How Do These Companies Stay In Business?

   Today I had not one, but two, encounters with companies that presented me with terrible customer service experiences.

   The first was at Lowe's, to whom I have sworn eternal loyalty, in the wake of one-too-many downright miserable experiences with Home Depot.

   My wife had pre-ordered and pre-paid for several items which I was picking up. The people she'd worked with had instructed her to have me go to the customer service desk in the front of the store, with my receipt, and ask for assistance.

   Now the customer service desk has a register at one end of it that is put to work as a normal checkout line based on some random set of circumstances.

   Because there was a line of people preparing to buy their individual screws and random power tools at this register, I walked to the middle of the counter where an employee was waiting patiently to be helpful. She started to help me and then her manager came up and directed me to stand in line behind the three people checking out. I told her that I had been directed to come straight to customer service so they could pull the items being held for me and I could be on my merry way. She didn't think much of this and sent me to the line anyway.

   As I stood there, seething, I counted five employees standing around in the area, playing grabass with the supervisor, instead of helping people. If you are going to be a worthless sack of shit, on the clock, at least pick up your Big Gulp and bag of chips and trot your ass back to the break room, wont cha?!

   Oh yeah..I had another story from later in the afternoon too, but frankly I am so pissed again now that I don't have the patience to tell it in gory detail.

   Let's just say that UHaul apparently has a policy (written or not) that, at any given time, there is only to be one tough guy that works the register and handles checking in and out trucks, installing hitches, and inspecting drivers' licenses and only one additional tough guy that works on maintenance in the garage and only comes out to "help" the first tough guy reboot the computer, but cannot help any customers directly. Even when there are four people standing around twiddling their dicks trying to turn in keys and get on with their days.

   I am convinced that their remains a HUGE market, in any market for that matter, for a company that treats people kindly and intelligently, and respects people's time.