I don’t need someone waiting on me hand and foot but good customer service is important to me.I think anyone who owns a business or manages a franchise would agree with me. It shows when I go to department stores: the women at the make-up counter beg to show me the latest long-lasting lipstick and the shoe department crew are willing to bring ten boxes of black flats to help me find the right style, fit and price.When I go to the small-town supermarket in Delphos, Ohio, where my parents live, the high school bag boys walk me out to my car and put my groceries in my trunk. McDonald’s, Lazarus and Big Bear have manuals that spell it out. For example, ‘The customer is always right,’ or ‘Our customers are number one.’But it was difficult to find that kind of service when my boyfriend and I rented a movie last week. When the clerk at the video store gave us the wrong movie, we called to see if they had the one we wanted in stock. They did and assured us that if, in fact, we had the wrong tape we’d receive a discount. Trust me, it was the wrong movie; we rented ‘A Time to Kill’ and when we pressed ‘play,’ we were watching a Japanese cartoon. We were expecting the rental to be free since we were already settled in and then had to drive back to get the correct tape.Apparently, we, the customers, were not right. Their idea of a discount was not making us pay for the cartoon. (We weren’t about to pay for it anyway).Another time I was just five minutes late returning a movie and was charged $2 for an extra day. When clerks are so inflexible that they can’t let five minutes go, I don’t feel like returning. Who would?Friends have told me their troubles with video stores too. One said that she returned a movie in the wrong case by accident and when the store clerks finally realized it, they expected her to pay a $19 late fee for the time it took them to figure it out. She refused to pay, and they had the nerve to say they’d take her to court for it.Another friend rented an older movie that ended up having the insides twisted. When he tried to exchange it for another copy, they charged him for ruining it.I just can’t count on video stores. When I don’t rent new releases, I can’t be sure that the picture and sound will be of good quality. And when it’s not, I fear I’ll be charged for a movie that I never got to see or couldn’t enjoy because of the quality of the tape.It’s such a hassle to run back to the store only to be faced with stubborn employees.When I go to the department stores and the small-town supermarkets, it’s a nice feeling when the clerks and bag boys are helpful and pleasant. It really does make me want to go back, just like the manuals say.I don’t think video stores can be isolated and generalized as providing bad customer service, but I have noticed a few problems.Maybe I’ll start killing my time in line at the Lennox so I can see a movie that I know will have good sound and picture.
Becky Baughn is a senior majoring in journalism who used to be a shoe saleswoman. She has seen and smelled her share of feet and can enjoy the comfort of being spoiled in the shoe department.
