Customer Satisfaction 101: How Not to Treat Your Customers

You may have heard about this news item. In a proactive effort to lessen the chances of a terrorist attack on one of Canada’s urban transit systems, the Federal government has announced that it will be disbursing several million dollars to the transit commissions in six Canadian cities, with the putative aim of setting up better surveillance equipment and monitoring logistics. Now, you won’t hear an argument from me about the need to be vigilant on security matters in the current global climate, but I have another funding suggestion for the Feds: how about doling out some money to help the municipal transit corporations beef up their customer service?

I’m going to tell an anecdote that should instantly be familiar to anyone who has ever had the misfortune of riding on a city bus in Montreal. The scene takes place during rush hour, and as a result, a sizable crowd has gathered at the bus stop.

The schedule is printed on the inside of the shelter and it is clearly marked that during peak hours this bus is supposed to pass every six minutes or less. In this case, however, it has been close to 15 minutes since the last bus. The crowd of about 10 people is beginning to get restive; they are looking at their watches, anxious lest they should be late for a meeting, briefing, or presentation. Eventually, a bus appears several blocks down the busy boulevard. The crowd queues and waits. But, to everyone’s surprise, the bus, though marked with the correct route number, does not in fact stop, but rather, rolls right by the impatient crowd.

Apparently, the bus driver has decided that the bus is too full; and yet, no less than 6 or 7 standing room spaces can be observed in the rear of the vehicle. One woman, noticeably upset, runs toward the bus, which by now is idling at a red light, and begins to pound on the door, gesturing wildly to the driver that there is room in the rear.

Unfortunately, the driver pays no attention to this poor woman and leaves the door closed; he does not even spare a gesture of acknowledgement. The woman screams and fulminates for about half a minute before abandoning her case and angrily walking away.

The sight of a customer so highly agitated would usually necessitate the intervention of a manager or supervisor at any place of business, retail or corporate. And any employee who so flagrantly dismissed a distressed customer would have to fear for his or her job.

But in this case, an angry would-be passenger was just something to be dismissed. Given the fact that the current transit corporation has a monopoly on bus services in Montreal, there can be no happy ending to this story. But this should be a lesson nonetheless, because in other industries, where competition is fiercer (and existent), driving a customer to such frustration is a sure sign that you will never get his or her business again.