Fings ain’t wot they used ter be……
The words of this song are over half a decades-old, but if you give them a little leeway, you can recognize many of our 2020 issues. The pace of change, traffic, parking, … – Yes they still manage to irritate our day.
When I was young it was normal for the ‘older generation’ to refer to “The Good Old Days.” From their telling, their life back in the first half of the 20th century was a form of Nirvana. But, with a little checking, it turned out that for every good thing for a few, there were plenty of bad things to be sustained by many.
Similarly, although, as a member of the present “older generation” I concede that I often belay that “things just aren’t what they were,” i.e. not as good, I like to think I have a rounded p.o.v. So for every brickbat, I like to find a bouquet. This brings me to the focus of this web post.
A few days ago I was having coffee with a group of friends who were outdistancing each other on all the ills of the present retail world. Staff was illiterate, rude, slack, discourteous, yada, yada yada. I’m sure we’ve all been there. But I wanted to tell a different experience. And here it is.
Six weeks ago I bought a pond vacuum cleaner from a Brisbane store. It wasn’t very expensive, but from the fancy rhetoric on the fancy box – worth giving it a try, especially as it had a year’s warranty. It turned out to be useless.
A week ago I returned to the store with the item carefully replaced in the box, with my complaint well-rehearsed for the receptionist. He apologized for the disappointing performance of the product and asked me to explain the problem. I did. He then asked if I had my receipt. I had. He then asked if I would like a cup of coffee while he activated the return. A few minutes later he returned, apologized that, as I had paid by credit card, the refund would have to be returned the same way. It may take three days before the credit turns up on your bank statement he said. I said that was fine, and he apologized yet again for the inferiority of the product. I went on my way feeling that I was a valued customer – even though at that time I had not actually made a purchase.
I thought that was worthy of a bouquet, which I give now. The store was Aqua Gardening, and if that was the way things used to be done, then I’m here to say that sometimes “Fings are exactly wot they used ter be.”
*****