Dear Editor,

One would believe that good manners and a professional disposition are automatic in a reputable place of business. At least I hoped it would have been the case when I went book-hunting on the morning of Wednesday, January 8 at the Sangster’s Book Stores outlet at the Springs Plaza in Half-Way-Tree.

I walked into the bookstore, proceeded to the counter where a middle-aged female staffer was seated. I made enquiries of a paperback novel I was interested in purchasing and awaited a response. I waited for a response. I counted 1, 2, 3, 4… 13, 14, 15 seconds. No reply came.

Then, to add insult to non-acknowledgement injury, said staffer swivelled her chair away from my direction to tend, almost immediately, to a customer behind me who was purchasing stationery.

To say I felt slighted and belittled would betray the rage that summoned itself within me.

I, however, calmly upbraided this staffer, who could not have extended the courtesy of good manners to me, a customer no less. Sadly, she admitted no fault in her actions toward me.

The beauty of life is that we are all blessed with choices. In these days of globalised commerce consumers need not accept anything but the best service, and employers must see to it that staffers are exposed to the basic tenets of good customer service. I exercise my ability to choose to shop elsewhere.

Bad manners leave a bad taste.

Clarence Dennis

St Andrew