Published: June 25, 2008 04:17 pm            

Longing for simpler days

A thought has been running through my mind since moving to Cedar Creek Lake a little over two years ago.

Maybe it’s my conservative background, maybe it’s my 26 years of customer service work, or maybe it’s my desire to get back to the simpler days when a person’s word meant something.

Here is my thought: when did it become okay to give someone your word and then not follow through?

I’m sure many of you have experienced exactly what I’m talking about.

Have you had someone come and give you a quote to do something, ask for the money up front, only to never return? Or how about this one: you call someone to come and do some repairs at your home.

They tell you when they will come and do the repairs; they don’t show up and never call to let you know they aren’t coming.

Then when they finally show up a couple of days later, they act like nothing is wrong. Now I’m not pointing fingers and saying this problem is isolated to the lake area because it’s not. But it seems to be magnified here at Cedar Creek Lake.

We’ve all experienced calling a repairman to come to the house and they give you an 8 a.m. - noon or a noon to 5 p.m.window.

To me, there is nothing more aggravating than sitting around all morning or all afternoon waiting on someone to show up.

But that is nothing like waiting around for someone to show up and they are either late for the appointment or don’t show up at all.

As a customer, am I not worthy of a phone call to let me know the reason you are late or not coming at all.

Remember, I am the one who will be paying you for your services. The other thing to remember is I live here full-time. When my neighbors ask for a recommendation for someone to come and do repair work for them, I’m the one who recommends the company to do the repairs.

Word of mouth is a powerful tool which can either build up or destroy a person’s reputation as far as business is concerned.

So here is my suggestion to the businesses around the Cedar Creek Lake area.

How about showing a little courtesy to your customers? If you are going to be late or aren’t coming at all, call and let the customer know.

We understand when things come up; just let us know because we don’t like being left in the dark and we don’t like someone taking advantage of us.

We understand when things come up that are beyond your control. Customers are plain-old human-beings who want to be treated with a little respect.

Why don’t we try this idea and see if it makes a difference. It sure can’t hurt.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.