Sunday, March 11, 2007

Customer No-Service Rant - Local Gas Station Public Restroom

It takes a lot to get me outwardly upset. One thing that does it for me, though, is poor customer service.

We just came from the Marathon station on Colerain Avenue, north of Banning Road, in Cincinnati, Ohio. I paid at the pump for gas, and, as Keisha and I are cleaning off the windows, she says she has to go to the restroom. When she says it, she means it and usually needs to go right away. That's what we have learned from the past anyway.

She went inside and came out a few seconds later. "Daddy, they don't have a restroom."

I went inside and asked the attendant if that was so. "Our public restroom is broken."

"But where do YOU go then?"

"Oh, we have our own."

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You're going to let this little girl have an accident here on your floor because you don't have a restroom for her to go to."

"Yeah. The one we have for customers is broken."

"I understand. But YOU have one that's working, but you're not going to let her use it."

Why not provide a great customer service experience, huh? Whether it's buying gas or needing to use a restroom or buying a refreshment, why not make it great for customers so that they will tell their friends and will return? Why not go the extra mile to help customers out?

I now understand why we go to the more modern stations that have restrooms for everyone.

None of this probably makes any sense, but I just had to get it out here.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am a great believer in customer service. Did you submit the details of this experience to the management of that establishment? If you could give more details (tel. number, web address / street address) I would gladly pass it on. I have had the same response myself, but when a child is involved it is unforgiveable.

Anonymous said...

I work for a gas station, and I could tell you the washroom have always been a source of conflict between the gas station attendant and customer. You would never ever imagine the kind of crap customer pull using the washroom: Human waste all over the floor and garbage can, yellow stain on seat, used paper towel all over the place, blood all over the washroom from junkies, not to mention the occasional customers that somehow missed the lesson on how to flash a toilet.
So when the washroom is a mess, guess who is left to deal with this kind of crap and clean everything up?
Yes, we understand you really need to go. Yes, public washroom is part of the gas station permit. However, with soooooo many crap happening and idiotic customers' abuse and misuse of washroom, yeah, you just don't get to use the washroom.an

Unknown said...

I think it is silly for them not to let your daughter go. I understand that these restrooms get trashed, but the fact that you personally asked would mean they know who was in there. I am pregnant and have had to ask for private restrooms several times. Luckily they have catered to my immediate needs. I just read a customer service book
that talked about companies today and how they miss the customer service side of things. I found it very interesting.