Service With a Smile, or Not

Most people have had some experiences with bad customer service, whehter it's a large company or a small, local business.

A recent blog post by — which posed the question whether customer service has become extinct — seemed to hit a nerve.

"Target has the right idea — you pick up a phone for customer service, and almost immediately there is someone there to help you," Rayner-Zyskowski wrote. "The person who comes to help you doesn't always know the answer, but at least they are there. I've wandered around many another local store up and down the aisles, desperately seeking someone who worked there to no avail."

For some readers, the post reminded them of experiences they've had, in trying to be heard, or seen, as customers. For others, it brought back memories of being treated rudely by customers when they worked in retail.

Rayner-Zyskowski, a blogger who grew up in the area, and now lives in Milford, asked us to share moments of good, or bad, customer service.

Here are some reactions:

From Janet Billings, also a blogger on Patch: "A happy customer is a repeat customer. The problem is that many of these "managers" are people who are using this job to step up to another one. In reality, they truly do not care if you are happy or not. Just trying to get through the day at a job that they hate."

From Annmarie Fernandes: "Some of the high school kids are working part time in fast food places. [I'm] not saying all of them, but some of them they don't care or they are only there for [the] paycheck."

From Deanna Runeman, a columnist for Milford Patch: "I remember being rendered to tears once working at Pier One, wondering what person could berate another human being the way they were speaking to me. It's about tone, on both ends."