Why are the daily routines of rules and regulations taking precedence over basic customer service? In a society that thrives on customers and their happiness, how is it that many organizations will promise customer satisfaction first and then leave the customer feeling less than satisfied or understood?

I had a recent conversation with a friend that was left feeling misunderstood and uncared for as he tried his best to make an organization understand his frustration with their policy. In recent visits to this organization, he had to wait outside the building for the staff to open the doors for a 7:00 am appointment. The organization schedules his appointment at this time on Saturday mornings and for the past several years he has never been late or missed an appointment without good reason.

Last Saturday he arrived at the establishment a few minutes before his appointment only to find the building dark and empty. It was a few minutes before 7:00 am and dawn was slowing lighting the horizon. The building is not in the best part of town, but that was not so much a concern as to why the company asked him to be there at 7:00 am and no one was there to let him in on the planned time. Finally, an associate arrived a few minutes after 7:00 am, yet did not let him or the other donors into the building. Even though they have a perfectly good reception area, it is not accessible to the donors waiting on the staff to open their doors.

My friend became frustrated and his first instinct was to leave and not return, however, his appointment is to donate much-needed platelets and the people who receive these platelets should not be the victim of the organization's lack of customer service. He addressed his concern for being left out in the dark and cold on an early morning and was told for "security reasons" they cannot let the donors in until their protocol is completed. He sent an email to management venting his frustration with the lack of concern for the donors, yet he knows it will fall through the cracks and nothing will change.

This week I was at my local store that also has a pharmacy. I shop at this store weekly and have filled several prescriptions at said store. Last week it was 2 for a continuing problem I am experiencing. The pharmacy tech is familiar with me however, it was not until this recent experience that I realized that customer service is not one of her best qualities.

As I handed her my prescription per usual, she asked for my date of birth. I answered without hesitation and she began to read the script and stopped and looked at me as if I had two heads. "This is not filled out correctly, your name is not on the script. This can be for anybody," and she shoved it back at me like it was on fire. Yes, it was an opioid script and I know there are a lot of laws and concerns with these types of prescriptions. I was not aware that the doctor had not completed the form correctly, I am not a frequent user of these kinds of drugs. I asked her if I could get the doctor to call in the script for me or confirm this is a valid prescription as I just had a procedure and was in a great deal of pain and needed to be home in bed.

Her lack of empathy was apparent as her demeanor changed. I instantly felt like she thought me a criminal and trying to break the law. I called my doctor's office and they informed her that it was a valid prescription and I did not do anything illegal. However, in the time it took for me to have them call her, she had discussed the situation with her boss, and they had decided that they would not accept it. And in the middle of the store in front of other customers, she stated I was breaking the law and she was going to shred the script and I should go back to my doctor.

I returned to my doctor's office and they apologized. However, their customer service was lacking as well because they gave me a problematic script. Upon my return to the pharmacy, the tech was not sympathetic to my feelings of frustration and when I asked her to admit she treated me with disrespect she refused based on the legal stand that she had no other recourse. What happened to "the customer is always right?"

We live in an age where a word or phrase in social media can cause great pain to many people, however, stand in line at a store or restaurant and ask for assistance and those same people who feel insulted on social media will ignore your needs for whatever makes their lives easier. I want to go back to the time when a neighbor, coworker, associate, and any Joe on the street will stop and think before they react and remember, the person you are ignoring is someone's mother, sister, nana, or child. Take that extra step to make whatever bothers them something you want to make right no matter what the rules might be. Let's not let rules and regulations supersede caring and empathy for human needs.