Has Customer Service Gotten Worse?-Trudy Wants To Know

Clerks talking to each other instead of waiting on customers.  Employees too busy checking their phones to help you.  Waiting on hold forever to get a real person.  Has customer service gotten worse?

I think customer service has declined over the past few years.  While I still see great customer service at certain places, there seems to be a general lack of good customer service in a variety of businesses.

Three recent examples come to mind.  I wanted to use a rewards coupon and a general coupon at a big box store.  When I asked this clerk if I could, she gave me an irritated look and shook her head no.

Thirty minutes later I was still standing there waiting to get my merchandise and go home.  She'd made a mistake on the register.  Not once did she thank me for being patient or even for my business.  In fact, when it was time to pay, she casually said "I hope I corrected the right item" and proceeded to take my money.  Bad customer service.

Two other recent examples happened  in Old Forge.  Both businesses I've shopped at before and never had a bad experience.  Not so this time.  The waitresses at this particular restaurant looked annoyed to have customers and despite the restaurant being almost empty, crammed us into a booth near the bathroom.

The food was awful, the waitress didn't care that she messed up my order and the general atmosphere was of irritation that they had customers to take care of.  Never will I go to that restaurant again.

The other bad customer service I received recently was at a store in Old Forge, again one I'd been in many times before.  The clerk was extremely rude and was irritated when a little boy put his hands on the display case near the register.

He was simply touching it but she flipped out on him and his mom.  Not the way to treat customers, especially if you want them to come back.  Being nice to customers goes a long way, especially as we get ready for the busiest shopping season.

So, how would you rate customer service these days?  Worse?  Better?  Share your experiences with me.