Customer Service

I live in a region where customer service is quite different compared with where I grew up. In much of my experience, the customer service professional may yell at you a little, but he or she will, in fact, eventually do what you want, especially if you use a lot of big words while you're yelling back and your credit card was issued to "Dr.". Where I live now, no one yells, but there is a decided lack of interest in doing what you, as a customer, might want.

My favorite weird customer service incident took place shortly after I left the greater NY metropolitan area. I was at a deli counter, and I wanted a sandwich. The deli had the combination of meats and cheeses that I wanted, and I was pleased, although slightly apprehensive about the bread. When I placed my order the man behind the counter, quite pleasantly, said, "No. We don't make that."

Nonplussed, I pointed out that he had the cold cuts, and he said, "you have to order off the menu." I tried again. He refused. I thanked him and turned to leave.

Then he yelled at me for leaving, insisting that I had to have a sandwich from the menu.

I ignored him and left. He yelled after me for quite a while, which caused a few of his other potential customers to edge away from the counter and go to the hot dog stand.

That was a bit weird, but I had a very nice and much cheaper lunch at another deli counter in the same building. So, I was fine.

Interestingly, the thing that bothered me the most was the idea that this man actually thought that I was required to eat what he wanted me to eat. How odd.

Then I thought about the art of negotiation. In order to negotiate effectively, you need to have enough power and/or influence to convince your adversary/negotiation partner that you should get what you're requesting. Generally, in a common culture, this comes down to proving that you mean business and are willing to walk away from the negotiation. In my early life, this was accomplished by yelling and using big words--let's face it, delis in NYC are used to competing for customers, so they'll make you a weird sandwich, even if they complain about it a little. In my new location, it seems, customer service people are used to calling the shots because they can, and they don't know how to deal with customers who want what they want, and are willing to walk away and get something else.

....I've decided to eat more sushi.