If you’ve been paying attention, you’re probably aware of the fact that stuff is inherently more expensive now than it was before. You’ve probably also noticed companies having issues with delivery times, product quality, and even the quality of customer service you receive. The reason? Coronavirus, of course. But surely this is a valid excuse, right?
Well, possibly. When all of this is over, though, it’s imperative that we see a paradigm shift back to something resembling normalcy – including realistic prices.
It’s not that I personally mind paying $16 for 6 avocados from Albertsons under the context of a pandemic. Heck, I didn’t even make too much of a fuss when an AC technician read me the riot act while standing in my garage because I asked them a question (“Is the thermostat you were talking about in the house?”) that made them feel like I was telling them how to do their job. I get that this is a stressful time for the economy and individual employees alike.
But with these kinds of actions persisting, they’re becoming substantially less excusable – especially when COVID is invariably used as a continuing excuse.
Call me pessimistic (seriously, you can), but we saw something similar happen with Hurricane Katrina. After the initial spike in goods required for Katrina responses – something that, while inconvenient, is completely understandable – many noticed that the price on those goods never really went back down.
That, in simple terms, is atrocious.
Using any kind of emergency as an excuse to offer subpar service, overpriced items, and other inconvenient aspects of life may be necessary under the conditions of whatever the emergency is – a meat shortage, a hurricane, a global pandemic – but using those conditions to establish a new norm once operating under them is no longer pertinent isn’t appropriate, and consumers should feel comfortable expecting more decorum from the businesses they frequent.
In fact, the only real excuse for “subpar service” is a shortage of employees – something that is completely reasonable to expect under current circumstances. When these circumstances no longer apply, neither does the excuse.
Companies, take note: A global pandemic is not a free pass. Please – from the people who pay for your products – don’t outstay your welcome on this one.
Jack Lloyd has a BA in Creative Writing from Forest Grove's Pacific University; he spends his writing days using his degree to pursue semicolons, freelance writing and editing, oxford commas, and enough coffee to kill a bear. His infatuation with rain is matched only by his dry sense of humor.
Eric
March 23, 2021 at 8:54 pm
There is absolutely no excuse for the decline in service since covid. If you offer a service either preform it correctly or stop pretending to provide it. I just ordered some things from games workshop. They say it might take up to 25 days because of covid. Why? What possible reason can they be suggesting. I work at an RV dealership, weve been open this whole pandemic. I can not simply tell customers oh yea your RV will be 25 days for this repair cause covid. So tired of this BS. Trades workers need to make WAY more money. We still live in the real world where success is based on results. Its just disgusting. If you cant provide the service you exist for. Go out of business or man up. This is disgusting.
Trisha
April 8, 2021 at 3:49 am
It’s been a year and Covid is still the excuse in shipping delays, and not being able to contact or get ahold of customer service reps at companies. This excuse is being over played now. No one wants Covid but if us Healthcare workers can’t use Covid as an excuse for anything, why is it ok for this to be used as an excuse after a year by everyone else? I’m over hearing the automated systems saying longer wait times due to Covid, shipping delays due to Covid.
Miles Dyson
May 6, 2021 at 12:37 pm
I wholeheartedly agree! What I think some business and many people fail to realize is that you can only milk a crisis for so long. We ALL have had to make sacrifices (less store items/longer delivery times). And with that being said, some still believe that crisis can be a huge emotional gain, whether or not the crisis is valid.
We have clearly seen this in every single sector of society from unrest, to identity politics, to education. Even religion, which is usually a calming and stable influence in people’s lives has had to endure it’s share of upheaval and naysayers as well. But, despite advances in immunization and treatment the tired and worn out trope remains “Because of….Insert situation of choice here”.
This embraced mindset has got to be reflected upon, and measured for its validity in the current time. Using Covid as the de facto end all standard of poor performance and behavior is getting tiring and in the long term, will ruin customer relations, job performance, and social interpersonal relationships, and even capitalism itself. It almost feels sometimes as if America was looking for a perfect excuse NOT to be at its best, not to treat others fairly, and to look at ones fellow neighbor as a nefarious purveyor of lies and deceit rather than a person who shares the same fears, the same hopes and dreams.
We can ill afford to ever look at a crisis again with the same eyes as before. We must look at each crisis, measure it with the best metrics available, and come to a fair and balanced solution. A solution that actually takes into account that there will be greedy and selfish individuals and businesses that will take advantage of Covid or ANY crisis situation.
Sometimes the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but sold with deception from people with bad intentions. There is a reason the Preamble of the Constitution specifically says “We the people” not “We the corporations” not “I the individual” WE THE PEOPLE. We are ultimately responsible for all this greed and deception as we should have opened our mouths, and closed our wallets. We should have politely corrected a business for its bad customer service and refused that product or service if it seemed to carry the “Covid Tax” aka the “It’s a bad time and you pay for me taking the risk whether it is a valid concern, or not.
Please, I urge you out there if you read this. The customer is NOT always right but neither is the company or the individual. It is YOUR money and your patronage that keep America going. Give it to those who really work hard to encourage your business and your loyalty and cast those out who are just using you as an additional fee or a “convenience”.
M.M.
January 30, 2022 at 9:11 am
I 100% agree with every comment you just said. I’m reading this 2 years into the pandemic and things are getting worse by the day. Part of the problem is that employees now believe that they can tell employers what to do. This will continue to become a problem until we stand up.
Scott F
June 6, 2021 at 2:13 pm
I agree, covid is a bs excuse being used by companies as the reason for crappy service. They are using it to take advantage of the consumer. Like not allowing you to try clothes on and then only giving store credit “if” you meet all of their requirements for returning an item. They obviously hope you just don’t bother. I have to return more stuff than I’d like as it is due to poor quality. I certainly don’t need more.
M.M.
January 30, 2022 at 9:06 am
I ran across this post by doing a basic Google search, why is customer service so bad in 2022 and know its been awhile since this was written but 100% agree with this article. To make matters worse, now a large portion of our country believes in their mind that they can just tell their employers what to do. The laziness is becoming unacceptable and is unbelievable! I have been a tech sales person and set up computers in businesses for 15 years and I’m at an honest breaking point. When I install the system I have to call the company and get special codes to activate their system and software, only provided by the company that set the equipment up. This has resulted in some of the most pathetic and embarrassing months of my business lifetime. I have heard including but not limited to doors slamming, huge dogs barking in the background so loud i cannot hear the tech support agent, babies crying, televisions blaring, water running (sounded like a damn washing machine) among many others. There was even one call that I was on the phone with a tech agent for 2 hours and 42 minutes for a simple troubleshooting step and I swear he had a pack of what sounded like St. Bernard’s running in the background. He admitted he was walking around in his yard (yes he was ON the clock) and wasn’t even in front of his computer and was trying to troubleshoot a problem by “memory “. I’m so sick of the crappy service that I now refuse to do business with Talech at all because of too many of these types of calls.
I understand now that people are refusing to work if they have to drive to work now and will only accept a job if they can do it from home so they can halfway do the job. Im sure there is a small percentage that can handle working from home but it is a small percentage. Well, this is the sad future of our country if we allow this to happen and unfortunately we are going to get taught a hard lesson. Good luck! We all need it…
Raymond Stevens
April 18, 2022 at 7:59 pm
I’m unsure what we, as customers and consumers, can do about this abuse if everybody is gouging. Where can we go for fair treatment? The only thing we can do is talk with our wallet. Do without unless absolutely necessary. But that is tough to do too. Look at the price of gasoline as one small example of not having a choice except to get gouged and grin and bear it.
Lani Rosales, COO + News Director
April 26, 2022 at 3:07 pm
Really great points, Raymond, and it’s not clear yet what the overarching answer will be, BUT you’re right to vote with your wallet.