>> I've made it my policy that if I'm waiting in line to be served and
>>> the sales clerk thinks it's *more* important to take a telephone
>>> interruption than to serve me I'll put down my purchase and walk out
>>> of that store. Telephone customers do not have any more clout than
>>> customers who are in front of you.
> I'm a little more lenient. I figure the caller has no idea that
> there's a queue for the clerk's attention. I let the clerk answer the
> phone, and if they're good, they'll put the person on hold, and then
> apologize for the delay. No real loss of time or attention for me. If
> they begin to talk to the person, then I can get upset.
In fact, the same goes for face-to-face service. I once walked into a picture frame shop and the owner (who was the only person working there) would not even acknowledge my presence -- he just continued an ongoing conversation with other people. After 10 minutes of this, I walked out and wrote him an angry letter. How much would it have cost him to say, "Hello, I'll be with you in a minute"? It cost him $200 in business not to do so.