A colleague from the local chamber of commerce shared this story. She purchased a Kindle Fire from a local electronics retailer as a Christmas present for her daughter but found it to be inoperative right out of the box. Upon returning to the store with her daughter and waiting in the long customer service line, my colleague stepped to the counter to advise the store employee of her dilemma.

While speaking with the employee, she noticed that she did not have his undivided attention. He was texting while attempting to address her issue! When asked to look my colleague in the eye as she spoke, the employee advised her that he was “multi-tasking” and continued to text! I guess you all know what happened after that comment. The Kindle Fire along with the service agreement was returned on the spot. My colleague gave her daughter her phone and advised her to order another Kindle Fire via Amazon.

Customers deserve your full attention when visiting your business, whether in person, via the phone (yes, it is noticeable when you’re preoccupied while on the phone), or via chat. This ordeal is easily preventable just by exercising common courtesy.

Employees should be trained to give customers their undivided attention throughout the service interaction. If other customers are waiting, by all means, acknowledge their presence, but give the customer in front of you your undivided attention.

Utilization of one’s cell phone while on duty and especially when servicing a customer is not a good practice if you really want your customers to feel valued. Customers should be made to feel that they are important as they have multiple purchasing options available as my colleague demonstrated by advising her daughter to order another Kindle Fire online.

The fact that additional items, specifically a new laptop, were purchased as Christmas gifts along with the Kindle Fire from this retailer probably fueled my colleague’s decision to not only return the inoperative device but to vow to not make future purchases from this store.

A dose of common courtesy from the original store may have insured her return for a new PC and monitor which were purchased from – you guessed it – another retailer. I wonder how many other people were told about this incident. I wonder if that employee is still “multi-tasking”?