St. Lucia is the only place I know where Businesses and the Public sector alike expect St. Lucians to keep their mouths shut and pay for bad service. Many of these institutions get insensed when the few customers that are bold enough, stand in front of their dollar and demand better service. What has me insensed, is that there are consumers who either offer excuses on their behalf, or encourge this behaviour by saying nothing. If we are saying nothing, then why do we have such an impotent society? Is it that St. Lucians are just not willing to assert their rights as consumers? Or is it that our "government for the people" have forgotten to create a mechanism to empower consumers, and facilitate their right to demand the best for the money that most work so hard to earn? Is this a legacy of the enslavement period when we simply had no choice but to accept scraps?St. Lucians are as much to blame as those institutions that disrespect our right to proper service. The arguments that we are small or we have few resources, are feable excuses. Many of the little things that make a customer feel valued, are not costly. What does it cost to say "good morning", or "how can I help you today"? What does it cost to have goods arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner. What does it cost to label shelves in grocery stores in order reduce the difficulty with finding goods? How much does it cost to keep floors swept regularly? How much does it cost to keep garbage out of sight in the customer contact area?
There are services that do cost. These services must be provided and can be simply viewed as part of the cost of doing business. For example, every eat-in restaurant should provide clean washroom facilities. The lighting and ventilation must be adequate. In grocery stores, about-to-be expired products should not be sold. Rusty grocery carts should be kept from customers at all cost. Also in grocery stores, particularly in the ground provisions section, wilted, or spoilt food should removed and replace at regular intervals.
One of the obvious deficiencies in most business places, is the poor level of training of customer contact staff. Most of these workers have no training on
