Service Industry

There is an interesting phenomenon that I’ve noticed about the service industry. If you’re a seasoned veteran, you’ve likely complained about this many times.

Lies. Customers are liars. Ok, not all of them, and they don’t always know they’re lying, but the vast majority of them are doing it straight to your face. This is an excerpt from a conversation I overheard today:

“I haven’t used the computer since you gave it back to me 3 weeks ago.”

“Have you installed any programs on it?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Pointing to the screen, “Did you install THIS program?”

“Yes, I did.”

How are you supposed to troubleshoot a problem for someone who lies to you? I feel sorry for doctors, especially. I’m sure they get this more than anyone. People make an appointment with their physician and when asked, “Have you had any sexual activity within the past 3 weeks?” reply, “No, doctor, I didn’t sleep with multiple partners today… o-o-or yesterday. …or last week.”

Come on! You’re only making the problem worse. Just be honest. Don’t lie to the auto shop guy. He’s going to figure out how you screwed up your car. It’s only a matter of time. You’re going to feel so much dumber when he calls saying, “Yeah, we found the problem with your Ford Pinto. It seems there were some chunks of animal lodged in your wheel well. It may have been caused by hitting a dog, or perhaps multiple dogs. It’s hard to tell how many different animals these chunks came from.” Now the only excuse available to you is, “Yeah, I was really drunk that night and there were so many dogs on the street. I had to hit them all!”