Customer Service

I don't know whether they are still in use or not but I spotted these old-fashioned petrol pumps at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre at Ruddington early last week. It set me thinking about when pumps like this were commonplace and garage hands actually came out and filled your vehicle's fuel tank for you. Those were the days when "customer service" meant something and the term was not just a pseudonym for "Complaints Department".


In many cases these days I've found that "customer" would be better replaced by "lip" for if you dare to complain about something, then you are often made to feel the guilty party. My judgement has probably been clouded by the fact that I lodged a complaint at a local superstore some fifteen months ago and despite following up several times since, I have still not had a response from the management. I'm not saying which store but a little acknowledgement would have been appreciated because as we all know, every little helps.

Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be. - Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)