I am sure many of you have had to make a phone call to a company or utility service trying to get some help or information.

I am sure if you have – you have come away frustrated.

You make the call, and instead of getting a live person, you get an automated reply. Press one for English, or press two for Spanish. Then, after waiting for 30 minutes, you finally get to talk to a live person, but they do not speak English very well. They have a foreign accent and they are difficult to understand. No offense to these folks. They are just trying to do their jobs. But it can be frustrating trying to explain your issue or trying to resolve the problem.

Sometimes when you make the phone call you are put on hold with “elevator” music, saying someone will be with you in so many minutes. When they finally answer, for some reason, you are disconnected! Then you have to start the process all over again.

It just is not the same as in the past.

Now, with “AI” (artificial intelligence), you might not even be talking to a real person, but a computer programmed to converse with you and assist you with your problem.

We all have to make these calls. Whether it is to question an additional charge or increase on a monthly bill or maybe a problem with your television cable service, it can be extremely aggravating.

I decided to research customer service stories online. There were some funny ones.

Someone got a phone bill showing $500 for calls to Antarctica. They called customer service, ready to fight. The company rep said, “Penguins don’t usually call back.”

“I told him I’d never called Antarctica. He laughed, “We know. It’s a glitch; you’re not the only one.” He waived the charges but added, “If they do call, let us know.”

Here was another good one.

“I tried canceling my gym membership, but the rep kept convincing me to stay. Finally, I said, “Look, I haven’t gone in months.” She sighed and said, “Honestly, neither have I.” She canceled it and added, “But if you come back, don’t tell my boss I said that.”

Have you ever been to a restaurant and for some reason your food has not arrived for a long while? You see others who came in after receiving their food before you. Here is a story I found on the internet.

“I waited 40 minutes for my food at a diner while tables around me got served. Finally, I flagged down the server, and she gasped, “Oh my God, we thought you had left!” I did not know whether to laugh or cry.”

It went on to state that the waitress sprinted to the kitchen, and five minutes later, the meal arrived, along with free dessert and a note: “We’re sorry for forgetting your order. You matter!”

That was pretty good customer service, except that the person had to wait so long for their food and apparently felt like he was invisible.

Then there is this one I found while researching.

“A cable company earned the reputation for nightmarish customer complaints. It usually has a busy signal. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. One client was left on hold for 3.5 hours while trying to cancel the service. The cancellation request was rejected by a customer service rep who demanded the reason for the cancellation for almost 10 minutes.”

Good customer service can help a company or store with repeat business or even good word-of-mouth reviews. These days with social media, these stores or businesses take the chance of getting bashed and very bad reviews online. That is a risk they take with good or poor customer service and products.

Delivering great customer service should be the focus of any business that wants to be in the public eye and have a good reputation. Unfortunately, it is not always the case.

Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)