Whatever Happened To Customer Service?

This post has been inspired by a really disappointing customer service experience I had when ordering a Pizza Pizza. I know I’m getting old when I think what has happened to customer service but bear with me folks and let me vent. The story begins in the lovely abode of the lovely Nikki with a rumble in my tummy and a night of unwinding ahead of us. So I picked up the rotary and called our friendly neighbourhood pizza pizza store and ordered a family platter. Now you may be asking yourself why a family platter? If so you’re obviously not students, we hoard pizza like western grey squirrels hoard pine nuts or in Toronto little packets of coke. So I order and have to repeat everything about 4 times, especially the part about not wanting to have bbq sauce on my pizza because I detest the stuff. After completing my order I’m told it’ll get there as soon as possible. This is strange to me since there is generally a forty minute guarantee. Forty five minutes and some stomach rumbling later I call and ask what’s happened to our pizza and I was told “not to worry about it it’ll get there”

Despite this quite reassurance I was slightly perturbed about where my pizza was, who it was hanging out with and if it might be lying in a ditch somewhere with four cheese topping all over the road. However I sat by the t.v and waited quietly for my tardy pizza pizza to arrive. Fifty seven minutes later those pesky pizza’s showed up and I asked about this forty minute guarantee and was told this area did not have such a guarantee which I can understand but I wanted to see it written on my receipt. Unfortunately the pizza guy decided he couldn’t part with it, after all they’d bonded on their journey. I was prepared even to let this fly but the pizza itself was not hot, yes there’s a guarantee on that as well but maybe not in my area or when the outdoor clines go below 16 degree celcius.

So against my Canadian instincts I decided to call customer service. They were great, so great they put on my on hold for 10 minutes with out any explanation as to what was happening. Now I have things to do and a luke warm cheese steak pizza getting cold so I decide to let it go and enjoy my pizza. As I begin my pizza one thing becomes obvious, there appears to be a sticky red substance on my pizza pizza. Now willing to give the benefit of the doubt I went CSI on the pizza and made sure it was not blood or some sort or Red Blood Cell extract but it was indeed bbq sauce. Thus began my venture for truth and justice.

I decided to write them an e-mail since I had such a terrible time with them on the phone. On Wednesday I hadn’t heard back from them so I decided to call customer service again. It was there I was told that although I wrote an e-mail they couldn’t help me I had to deal with the e-mail people who apparently can take as long as they wish to reply due to the fact “they may get a million e-mails one day and zero the next” This seemed a little off so through some convincing I got my e-mail to get ahead of the other 999 999. I was told that they would give me a 5 dollar credit although they didn’t sound too happy about it. Now since the order was worth about 34 dollars and any pizza at the place (whose identity I have tried my best to conceal) would be more than 7 that seems slightly unfair.

What do you guy’s think about this? Also what’s the worst customer service experience you’ve ever had? Also isn't office space a fantastic movie?