I SENT MY HEART QUESTIONNAIRE TO WIENERSCHNITZEL!

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ABOUT THE TELEPHONE THING...AND CUSTOMER RELATIONS
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Several years ago a federal law was passed that solicitors couldn't just phone people at their homes trying to peddle something. You put your name on a national registry, and you were pretty nearly  guaranteed privacy!

All well and good! For awhile, anyway...Now they are getting around it someway. Is it just plain old belligerence, or what?

Now there are five or six different loud, blatant phone calls coming in to our homes, recurring over and over, every week---

(1) "The FBI wants...blah...blah..." (selling burglar alarms)
(2) "Your credit card may be in trouble"---loud raucous female voice (It couldn't be!)
(3) "Don't hang up!" I don't know what they're selling---I hang up.
(4) "You have won a cruise!" Again, I hang up. I don't think I like cruises.
(5) "This is a water survey..." My, my, are surveys of all kinds popular now!
(6) "Do you own your own home?" Well, how nice. I believe I'll just chit-chat with this stranger about my private business! Isn't it great to be a guy with people interested in you!?

Maybe someone is working in congress---or somewhere to get rid of this new spate of ever-growing phone incursions on our privacy and solitude!

Let's move on to something else. For several decades, in the USA, friendliness and courtesy among clerks, sales people, fast-food workers, waitresses (they still want their tips), medical personnel (even), and government office people have severely declined. One would almost think we are importing our workers from overseas also, like our products!  (Not to  mention that we have to phone India, Bangladesh, or Myanmar to clear up billing problems!)

In high school "Distributive Education" class, we were taught to say to customers: "May I help you?" "Did you find everything you needed?" "Is there anything else?" "Thank you, and come back to see us!"

Recently, and this is true---there was a "thank you" at one store where I traded! Yes, it was I---thanking the clerk--- who never said "boo!" This is sad, my friends.

There may be a ray of hope! There are some positive signs!

My wife and I were talking over coffee this morning, as we always do (and fooling around with our I Pads!) She noted that she was getting a lot of requests from clerks in places she traded, asking her to respond to surveys, written or phoned, telling the employer of the worker what kind of job their employee was doing. She mentioned various businesses, such as Walgreens, her Presbyterian doctor, and KFC. We like KFC's CFS on Tuesdays @ 2.29, and the personnel there are always courteous and helpful to the extreme.

(Presbyterian Health sends a questionnaire to every person treated by one of their doctors, technicians, or after hospital stays.)

It put me in mind of the old Baldridge Hardware in Albuquerque, now closed. They were so good and helpful. A rarity.  And that friendly guy at Subway! Also Appleby's has telephone surveys, to which they hope folks will respond.  The survey which I have responded to the most is Panda Express--they have a super-clean operation, and their people try their best. I respond because I like their free egg roll.

(I must tell you this. Recently, I had occasion to phone Cabella's about a faulty product.  This splendid lady with a cheerful, bright, clear voice answered and routed me to a service rep. He was so good and sharp that I thanked him profusely. He said: "Would you repeat that to my supervisor?" I did repeat my appreciation for both these representatives.)

The wife was saying, "I'm getting behind on some of these surveys---the girl at KFC asked me to be sure and answer and also the girl at Walgreen's...and here's one I need to fill out, from the doctor!" "I'm getting mixed up," she said.

"I get all these surveys too," I answered. "Got one from Presbyterian Health on that leg scan I had, and then I mistakenly sent the survey about my Presbyterian heart doctor to Wienerschnitzel!" She about died over that one, and replied through her laughter: "Just be glad you didn't send the Wienerschnitzel survey to your doctor at Presbyterian Health by mistake."

"I did," I replied!

Anyway, maybe we are making some progress...a little at a time in customer relations. And I thank you very much for reading, and hope you will come back at every opportunity!

 (Writers note: No, I didn't send as noted above. That was merely the clever use of  "LITERARY LICENSE," to maintain for you the joke I pulled on the wife/editor!)

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BY MIL
3/01/13


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