UNITED STATES—This is something that annoys me greatly. Why is it so hard to find decent customer service nowadays? It seems to be the one skill that is lackluster for so many companies nowadays and the first thing that pops into their mind is just to take the customer’s money no matter what. I felt this week I got some of the worst service I’ve seen in years.

Let me be clear this is not in reference to retail establishments. I see them provide some of the best customer service, even when their jobs are very stressful at times. Perhaps I sympathize with those in the retail industry because I worked in the industry for nearly a decade. I know what it’s like to deal with irate, rude or just difficult customers. However, I always have that motto of how would I like to be treated and I utilize that to reflect on the service I give.

Yes, we all have bad days, but that does not give you a pass to just be rude, disrespectful and hateful. I’m seeing this repeated pattern of bad customer service with those companies that provide services like gas, electricity, Cable, internet, cellphone providers, banks, credit card companies and so many others.

It’s like if you have a problem and get on the phone to make a complaint all hell breaks loose. I almost feel as if I’m in the firing seat and they’re asking me, “How dare you call and complain to us?” I’m complaining because I’m a customer and I’m paying for a service and when I don’t get that service or I have issues with that service, I want to know what is going on. My internet has been flippant for nearly 6 plus months. I cannot describe how many times I have contacted my provider asking for the issue to be resolved. They send someone out the issue if fixed for like a few days and then it’s back to causing major issues.

No customer should have to call endless times to try to get their service fixed or corrected. It should take one call; maybe two calls at most, not 15. What frustrates me more is when as a customer you attempt to explain the situation, but you are constantly cut-off by the person on the other end. Worse, they argue and dismiss you as if your claims or notion of why the issue has transpired or why it hasn’t been resolved does not matter. I’m the customer and my concerns should have some weight. Do not dismiss me, hang up on me or put me on hold for minutes and then come back and just dismiss me without resolving the problem at hand.

I’ve seen that happen way too many times in the past week. I should not have to call you 5-10 times via phone before someone picks up the phone to address the issue I previously spoke to someone about, but I still did not get the issues resolved for one reason or another. This does not just anger me as a customer; it makes me want to terminate the service.

It’s like threatening a provider that you are planning to sever ties with them is no new thing, it’s almost like a ton of them actually encourage it, which baffles my mind. Especially when you’re talking about long-term clients that have been with the company not for a few months or a year or so, but years, like a decade or longer. Does it suck to have to terminate a service and then have to find a new provider?

Without a doubt, but I’m starting to realize, when you receive bad customer service or not the top-notch service you expect you have to look somewhere else. That’s the only way some companies learn that good customer service matters, and it’s not just how you speak to people, it’s about fixing or resolving an issue that is ongoing or causing one unnecessary stress.

Written By Kelsey Thomas