This Garlic Naan is Really Heavy
So last night I ordered some Indian food from a local place. It took about 1.5 hours to get here. That's not the story, I'm the patient type. The story is... at 90 minutes, I got a call on my phone.
"Hi, delivery." said the delivery person.
"Hi" said the hungry Ken.
"Are you at [### Rd]?"
"Yes, are you lost?"
"No, I'm here, can you come down and get the food?"
"Is the gate code not working?"
"It works but can you come down?"
"Umm..."
At this point, I'm thinking, "Wait a second, if the code works and you're not lost, why aren't you actually delivering to my door?" Get your lazy ass up here! Now you might be thinking: diva much? But I'm usually a nice guy, full of "thank you's" and "yes, that is a very generous tip, thanks for noticing." This particular delivery was different, it irked me.
"No, I can't, I'm busy right now. Please come up"
But of course, as soon as I say that, I feel guilty. Why couldn't I meet him half way? I mean, maybe he's running late or has a tough time figuring out elevator buttons. I should have just gone down to meet him.
Argh! I put on some pants, find my keys, and head out the door. As the door swings shut I suddenly remember that I was supposed to be busy. So I head back inside, grab a few paper towels and wet them. A busy person has wet paper towels, it's a well-known fact.
I head to meet the guy halfway at the elevator. On the way, I go through my repertoire of available faces: "Concerned Friend" No. "You stole my parking spot!" No. "Does this look infected to you?" No. "Is that 13 items in her cart?!" Perfect!
I reach the elevator and almost push the button but then I think, "Wait a second, why am I out here? I'm not going down. Screw that. I'm paying for delivery not half-delivery."
The delivery goes down as one would expect, eventless. As I walk back to my place, I run through the possible things he could have done to the food while in the elevator. I tell myself I don't like Indian food that much anyways.
This whole episode got me thinking. You can go 90% of the way with customer service but if you give up at that point, you might as well have not started. How much responsibility do we have as customers to meet you half way? Do we have any at all? Should I have gone down in the first place?
3 comments:
Don't you pay extra for them to deliver to your house? I know around here you do.
Anyways to your question, yes I believe we can meet them half way. But in all actuality it's their job to be nice to you. We really have no responsibility to me nice to them and no you should'nt have gone done.
I mean are you kidding me? It took 1.5 hours, I know I would be pretty annoyed. But then again I would still be friendly to the guy.
I didn't pay more, unless you include the tip. On principle, I shouldn't have gone down or even met them half way. It's a tricky thing though, when I become a customer, does that mean I lose the social pact of politeness?
Ok I'm talking about a fee added into the total cost of the delivery. I know most places do it around here to help with the gas. I think Pizza Hut might also do it.
Continuing on with "does that mean I lose social pact of politness?" No it doesn't, I'm sure snobby people believe that it does. But I would have to say no, being a polite person myself that is. I'm sure you could have met him half way or even all the way.
I was wondering why he asked you to come down and if he would have given me (well you in this instance) a good reason I would have gone down to meet him. But all he did was ask, no reason stated. Anyways I will agree that with this situation you did the right thing.
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