Wednesday, April 23, 2008

American Customer Service

Americans often complain about French customer service.
Sure, it comes with Frenchitude -- not always pleasant, often perceived as stroppy, but at least things get done. Somehow. Which can't be said of American customer service: it may be nice, but it usually comes with subtext such as "Hi, I'm Cindy your table manager, and I don't care about you because I'm untrained, I'm paid minimum wage, and I hate my job." It is part of everyday life here. Average customers have to put up with it -- unless they can find a way to sue. Which is probably why lawsuits are so common in this country.

We had been waiting for important papers mailed from France in January. They never arrived. But last week, we received the original envelope -- torn with nothing inside -- in a pre-printed U.S. Postal Service plastic bag with the "Dear Postal Customer" note above. On se moque de qui, là?! Is this what Americans call customer service? If so, we'll choose stroppy -- and efficient.
scan of nonsensical USPS note LA Frog