Customer service is a crucial part of any business or organization. When customers are satisfied with the service they get, it's always to the advantage of the organization. After all, a happy customer is a returning customer.
Just like many other people, I have experienced terrible customer service severally, and I'm glad to talk about them.
One of the places I've received bad customer service is the bank. Some of the staff at the bank are terrible at the customer service thing. Right from the moment you walk into the bank, the reception towards you is unfriendly. They greet you with a frown. The bankers just effortlessly appear unfriendly. You'll begin to wonder if you're the cause of their problems.
While they attend to you and try to process your transactions, there's this awkward silence that ensues as they type on their keyboard. If, by chance, you filled a form incorrectly or omitted something important, the way they would correct you is usually stern and harsh.
Apart from that, the fact that one has to wait in line for a long time just to sort out an issue in the bank is enough to demonstrate bad customer service. Severally, when I got to the bank to resolve a problem, I would wait for hours, and when it eventually gets to my turn, there would be network problem which further delays me. It's very discouraging.
The second place where customer service is terrible is government agencies, parastatals and ministries. Every single time I go to a government related agency here in Nigeria, I get nothing but terrible customer service. It's either the worker is too lazy or non-chalant to do their job. In addition to that, they are almost always angry and bitter.
There was one time I visited a government ministry. I had to wait in line for hours as usual. Then, when it got to my turn, she said she wanted to eat, so I had to wait. She took about an hour to eat. I couldn't believe it, but it was happening right in front of me. Then she took an extra 30 minutes resting after eating, knowing that a lot of people were waiting for her. As much as I was angry, I was terribly disappointed. Even when she started attending to me, she would intermittently stop and take breaks, while frowning and looking pissed.
That's just a typical example of how frustrating it can be to go to a government agency for anything. As a matter of fact, sometimes, you can't even ask these individuals questions. They would react harshly or throw a tantrum. It's the worst kind of customer service.
I do hope customer service in both categories of places I mentioned will improve in the near future, because these are places in the society.