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The Invisible Customer
This post is about something frustrating that many of us experience. Invisibility. Not the science fiction type (or even via a negative index of refraction by new metamaterials). I'm talking about the seeming invisibility we can experience in stores, doctor's offices, restaurants or just about anywhere involving customer service. A few examples:
1. Passed over in a store line. We were standing in line in front of a customer service counter waiting politely for 10 minutes for the customer representative to finish serving the person in front of us. The representative then walked to another cash register to put something away. Another customer immediately walked right up to her. Instead of asking that customer to please wait in line, she started helping him and left us waiting again.
2. Blown off in a restaurant. My brother made a reservation at a restaurant a few years ago. When we arrived, we were told to wait at the bar. Over an hour passed after the reservation time while people walked in off the street and were immediately shown to tables. Nobody else seemed to need to wait at the bar. My wife was in agony the entire time due to arthritis in her hip and knee (she had to stand since she couldn't use the barstools). The hostess noticed but did nothing.