Heat Up The Exchange

I just had a heated exchange at the fuel stop with the manager of the fuel store. There is enough disrespect going around, so I'm kind of ammune and hardened to a lot of it. I try to be courteous and cheerful and add something positive to somebody's day as I shlub along in this modern day life of expediency and efficiency.

We already know that customer treatment has taken a spriral downward these days in a lot places. One of my absolute pet peeves is the scenario where you wait in line for a lengthy period of time and finaly reach the check out or service desk. You begin to open you mouth to voice a request or submit a question to the clerk. At that very nano second, the phone rings. Does the clerk continue to address your patronage? No way! Now this is the store that you took the time to get in your car, burn your gas and travel to in an effort to buy their goods in person. They will answer the call and carry on a long conversation with an idiot on the other end of the line that they can't understand and in the process completely forget that you exist.

Well, something similar happened to me tonight. I'm about to get about $200 in fuel and standing at the fuel desk ready to be served when suddenly the clerk decides she's going to have a big conversation with the guy behind me. This young lady wasn't asking me the usual questions like "what is the name of your company" or "what's your truck number?" or "would you like a cash advance with your purchase today?" I decided that I had enough and simply walked out. The manager came running out after me and asked what the problem was. I told him his rude clerk wasn't interested in my business and decided that she would rather carry on a conversation with the guy in line behind me. He tried to tell me that he was standing right there and it didn't happen that way. I was quite irritated by his response and angrily shot back  "maybe you could care less about whether I buy your fuel, but you better teach your clerks what correct customer service is. The other stores in this chain don't operate like that."  The conversation then heated up to the point of no return. And I won't return.

About that moment, a trucker fueling up nearby had his fuel overflow out of his tank and all over the fuel island, apparently because the automatic shut off failed on the pump nozzle. It looked like a dam water main break the way all that diesel was shooting out of his tank. Better put out that cigarette good buddy. It could have been a real hot time in Jackson tonight.