Tuesday, May 26, 2009

What I Meant to Say

I once said to the Comcast Cable customer service representative: “I know it’s not your fault, but your company’s treatment of its customers is really appalling.” What I wanted to say was, “You prick. You actually enjoy pretending to care and don’t really care at all. I’ll bet you send your wife’s phone calls to voicemail. I’ll bet you stand too close to the person in front of you in line at the grocery store checkout. I’m pretty certain that you cut people off on the freeway and don’t give up your seat to older people on the bus. You’re probably that IT guy at work who pretends to listen to me while he’s thumbing through his Blackberry. Or my doctor who doesn’t look up from the chart and is out of the room in five minutes flat. I’ll bet I’ve met you a hundred times in the last month alone.” But instead I said “please and thank you” and hung up the phone.

Martha

3 comments:

smartz said...

This post should be reproduced on brass plaques and posted on street corners across the country. Fabulous!

HARPER STREET WOMEN WRITERS said...

What - No F-bombs?

Bemused Boomer said...

I call this new brand of "customer service" the Teflon Method (TM). I worked in customer service before companies began teaching their reps the TM. It was hard. I had to think, respond to old grouches like my current self, and control my often volatile temper.

I vacillate between admiration for these TM reps who cheefully blow me off while sounding so sincere, and wanting to write something as pithy but classy as this post of yours. Thanks for writing it. I feel so much better, now!