When is June?

I always look forward to receiving the Southampton Harbour Lights Picture House brochure each month. When the June issue arrived, I was excited to see they are screening Top Hat on 10 June, so I phoned the box office to book tickets, only to be told it doesn’t go on sale until 5 June. Golden rule: don’t advertise something you can’t sell.

My wife found the opposite problem. She bought the June issue of Good Housekeeping on 27th May only to find that a readers’ offer from M&S ran out on 23rd May. She phoned GH to complain but the person she spoke to couldn’t care less, arguing that the issue had appeared in early May.

Two good examples of how to piss off your customers.

Hiya

Is it what is said or the thought behind it that counts when it somes to customer service? I find an increasing number of the young people at checkouts now say 'Hiya' and 'Seeya' rather than 'Hello' and 'Goodbye'. I would normally argue that someone serving should tailor their language to the customer but since this is their natural form of language so they're not being impolite, I think it would be unreaosnable to expect them to second guess how I would like to be greeted. It's much better and offers a more genuine service than them parroting 'Have a nice day' because that's what you've been trained to say.