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Some of the longest, most tortured consumer stories involve home delivery. When Tony and Sandra Cantafio of Redondo Beach, Calif., bought a bed last October, they had to wait four weeks for it to arrive because of lost paperwork and other snafus. The result for Cantafio was an aching back from sleeping on the sofa. But there was another pain: to get the bed finally, Cantafio had to take an entire day off from his job as an aerospace executive because the deliverymen refused to predict what time they would arrive at his home.
In other cases, workers spoil an otherwise fine job with an almost creatively bad gesture. A Manhattan woman who bought carpet from a tony department store was pleased that the two installers were so friendly and efficient, but puzzled about why they left "like two robbers in a getaway car." Later she discovered the reason: they had used her bathroom as a Dumpster for a three-foot pile of carpet clippings and packing material.
Sometimes consumers encounter sales clerks who cannot find the "on" button on electronic equipment they are selling. A clerk handling vacuum cleaners in a department store confesses to a customer, "I don't know a damn thing about these." Over in the shoe department, clerks nowadays may simply dump boxes at customers' feet rather than helping them with the merchandise.
Consumer grief is even becoming part of the pop culture. Comedian Jay Leno says that when he chided a supermarket clerk for failing to say thank you, she snapped, "It's printed on your receipt!" The film Back to the Future cracked up its audiences with a scene in which Michael J. Fox's character, who has traveled back in time, walks past a 1950s-era filling station and is flabbergasted to see four cheery attendants in neatly pressed coveralls. Like a pit crew at the Indianapolis 500, they dash up to a car and proceed to fill the gas tank, check the oil, clean the windows and polish the chrome.
Current U.S. levels of service sometimes appear lax to Americans when they return home from trips to Japan and Western Europe. While no country boasts the highest standards in every field, other cultures are more demanding of some services than America is. Most European countries insist on timely and efficient service on their railroads and airlines, which receive state subsidies to assure that performance. Americans who visit London typically come away with fond memories of the city's excellent taxicabs and subway system. The shortage of personal attention comes just when U.S. consumers are enjoying a cornucopia of novel products and services. Thus the deterioration of basic, personal service is taking the fun out of the new offerings. Shoppers can now find ten kinds of mustard and a dozen varieties of vinegar in a supermarket, but where is a clerk who can give a guiding word about these products? Airlines offer a bonanza of cheap fares, but many travel agents no longer want to be bothered handling such unprofitable business. That leaves consumers on their own, so they have to grab brochures and do their homework if they hope to make a correct decision. To take advantage of consumer advances today requires a tougher and smarter buyer.