I understand corporate desires to try to personalize their customer service, and use people's names instead of just 'Sir' or 'Ma'am,' even if I disagree with it and would rather they give me my shit and move on.
But I can't understand, no matter how hard I try, why they bother when they're very clearly going to butcher your name. Sure, my last name's a little long, so it's not completely ludicrous that they get intimidated by it when they see it on my credit card. And as sick as I am of being called, "Ms. HAR-bit-kin", "Ms. Har-BOT-kin", etc., I can see -- to an extent -- where these semi-literate people are coming from.
But the woman at Safeway today called me "Ms. Har-bar", and I just don't get it. I looked at her funny and told her she didn't even try. I mean, she didn't even get three syllables in there.
I'd rather be called "Ma'am" or "Miss" or, fuck, even "Dude" than Ms. Harbar.
And I really think these corporate schmucks who make their minimum-wage employees try to read names to should strongly reconsider their policies. That's all. I just think they should reconsider.
1 comment:
I couldn't possibly agree more.
As someone who's used to being called Ms. Ammonia, etc., and has gotten a lot less patient with it (I now usually just cut them off as they stumble over themselves by letter #2, or actually say "No" when they make a feeble attempt at reading a perfectly phonetic name and screw it up utterly and then ask if that was correct! I used to just do a "uh, yeah.")
I am constantly surprised at the new heights they can reach in offending people when they're actually trying to please.
I was staying at a hotel & requested a wake-up call. Here's what I got:
"Good Morning, Mr. or Miss Amnnmnovmna? This is your 8am wake-up call." (this actually at 8:15am! good thing i also set a cell-phone alarm in stead of relying on them!)
but, "Mr or Miss!" Really?? First of all, if you're going to try to address people in that manner, upon check in, you could check some box saying if they're a man or a woman. (I was the only one staying there.)
But more importantly, here's how a wake up call works:
the phone rings.
i pick it up and say "hello?"
the person says "good morning..."
SO, after i've picked up and said "hello" they're still afraid to make a guess and commit to either a "Mr." or a "Miss" greeting?? I mean, in all my life no one on the phone has ever thought I was a guy. A 10 year old kid, maybe, but that's another issue.
Post a Comment