Customer Service 6 - Queue Here

In my ongoing series about customer service, I follow on from the last post about computer says no to a post about queuing up for service.

No one likes to queue up for things, as it seems like a ridiculous pointless exercise. We all want what we want immediately. Queues are often confusing and may wind in many directions. Some people may also cut the queue, which drives people mad. Others may have problems that take forever and we're all thinking, if only I could go first, my problem only takes a second.

Some of the worse places for queues are at sports stadiums. The queues can be so long and usually you are standing outside in the hot sun. Nowadays, you can buy tickets online, but here's the crazy part, you need to pay an extra fee for the priviledge of making things easier for yourself. And then if you want to pick up your ticket at the stadium on the day, you again need to queue, albeit a much shorter queue. At least the invent of virtual tickets where you just print out a barcode has made that a bit better.

At quite a few computer stores nowadays, MSY is a classic example, the queues can get so frustrating. Their service is so slow and there is no separation between quick tasks and long tasks. They aren't really geared towards customer service so people asking about things tend to take up the resource of a whole person, of which there are only two or three. This means the line creeps along. Most people just want to pay for something they want to buy. My transactions seem to always be so quick because I know what I want, I ring in beforehand to check that it is in stock and then I pay for it. They need to have a queue where people can just pay for their products.

On the weekend, I went to ANZ bank. The branch at Parkmore shopping centre have introduced a docket machine. Nothing new there, my local deli has had one of those for years. However, the ANZ have separate dockets for separate tasks, again nothing new there. However, the stupidity of it all is that most people who want teller service take a docket and still stand around waiting anyway. You can't relax and have to be listening intently at all times for your number. They don't call it out a few times like at the deli even. If you are not focusing and miss your number, well, you're stuffed. It's probably easier just to queue and there is no confusion. You can talk to your friend in a queue without worrying about missing your number. Unlike at the deli where taking a number means you have time to browse the goods, it serves no purpose here at the bank. The only thing is does is confuse people with bad English skills, as you have to press for the right docket, hear the voice pronounce your number and counter number and then quickly walk over there. I saw a guy who was furious and scrunched up his number and throw it on the floow. He must have missed his number when it was called.

Finally, I was in a queue at the post office that wound it's way out of the shop. It's getting near Christmas and everyone is posting things. The problem with the post office is that it tries to do a bit of everything. This means that people are queueing to pay their bills (fast), send money orders overseas (slow), passports (ultra slow as it takes up a whole person for an hour), send things (fast or slow depending on what, where, how) and if unfortunately you just need to buy some stamps, you may as well tear your hair out waiting. Again, there needs to be separate queues, maybe a priority queue for buying and sending stuff. But then people will not be happy that others are "jumping" the queue.

There is no way to avoid queues and all methods are imperfect. You just have to put up with standing there uselessly doing absolutely nothing but wasting your time. At least you can talk on your mobile nowadays, that always makes it a bit less boring.