Year of the Veteran? Not for Me

Our business in this world is not to succeed, but to continue to fail, in good spirits.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist

Did you ever wonder what happened to customer service?

It seems as if the very concept of customer service is dying. Go to your average department store and you will experience it. Surly clerks, lack of staff and unhelpful managers seem to be endemic.

Since the dawn of the department store we have had inattentive clerks. Contrary to movies, there is always something more important than waiting on customers to a part-time teenage clerk. That is the nature of the beast. When I was that age, girls and hanging with my friends were way more a priority than customers were. Even though I was being paid to wait on them, and did my utmost to appear friendly and courteous, they were an imposition on my time when one of my friends was around.

Small, family-run businesses, on the other hand, thrived on customer service. Members of the community ran these places and, not only would business suffer if the customer service was not up to par, they would have to face the displeasure of their friends and colleagues at the next Chamber of Commerce meeting, the next Shriner’s meeting or even at the bowling alley.

Now, though, bad customer service seems to have crept into all aspects of our lives.

We are constantly being paid lip service from companies. Wal-Mart is a fine example of that. They like to advertise how wonderful they are with all their employees jumping to help but go into the store and try to actually find someone who isn’t wearing a false smile. One can’t blame them really, working under sweatshop conditions, their jobs constantly in jeopardy if they rock the boat, but still, I wouldn’t mind a little customer service. Sorry, but someone greeting me doesn’t really make up for it.

Not to say all companies are like that. Canadian Tire, to their credit, did give me a gift certificate worth $20 to make up for my wife driving into the store to pick something up and then discovering that the item on their website was not actually what they carried. WestJet is also famous for their customer service. Unfortunately, more are like my experience with U-Haul, who gave us a gift certificate that was only good if you rented one of their trucks. Given that renting their trucks was a nightmare, prompting my complaint in the first place, and that I had made it clear that there was very little chance I would ever use their service again, the gesture was an empty one.

But what can you expect when even our politicians have fallen into this model of customer service? Living for the sound bite, they tell you how they are there for the people but then ignore the people.

For example, look at the recent review of the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The much-heralded look at the post-secondary situation in this province was supposed to help students continue in school with the aim of helping them find jobs later in life. To that end, former Premier Bob Rae was appointed to look into all aspects of the program.

What did we get in the end? We now have yet another report gathering dust on a shelf in Toronto. Not that it addressed what is probably one of the greatest issues facing OSAP, the ineligibility of the middle class. You see, OSAP is set up to dole out money based on the parent’s income tax returns not real expenses. With ever increasing living expenses, middle class parents have less and less money to pay for a child to continue in school.

But, in keeping with the idea of paying lip service to the customer, the government will throw money at the problem and proclaim the wonder of their existence. Rather than rolling up their sleeves and actually addressing the problems, they will announce some wonderful funding, get some headlines and continue on doing nothing.

Then there is my own personal experience with the Federal government.

After my retirement from the Canadian Armed Forces, I was supposed to get a Certificate of Service, a Service Pin and a wallet card. That was 7 years ago and I am still waiting.

I have attempted over the years to find out where they are. In typical governmental bureaucratic fashion, I was bounced from department to department until, finally, I was told they had been sent to me. But where had they gone?

Finally, this summer, after tracking down phone numbers, leaving countless messages and having to involve my Member of Parliament just to get someone to return my calls I was told...they had been sent. Not where, just sent.

Having had enough of this run-around, I again invoked my Member of Parliament to find out where. Finally, I was given an answer. In a classic example of the ineptness that Ottawa has become famous for amongst the rank and file of the Armed Forces, they had sent it to an address that was two years out of date. Not only was this an old address but, there were two messages correcting it sent to Ottawa and no other paperwork showed this address. But, I should pay for replacements.

Say what?

Being a man of principal (and a bit stubborn), I set out to prove it was their incompetence, and therefore their responsibility, that caused this situation. I gathered up all my documentation, scanned it and emailed it all off to my Member of Parliament, the Minster of Veterans Affairs and the Minister of National Defence.

To her credit, my Member of Parliament, Rose-Marie Ur, immediately emailed back an acknowledgement of receipt and some suggestions, but the other two? Nothing!

Finally, after over a month of waiting, I received a response from Veterans Affairs. Again, in their characteristic manner of giving customer service, they informed me that they were passing the buck to National Defence. They did not, at anytime, say they would help but instead, said that since I had written the Minister of National Defence they were sure he would address the issue.

Did I mention that, to date, I have heard nothing from National Defence?

Given this is the “Year of the Veteran” you would think there might be more consideration given to this problem, especially since the main reason I want this now is to get Veterans plates for my car.

Perhaps it is just to make former military members feel like they are back in the service. I certainly feel like it. This is the same sort of run-around one would get as a raw recruit. Maybe that is what they are after, to make me feel comfortable by treating me in a manner that I am used to, one that, like the smell of your mom’s baking, elicits memories of earlier days. Now that’s customer service.