When I got home from work last night, I went through my mail, as I usually do. I came across one piece of mail that was about the size of Readers’ Digest and was even wrapped in plastic like that publication has been. But in big letters across the top were the words, “Do Not Discard! Your Order Is Enclosed!”

Okay, that got my attention. I opened it up to find that it contained checks from my local bank that I had ordered. The part that really amazed me was that the box to hold those checks was included, but it was flat as a board and I had to assemble it! My bank, which has multiple millions of dollars in assets, couldn’t afford to send me a pre-made box? I’m not worth that much time or money? (Do they know how terrible I am at assembling things?)

That made me remember the waitress at a restaurant who asked my friends and me just how much longer we would be sitting at our table (she needed to seat other paying customers, you see). And the worker at another food place that had me waiting about ten minutes while he or she talked with family members on his or her cell phone … and looked very unhappy when he or she had to stop in order to get my food for me.

Or even better, the time recently when my brother was trying to get his phone number re-instated. It had been shut down while he was recovering from the auto accident he went through last fall because we simply didn’t have the money then to keep it going. Well, Randy (in Howard County) had gotten a phone number that allowed those of us in Montgomery County and DC to call him free. He had paid for it faithfully for 10 years. However, the phone company (bless their hearts) gave him a new number in the local area code. When he said he wanted his old number back, they assured him that the 410 area code number would be turned off on a Tuesday afternoon, and his old number would return. On the appointed day, the 410 area code number indeed did stop working. However, the other number did not become active. All Randy got was the sound of deathly silence when he tried to call anyone.

It took both him and me calling the company a minimum of three times a day until they finally got it working a week and two days later. In the meantime, Randy had to buy a portable phone at the local 7-11 so he could actually speak with someone. (Thank goodness I saw that on The Wire on HBO.) I still think the phone company should have paid for that portable phone!

It’s not only in the service areas that the customer is always wrong. With the current bad economy, it seems like organizations look at employees, even long-term ones, as easily replaceable. The attitude communicated is, “Hey, if you don’t meet our expectations, we’ve got 100 people who would love to have your job!” It doesn’t matter if you are just arrived or been there for decades–you’re not worth the time and bother, it seems. (These cycles don’t last forever. The day will soon come when good employees will be harder to come by, but isn’t good help always hard to find? You get rid of one employee and replace him or her with another, and that person has his or her own set of problems to deal with. Weird that it seems easier to train someone than it is to manage someone. Or maybe it is better to make the employees manage themselves so you can punish them when they don’t do a good job of it!)

In my opinion, the banking industry is ready for a revolution. I remember when CDs replaced albums in what seemed an overnight explosion. Now, banks charge what they want when they want and have so many hoops for customers to jump through that we lose our breath! I think something new needs to take their place–something that exists for the customers instead of the corporate entities. And that’s coming from someone who believes in capitalism and the importance of businesses in recovering from the current recession.

But what do I know? I don’t understand all that banks do (or don’t do). I don’t know all that other organizations are going through. Still, I am sorry to see the idea of “customer focus” fade into obscurity. Maybe someday it will return, when people actually value your and my business.

Now here’s a funny customer service story video. Enjoy!

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