Two incidents, many years apart, both while on vacation...

when I hadn't the time or desire to do any more than get back on the road as fast as possible.

My only point was that it is as ridiculous to say, "Small businesses shouldn't be in business" or "Small businesses deserve to fail" as it is to say, "Big chains should be banned" because of individual instances of rotten customer service.

Of course SOME small businesses shouldn't be in business, SOME secretaries shouldn't be allowed to answer the phone, SOME tech support people ought to be fired, and SOME chains don't give a rat's p'toot about providing good customer service or even training their employees in the simple art of saying, "Thank you."

We have one big drug store in my town -- RiteAid -- and with one exception, the employees are always rude.

Three out of four employees at our only dollar store -- The Dollar Tree -- are rude.

(I should mention that I live in "The Friendly City," and these two stores are the exception, not the rule; in most of our stores -- coincidentally, Mom & Pop establishments -- the employees are extremely polite and helpful; in fact, they are much more polite and helpful than the employees at the big chains I invariably frequented when I lived in San Diego.)

How many times have you been at a chain grocery store and gone through the entire transaction without the clerk ever acknowledging your presence because they were deep in conversation with the clerk next door or the bagger or the customer before you who happens to be a fellow soccer mom?

How many times have you been at a big department store during the Christmas rush when they're so stupid they put two people on one register -- one to scan the item and take your money and one to pop off the tags and put it in a bag -- instead of opening a second register, and those two are so busy talking they don't even know you're there?

How many times have you paid your money at a chain store and gotten only a grunt from the clerk in response to YOUR "thank you" (when it should have been HER "thank you")??

In fact, it's much MORE reasonable to say a big chain should be shut down all across the country because of one really bad experience than it is to lump "small businesses" together like BizNewbie did.

I confess, it hit a nerve the first time, and it hit the same (now raw) nerve this time.

I ran a tiny word processing / medical transcription service for over 20 years, and in the customer-service arena, I put the big guys to shame.

My husband and I clean an office -- I would say we're a Mom & Pop janitorial service except we are not licensed, bonded, or insured and we only have one customer -- and the company says they've "tried them all" and haven't seen service like ours in their 40 years in business.

It is *STRICTLY* an individual thing.

One lousy Mom & Pop establishment -- or a hundred lousy Mom & Pop establishments -- do not reflect IN ANY WAY on the Mom & Pop establishment next door.

Luv,