: Well, I couldn't find The Bourne Identity in your regular sections, the other day, but I ended up finding it in one of your special sections called "Summer Sequels." Is there any chance that "Annie Hall" is in a special section?

Male rep: Well see, "Annie Hall's" an old movie, so there's not going to be a sequel for that.

Me: ...

I wasn't asking if "Annie Hall" was in the Summer Sequels section or saying that it should be. I was suggesting that, if one movie (Bourne Identity) is in a special section instead of its regular section, that may be true of another movie (Annie Hall). I was hoping that an employee could tell me if this was the case for Annie Hall and where it might be.

Luckily, the female employee seemed to have a couple more marbles rolling around in her head, than the male, so she helped us as much as she could. Dude was killin' me, though. He's a doofus, doesn't listen worth a damn, or just didn't want to be helpful. In any case, that makes him under-qualified to work with customers.

This is a lower-level example of just the kind of thing that happens way too frequently in situations big and small. Y'know? All I want is a bit of higher-order thinking. Is that so much to ask?

Apparently so.

Of course there are worse examples; I'll get to them soon enough. But still, it's shit like that right there...

10 comments:

Liz Dwyer said...

LOL! Dude has probably never even seen Annie Hall. And, his brain might not even be there because he's probably daydreaming about smoking something in Second Life...if he's not already puffing in the first!

jennifaye said...

I agree. You ask a question and they do not know anything about their jobs. Whether it is a lawyer, social worker, sales person, computer customer support. It doesn't matter. Nobody seems to care enough to really know their job. This is something that has driven me nuts for years. My husband and I are dealing with a situation right now. So, he gets on the internet and finds information on the laws in our state and county. I get on the phone and call lawyers and social workers and they don't even know half of what he learned on the internet.

Anonymous said...

ALL he had to do was look in the computer to see if they even had it in stock, and/or help you look a little (just to APPEAR helpful, even if he wasn't). Geez!

I'm looking forward to the remaining examples.

Anonymous said...

People just don't take pride in their crappy jobs anymore. I remember when helping an old man find the perfect pair of polyester pants in the men's department at Sears felt like my life's calling. I would go into the warehouse to find a customer's size, or call another store all in the name of customer satisfaction. These days you'd be hard pressed to find a sales associate that will look in the eye as they lie.

Anonymous said...

I don't think this was a case of poor customer service. I think the guy was just a doofus. But I know what you're saying.

Paula D. said...

Dude was slow as hell!!!!

West said...

Thanks for the responses.

This post wasn't from a customer service perspective so much as a "Duh?!" perspective. Heh. With all my customer service complaints, it's probably hard to tell the difference.

In this case, the power had just gone out then come back on, but the computer system hadn't recovered, yet. My issue with the guy wasn't about his willingness to help us find the dvd as much as his completely missing the point of my Annie Hall/Bourne Identity question.

It's like folks are thinking at the lowest possible level. Anyway, it's an example of the kinda thing that leaves me shaking my head... a lot.

More examples to follow.

YouToldHarpoTaBeatMe said...

You didn't smell any weed on his clothes, did you? The last doofus I dealt with for customer service WREAKED of it, and all I needed to know is if they had any composition notebooks in the school supplies or stationery area... dude looked pretty annoyed as he hissed ELECTRONICS!

Dee said...

see, he just doesn't get paid enough. Seriously. Video store employees should get paid decently--then they might care about where your movies have been misfiled.

James Burnett said...

Ha ha ha! My friend, you are definitely asking for too much with a bit of higher-order thinking. Just be glad that guy was just misplacing movies and not handling your food at Crack Ronald's or BK or something.