I just returned from a B&B with no hot water in the shower. When I told the proprietor, he looked at me like I insulted his daughter.

“We’ve never had a problem with that shower,” he declared. “It’s good as new.”

How do you respond to that?

“Obviously, it’s not good as new,” I should’ve said. “A new shower has a hot water handle that’s more than a cruel tease.”

Instead, I said, “Oh.”

He growled and walked away. No apology. No promise to look into it. Nothing.

It reminds me of how supermarket cashiers respond when I point out I was overcharged for an item in my shopping cart. After a lengthy price-check confirms I’m right, they sigh, delete the inflated price and enter the correct one.

No apology. No promise to look into it. Nothing.

“You may want to fix that so it doesn’t happen to others,” I helpfully say.

If I’m lucky, they grunt in acknowledgement. But they rarely dignify my suggestion with an audible response.

Customer service training programs are readily available: online self-study tutorials, audio conferences, seminars at Doubletree. Why don’t executives invest $50 to educate their employees?

Speaking of Doubletree, I will never go there again. After a debacle of a stay at the Jersey City Doubletree in April, I wrote a letter detailing my complaints.

No apology. No promise to look into it. Nothing.

No reply, even!

I dream of Peavey’s. Bring back that kindly man who helped me with all my hardware needs like I was his nincompoop son.

____________________