This is Helen’s question prompt for April 14, 2025.
I shall stop buying from any business who does not deserve my money. There was a canteen with a stall holder selling drinks, beverages and breakfast menu. The cashier and staff in this stall were very gritty and like Scrooge. The cashier used to grumble about not making mistakes with under-collecting money, as the stall suffers a loss. The cashier was very crude about orders of single slice of toast or double slices of toast. The difference was a slice of toasted bread but to her, she treated it as a great loss.
One time, she almost made a mistake of handing customer the wrong order on a tray. He paid for a single slice, but was handed a double. Immediately, the cashier realized this mistake and said loudly, “Lucky for us, I caught this mistake, or we would have lost money. The customer will never say they got an extra piece of bread, but will enjoy the free food. We must be alert when we hand customers their orders. We mustn’t give free food or they’ll ask for the extra food when they come in again the next time. When they get free food, they won’t alert us and we will lose money. Some even demand free, extra slice of bread because they’re used to getting the wrong order of two slices of bread……. ”
She continued ranting; as if losing one slice of bread to one customer, would make their business bankrupt. I found that kind of behavior disgusting and short on customer service. I don’t support businesses or products who are short on customer service.
The other type of business I hate is that who ignores accidental spillage of food and drink. The customer should not be punished for spillage immediately after leaving the cashier counter. There could be reasons why the food or drink spilled.
Once, I was carrying a tray laden with food, when a two children ran very near to me and I couldn’t balance my tray. All my envelope jackets of french fries spilled on the floor. The kids’ adult care minder saw this and pretended not to be responsible for his kids. He didn’t help me in any way. I felt the pinch of lost money. I had no choice but to walk back to the cashier and buy another tray of food. I hated that restaurant. There was no customer relations staff to watch over accidents in the restaurant. I stopped buying from this restaurant to eat in-house.
I wish businesses would improve their standards.
