Customer Service Skills Wasted on the Young

I have a teenage daughter who works at Burger King. Practically every day she tells me some story about a rude customer. I keep reminding her that no matter how bad the customer is, she must always keep a smile on her face and be courteous.

Am I the only parent doing this? I ask because I see way too many young people in customer service jobs who have no business being there. Case in point: I was preparing to fly out of Kansas City after the end of the Hallmark Bloggers Conference when I came up to the ExpressJet Airlines check-in line. Behind me was a very bubbly young blond who displayed a lot more than her personality, if you know what I mean.

A young man motioned for me to come up to the counter to check my bag. He didn’t ask me for my ID so I asked him if he wanted it. Very timidly, he said yes. I watched as he looked puzzled at the computer screen in front of him. I made a joke about making sure my name was on the roster because I was ready to leave Kansas City. He responded by telling me it was his first day on the job and continued to stare at the computer screen. It was obvious he needed help from a co-worker so I took it upon myself to ask the young man standing next to him if he could help him out. Now this young man, who I will only identify as Mark, didn’t seem to like the fact that I interrupted him since he was having such a good time with Ms. Personality Plus, who was just giggling up a storm at WHATEVER! they were talking about while he was checking her luggage. Mark told me his colleague would have to wait until he finished with his customer. To make a long story short, Mark never did help out his co-worker and I wrote up a customer service complaint.

How sad it is to see young people put into positions when they are poorly trained and to see the arrogance of those who think they’re way more important than they really are. But the overall shame is having young people in positions where they don’t know how to effectively deal with EVERYBODY.

Flying the Not So Friendly Skies

For those of you who have been following the weather, you know that North Carolina has been in a serious drought. I don’t think we’ve received a decent amount of rain in over a year. That was until Wednesday, October 24---the same day I was scheduled to fly out of Raleigh-Durham International and into Kansas City for the Hallmark Bloggers Conference.

It had rained on and off all day. Now don’t get me wrong….having the rain was truly a blessing because I think we were down to about a month’s supply. BUT I was just hoping it could’ve held off just a little longer until after my trip was over. No such luck. It rained so hard that our flight was delayed by nearly an hour. That meant I wouldn’t get into Kansas City until around 9:30EST, which was 8:30 their time.

To make matters worse, I flew out on a little 50-seater plane on an airline known as ExpressJet. OK---maybe I don’t fly much but I have never, ever heard of ExpressJet. JetBlue—yes---ExpressJet---NO! My legs and back were so cramped during the two-and-a-half hour trip, I don’t even know how I was able to make it off the plane without falling over in complete agony.

On the company's website it says, "ExpressJet Airlines seeks to provide the most efficient and reliable regional jet service in all of its markets." I saw no mention of comfort so maybe that means they just haven't figured out yet that baby boomers like to travel in comfort.

OK---I know someone reading this is wondering why I’m complaining when this was an all-expenses paid trip compliments of Hallmark. I just want you to know that sometimes FREE isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I think if I have to fly on one of those little ExpressJet planes again, I’ll pass and just try to hitch hike my way. After all, walking is good exercise when you’re a middle-aged menopausal woman.

Oh and wait until you hear about the return trip home!