When customer service seems a little too frivolous

Today I saw something that really made me think about the importance of customer service, or rather, the un-importance of customer service. I was shopping with a couple of friends and we were in a clothing store (which will not be named) at the cash register ready to pay, when one of my friends spotted a little notice they had. I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of: "We have heard your feedback, and now we have a new 3-customer maximum policy. This means that if there are more than 3 customers lining up at a cash register, we will call another associate to open a new cash register for you". Wow. Just, wow. For half of a split second, I was slightly impressed, and then afterwards, I just thought it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Now before I go off into my rant, I just want to say that I have been thinking about the levels of customer service that I have seen, that I have worked with, and have had to show at a workplace, and over time I have been thinking about the "importance" of customer service, moreso recently than before. To be upfront and honest, I'm starting to think that it's getting a little frivolous. Sure, there's money to be made, company reputations to uphold, and some sort of customer/client/company loyalty maintained between all of that, but honestly, I think the time and the money and the effort could be better spent elsewhere.

I used to work at a restaurant for almost a year, and before that I worked in retail for a year, so I've seen my fair share of customers and the variety that walk in and out of the door. What really got me about the customers in these industries were the ones who would complain. I know, I might just sound like a bitter ex-employee ranting about customers, but if you think about it, does it really matter if your plate isn't the same temperature as your food, or if there are deodorant stains on a nice shirt you just tried on (which probably came from your armpits anyway)? Because really now, the food will just pass through your body in a matter of hours, and you will most likely launder that shirt if you were any normal person who washes their clothes once in awhile.

Even tonight, I was having dinner with my parents at a Japanese restaurant, and this woman at the next table sent back her Coke or soft drink of some sorts because she said something about how the restaurant likely used the fountain to serve pop, and that it must have been mixed up with another soda. I didn't know exactly, but she spent some time telling this to a server and obviously he had to refill another one for her and make sure it wasn't mixed up or whatever. Yes ok, if you get a weird drink mixed with another one, then fine, but still, even that bothered me because of all the time and energy that was spent on it instead of on other tables.

My argument isn't exactly the most concrete though. I still like to tip servers generously for their time and service, and can see when there is "bad" service or "good" service. But to be honest, I would rather shop somewhere where I could just look on my own, and ask for help if I wanted it. I would much rather pay less to eat somewhere where the server spent the least amount of time at my table, and just served us great food while I might have a nice meeting with a friend. Why would I want to concentrate on the details of his or her wine knowledge, or whether he or she gave me a steak knife 57.09 seconds before my meal came?

Altogether though, maybe we shouldn't even bother with good or bad or "exceptional" service. We can just have "service", that is good enough to get your food served, your clothes bought, and maybe your hotel room booked. This extra time and energy to ensure that you have a "wonderful, exceptional, pleasant, and memorable dining/shopping experience" could be used in much more useful ways. Even as a customer, why would you put yourself in high expectation of a restaurant or a retail establishment in the first place? So you can ensure your salad fork is chilled? Your pantsuit pressed with the right creases? I'm looking at this, and then next to it, I look at places in the world where they probably never even heard of such things as chilled salad forks. Why the hell would you chill a fork? I look at places where no one even wears pantsuits, and where no one gives a damn whether there are stains, wrinkles, or holes in the clothes they wear. How did the world move apart to such far ends of the spectrum? How did we human beings get to this point? What happened to the basic needs of survival? How did we become so f***ing selfish?

This argument remains unfinished, because there are many other examples I want to share, and it is not that strong or concrete because parts of what I was taught in the service industry still linger in me, even as a customer. But since I am still a customer and have worked in the industry, I can say this much: No, the customer is not - and should not be encouraged to - think that they are always right.