Huh, what did I do?

I would think the laissez faire style of customer service (or even the total lack thereof) is the bane of every consumer who had to endure such poor customer experience everytime they meet a person who provides a service face to face. I am not surprise that lotsa people are preferring the online shopping experience more and more, to the increasing dismay of retailers.

In the retail industry myself as a probie, here are a couple of analogies of strange customers who, in my humble opinion, perhaps should belong to the online shopping world.

One lady came in the store, smiling and greeting and all, asked me for a little price brochure for a little old lady. I told her we dun have the little price brochures anymore, but I gave her a neat price comparison table printout and a complimentary CD on the different products which she can view on her computer or laptop. Her face darkens, grabs the printout from me and stormed out of the store. Her loud parting shot,'You are disgusting!'

Woah.

Another guy in another day came into the store. I greeted him and asked if i could help.
He said he had cash and he wanted to pay his bill. I said sure, this way please, turned around and searched for a free register in my pheripheral vision. I found one, turned back to the customer and saw him storming out of the store.

Woah. Woah.

Consumers and service providers can recount numerous horror stories to point and blame each other but with my 'years of customer service' (ahem, blush and chortle), I sincerely believe that as long as service providers are sincere in their treatment of customers and honestly provide the services required; and all the customers are realistic in their expectations and not to hope for magic and miracles (which service providers are not able to anyway. They are not magicians, they only work for a salary), the world would be a much much better place.