Have you ever wondered why American customer service and retail service is nothing more than a pathetic joke? Stay with me on this because I think I have finally figured this out. In life there are those that succeed and those who miss the boat. Those who miss the boat typically couldn't perform in high school therefore couldn't attend university and when one doesn't attend college they typically fall deeper and further from the position they once dreamed and soon develop an alter ego to give them the ability to make it through the day without breaking into tears at every turn. This split personality is the one that stems from an inferiority complex and self-hate due to lack of ability to gain a legitimate acceptance with the 'in' crowd that they fantasize about. Sadly these people will go from one relationship to another, one fast food or retail job to the next and never make it in life, I have coined this the Ventresca Syndrome and you'll find out why in a sentences.
I've lived in Doylestown, Pennsylvania all my life (a small Philadelphia suburb), did my under grad at PENN with an MBA from Wharton, a majority of the local population comes from a similar pedigree so I say this, not to impress the reader but to set a stage for the money that people have to spend in this locality on premium goods and what is expected in return.
When someone buys a product with a premium price tag they will expect a premium grade service to go along with it yet time and time again we are let down. Why is this? Why is it that customer service and a smile are archaic and obsolete only to be replaced by a social misfit that believes that the money people pay for a service somehow gives them a localized and vicarious (via those buying with money to spend) platform to treat people like dirt?
I believe I have the answer in this unique case study. Imagine a special occasion requiring an outfit that is a little high end, you look in the local yellow pages under 'Tuxedo' and 'Men's ware' and you find Ventresca. Here is where our case study begins. This local clothing tailor is the perfect example of a store that locals with money don't go to but out of town insecure upstarts will ... once. It's a fact: to be snooty and arrogant without substance is 'pretentious' and nothing more. Sadly, Ventresca is exactly that type of store. Think about it, you have one in your town. Tell me if I'm painting a picture that is familiar to you. For starters when you walk in, the walls are plastered with ultra-cheesy pinups of has been rappers with those old 'Kid n' Play' haircuts (yes, the eleven inch flat tops) with the Ventresca 'pimp' look alike garb to boot. YES! It is as wretched and amusing as it sounds but this isn't even the worst of it. After you begin to dry-heave from the 'pimp daddy mac' decor, you'll be greeted by 'Tyrone' the North Philly homeless guy turned wannabe tailor or one of the other ultra-snooty, socially confused intellectual midgets polluting the storefront.
If anything the regional population should visit this backwards poser shop for a laugh or to see how 'not' to run a business. It's sad to see a small, local business infested with miserable, social misfits who hate what they see when they look in the mirror and live above their means by financing a 1985 BMW at $89 per month with shiny silver painted hubcaps and a fresh wax on faded red paint. It's even more pathetic if, hypothetically, a customer was to actually buy into the goofy act of lower level trash apartment living halfwits at a place like this; sad and pathetic but absolutely the best laugh you'll ever have in your life.
Sadly, every town has a Ventresca Limited kind of store where they treat people like trash, insult their customers and somehow, they stay afloat. The moral of this story is that those who underachieve yet want the legitimacy of 'achievers' will always be with us. They are the sad incarcerated desolate who one day just gave up on life, the 40 year old clothing retail salesperson trying to be with the in crown yet hopelessly and desolately fails over and over again until they give up and at the end of the day are only qualified to flip burgers at a local fast food joint.
We as a society need to be patient with these underachievers and social cranks. Rehabilitation is possible and we can help them by accepting them for what they are and instead of getting angry, it's OK to laugh at them (or with them) but don't waste time and energy in returning the awkward social ignorance of the intellectually inferior and socially unacceptable.
I've lived in Doylestown, Pennsylvania all my life (a small Philadelphia suburb), did my under grad at PENN with an MBA from Wharton, a majority of the local population comes from a similar pedigree so I say this, not to impress the reader but to set a stage for the money that people have to spend in this locality on premium goods and what is expected in return.
When someone buys a product with a premium price tag they will expect a premium grade service to go along with it yet time and time again we are let down. Why is this? Why is it that customer service and a smile are archaic and obsolete only to be replaced by a social misfit that believes that the money people pay for a service somehow gives them a localized and vicarious (via those buying with money to spend) platform to treat people like dirt?
I believe I have the answer in this unique case study. Imagine a special occasion requiring an outfit that is a little high end, you look in the local yellow pages under 'Tuxedo' and 'Men's ware' and you find Ventresca. Here is where our case study begins. This local clothing tailor is the perfect example of a store that locals with money don't go to but out of town insecure upstarts will ... once. It's a fact: to be snooty and arrogant without substance is 'pretentious' and nothing more. Sadly, Ventresca is exactly that type of store. Think about it, you have one in your town. Tell me if I'm painting a picture that is familiar to you. For starters when you walk in, the walls are plastered with ultra-cheesy pinups of has been rappers with those old 'Kid n' Play' haircuts (yes, the eleven inch flat tops) with the Ventresca 'pimp' look alike garb to boot. YES! It is as wretched and amusing as it sounds but this isn't even the worst of it. After you begin to dry-heave from the 'pimp daddy mac' decor, you'll be greeted by 'Tyrone' the North Philly homeless guy turned wannabe tailor or one of the other ultra-snooty, socially confused intellectual midgets polluting the storefront.
If anything the regional population should visit this backwards poser shop for a laugh or to see how 'not' to run a business. It's sad to see a small, local business infested with miserable, social misfits who hate what they see when they look in the mirror and live above their means by financing a 1985 BMW at $89 per month with shiny silver painted hubcaps and a fresh wax on faded red paint. It's even more pathetic if, hypothetically, a customer was to actually buy into the goofy act of lower level trash apartment living halfwits at a place like this; sad and pathetic but absolutely the best laugh you'll ever have in your life.
Sadly, every town has a Ventresca Limited kind of store where they treat people like trash, insult their customers and somehow, they stay afloat. The moral of this story is that those who underachieve yet want the legitimacy of 'achievers' will always be with us. They are the sad incarcerated desolate who one day just gave up on life, the 40 year old clothing retail salesperson trying to be with the in crown yet hopelessly and desolately fails over and over again until they give up and at the end of the day are only qualified to flip burgers at a local fast food joint.
We as a society need to be patient with these underachievers and social cranks. Rehabilitation is possible and we can help them by accepting them for what they are and instead of getting angry, it's OK to laugh at them (or with them) but don't waste time and energy in returning the awkward social ignorance of the intellectually inferior and socially unacceptable.
About the Author:
Want to find out more about Ventresca Syndrome and Customer Service Hall Of Shame, then visit Paul Waxman's favorite site on how to choose the best A Voice For Bad Service Victims .
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