This is another of those cute little anecdotes that came across my email and just begged for me to share it.
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I think it is time to revive “The Revival of Common Courtesy”. I know the world is changing, but I don’t necessarily believe it to be for the better. Let me tell you about a transaction that happened to me recently at the local Coffee House and Cafe, the only coffee house in town, and you be the judge. Let me tell you no matter how much I want a specialty coffee, I will NEVER set foot in there again, which is sad as it was one of the few cleaner places in town, but the lack of health department code enforcement is a different post altogether.
We recently had our big, once a year festival in town for Humungus Fungus. It features mushrooms, city wide rummage and sidewalk sales, a parade and street dance and many other activities. Humungus Fungus is a pretty big deal for this little town. After many hours of rummage saling, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch so we went to The Coffee House & Cafe. Lunch was okay and we left to continue with the rummage sales. Later that afternoon while I was balancing my account I saw that they had triple charged (3 pending transactions for the exact amount at the exact same time) my account. Their credit card machine is in the back room so I can not say what actually happened. I called them up and spoke with the manager/owner and she flat out denied it and said it was ‘my problem’ because she only had 1 transaction slip and didn’t know how to fix it. Here is where the personal service should have kicked in. I would have accepted her telling me that she didn’t know how to fix it, but would look into it and get back to me, BUT to tell me they didn’t do it when it is so blatantly there in black & white and that it’s not their problem when they are the merchant and I get a bit peeved! I called my bank and was told it had to be released by the merchant. So I gave her over the weekend for the issue to be resolved. Late Monday I went in with a print out of the account to speak with her as it had not been resolved. I asked her if she would look into it and she said she didn’t know how. I asked her to call the 800 number on her machine or her bank and she flatly refused. When I asked her how she planned to resolve this issue she told me not to get snotty because this wasn’t her problem and she worked her butt off there for absolutely nothing. I’m sorry, but you don’t get to cause a problem and then play martyr! I have filed a dispute and am writing a letter to the city council as well as the better business bureau, but am afraid it will fall upon deaf ears as so many things do these days. It seems strange to me that so many people are so willing to accept the lack of courtesy being provided by so many businesses. I for one will not and will boycott said business as well as spread the word. As far as I’m concerned businesses like that should be put out of business if they are not willing to provide the most basic of common courtesy. I’m a BIG believer in positive attitude, etiquette and good manners. Attitude is everything and hers SUCKED. You shouldn’t be in business if you are not willing to cater to customers ESPECIALLY when you made the error!
Ironically I recently learned that the business owner who didn’t know who to call or how to fix it worked for a local bank for a long time. Scary isn’t it?
Outside England ‘s Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were £1 for cars ($1.40), £5 for busses (about $7). Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn’t show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent.
The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo’s own responsibility. The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee. The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City payrole.
Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who’d apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about $560 per day — for 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars! …And no one even knows his name.
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This is from another of those informative emails that occasionally crosses my way.
It’s been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish…. All before making a human. He made and provided what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We’re such slow learners… God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!
God’s Pharmacy! Amazing!
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Here’s another email gem for a laugh:
We were dressed and ready to go out for the New Years Eve Party. We turned on a night light, turned the answering machine on, covered our pet parakeet and put the cat in the backyard. We phoned the local cab company and requested a taxi. The taxi arrived and we opened the front door to leave the house. The cat we put out in the back yard, scoots back into the front door.
We didn’t want the cat shut in the house because she always tries to eat the bird. My wife goes out to the taxi, while I went inside to get the cat. The cat runs upstairs, with me in hot pursuit. Waiting in the cab, my wife doesn’t want the driver to know that the house will be empty for the night. So, she explains to the taxi driver that I will be out soon, ‘He’s just going upstairs to say Goodbye to my mother.’
A few minutes later, I get into the cab. ‘Sorry I took so long,’ I said, as we drove away. ‘That stupid b..ch was hiding under the bed. I had to poke her with a coat hanger to get her to come out! She tried to take off, so I grabbed her by the neck. Then, I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from scratching me. But it worked! I hauled her fat ass downstairs and threw her out into the back yard!
The cab driver hit a parked car.
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