Whatever happened to Customer Service?

Okay, most of you probably don't know this, but I am an Ass, A Jerk and even a real Neener at times. Generally this only occurs when something really honks me off. It can be anything from some stupid peeples article I read or the actions of some idiot I meet out and about. I generally try to reserve these snarky moments for times that truly call for them. Whether I succeed most times is anyone's guess. However, every now and then something happens that truly, truly PISSES me off and I feel the need to vent. This, in case you haven't guessed yet, is one of those times. So bear with me while I vent.

Yesterday afternoon around 6-ish, I called our pharmacy in the Russell Parkway Krogers to get refills on my insulin, one of my wife's meds and my test strips. I told the man on the phone that I would be by to pick it up in the morning. He said that was fine and we ended our little chat. Now, today around 4-ish, my wife drops by said pharmacy on the way home from work to pick up our prescriptions and is told that, not only are they not ready yet, but she will have to wait till 7 to get them. When she complains, they revise their estimate to 5:30.

Now when I go back out in the rain to pick up our prescriptions at 5:15 or so, I politely inquire as to why we had to wait TWENTY FOUR HOURS to get our prescriptions filled. I was a little miffed since I was directly behind a lady who had just dropped hers off (Saw her do it) and she was told that there would be a 30 minute wait. Now instead of being apologetic or even polite, the ladies in the pharmacy get a really serious attitude and inform me that it wasn't their fault because the tech who took my order had set it to be filled at SEVEN PM that evening. Now keep in mind, I told the tech on the phone that it'd be picked up in the morning and he agreed. I was not told 7pm.

So then, to top things off, when I finally get my prescriptions, the tech lady taking my money informs me that the needles that I use to take the insulin are out of stock and they will have to order me more. Now besides the fact that I cannot take insulin without the needles, why didn't they tell me this half an hour before? Better yet, why didn't they tell my wife that when she was there an hour before? So I am forced to choose from having to drive across town to get needles or wait to get some tomorrow. Since I had a couple of needles left from the last box and really didn't feel like driving, I said to go ahead and rush order them for tomorrow.

Now what really honked me off wasn't the mistakes they made or even the wait. What pissed me off was their attitude. From all three women, I got the attitude of "We didn't mess up, you did." and "Well that's not our problem." A simple "I'm sorry Sir we made a mistake" or a "I'm sorry for the trouble Sir." would have done wonders for my anger management issues. Instead they get all snarky and royally cheese me off.

Customer service is a dying art form caused by so many people not giving a damn. It's time we stopped taking crappy service and bad attitudes and reminded these people that we basically pay their salaries. That is what the SIOTBAA Society is all about. Come on folks!