Bah Humbug!!!

Well, the Holiday Season is upon us and we’re madly shopping, which means we’re exposed to all types of Customer Service. One of the key challenges that I find at this time of year is being served quickly, because I’m in a hurry and there are crowds of people, and still receiving quality Customer Service.
Last week I was on a longish domestic flight – I arrived at the airport with several thousand other people all going their own way. As usual, I’m rushing along talking on my cell phone headset, finalising one deal or another and at the airport entrance I’m greeted by a jolly Santa Claus – he’s clearly a Customer Service expert, although this one did seem rather stressed, being ignored by moist of the bustling crowd. I, too, was too busy to say hello – silly me, I may well have missed my chance for a Plantronics CS50 Headset in my Christmas stocking because of that!
The queues were enormous and the counter staff tired, grumpy and over-worked. Even though I could understand how they felt I still wanted great Customer Service. They were run off their feet and making a valiant effort to multi-task, talking to Customers in person and on the phone using their cordless headsets. Still that didn’t mean that they should let their level of Customer Service drop.
Next was the news stand – I just wanted a newspaper 5 minutes later “next” is called, my money is snatched out of my hand and “next” called again. The same again at the coffee stall.
A crowd of bustling passengers line up to board the flight, crying children and all. I was not looking forward to this flight. I make one more quick call on my headset to grumble to my wife that I don’t like this time of year – bah, humbug!!!!
We board, take off, climb to altitude. The passenger next to me is a large man, tall and cramped into his seat. I’m pushed against the window. Then suddenly from nowhere a friendly face – “There’s a spare seat by the emergency exit. You might find it more comfortable”. The flight attendant escorts my neighbor to their new, roomier, seat
She returns to me with a smile and asks if I too have enough room now. The meals arrive, the Customer Service is great and suddenly I feel much better.
When we land I grab my headset and immediately call my wife and tell her how wonderful this time of year is.
A smile and a kind word can go a long way.
Here’s to a great 2007 for all of you out there in cyber-blog world.