Sure, sometimes it angers us when customers want to return an item. Maybe there's a dispute regarding the "return policy", but does it warrant a punch in the face?

David Carnoy shares his thoughts about the Radio Shack employee who has been charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly punching a customer in the face.

Obviously the Radio Shack employee has some major anger issues that need to be addressed. Fighting over a measly return isn't worth losing your job over...and it sure isn't worth a criminal record!

• Here's an article that provides tips on dealing with angry customers...

• Seth Godin also offers his advice on how to deal with an angry customer...

Photo Credit: Jason Rogers

Welcome to the "Short and Sweet" Edition of the Customer Service Carnivale! I have some sweet tidbits of customer service goodness to share with you to get your week started off on the right track...

Here's an interesting conversation: "Breast Feeding in The Restaurant" posted at So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager....

Service Untitled offers a unique customer service tip: Color Coding in Customer Service

GP shares a touching story along with a lesson in Follow Up .. with feeling posted at Manely Montana.

How you deal with a new promotion and your boss affects your stress level and how you interact with customers. Follow some of these tips outlined in Just Got A Work Promotion? Let’s Celebrate (Or Maybe Not!)

Clair Schwan shares with us Lawn Care and Snow Removal - Small Business Profile of M & R Lawn Service posted at Sensible Small Business Ideas, saying, "Here is an example of a lawn and snow removal service that provides services for selected customers at no charge. What a great service to some of the needy in the community. It speak volumes about how well this organization treats it's paying customers."

Phil B. presents The Advantages and Disadvantages of eStatements posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "With the advent of the Internet, many companies have stopped mailing regular statements to their customers. Instead, companies now prefer to send electronic statements or eStatements."

Gotta love inspiring quotes! Joe Tichio shares The Greatest Customer Service Quotes posted at Inspirational Quotes Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

When a friend asked if I could take her two daughters and their two friends on a trip to Universal Studios in Los Angeles, I thought, Why not? I should have taken that as a hint that the trip was going to be more of a challenge than I thought! Me with four pre-teen girls by myself? In retrospect, I think I must have been crazy when I agreed to take them.

(Sidebar: I don't have any kids which is probably the reason why my friends always ask me for help with their kids.)

Imagine me walking into the Hilton with four little girls who are oohing and ahhing over the fancy hotel furnishings and who stop to stare at every shiny thing. I get to the front desk flustered as the girls throw out questions, "Can we go swimming? Can someone help us with our bags? We're hungry...When are we going to eat?"

Fortunately, yes, there was a bellman available to help us with our bags up to the 12th floor. Manny the bellman was very courteous and told us where we could find the pool and which floor the lobby was on.

In fact, every employee I walked by as I explored the hotel on that first day was very nice and welcoming. When I ran into Manny again in the lobby, he greeted me with, "How is your stay so far, Ms. Palma?" That was a big deal to me. Someone remembered my name! Every time I walked by the front desk, someone greeted me. Those who were there on the day I checked in would ask, "So, how are you holding up with all those girls?"

My favorite part of the Hilton experience was being able to relax in one of these poolside cabannas pictured here.

Over at TripAdvisor.com, the Hilton in Universal City currently has an average 4 out of 5 stars from 284 reviews. This was my first experience with a Hilton hotel and I would give my experience 5 stars.

One of the girls was so impressed by the service that she was inspired to write this note...

While many retailers are downsizing, laying off employees, or simply closing up shop for good, it seems as if all is good in Barnes & Noble land.

The latest news is that B&N has opened up a state-of-the-art customer service facility in Lyndhurst, New Jersey that spans 30,000 square feet.

As I was reading the news clip about B&N, I had a little smirk on my face. Call me a skeptic if you will. Sure, Barnes & Noble is at the top of the retail experience list, but my experience with the company has been mediocre. Maybe it's just me.

Here's one B&N experience that was frusterating...Another time I was told by a worker that I couldn't plug in my laptop! Those incidences happened a few years ago and I'm sure things have changed quite a bit since then, but even a couple of little not-so-good experiences leave a bad taste in your mouth.

For whatever reason, I like the atmosphere at Borders much better. Even my best friend noticed...

"You're right, Borders just seems more comfortable to hang out in," she said to me yesterday.

So, what do you think? Which bookstore has the better experience?

Vote by leaving a comment!

Photo Credit: C'est moi!

Welcome to the Customer Service Carnivale! I called it The Good Mix edition because there's a good mix of tips and stories from different blogs ;) Thanks to everyone for your submissions and thank you, Dear Reader, for your support!

Customer Service Tips

Do you know when your busy or slow times are? If not, you should read Track Contact Volume posted at Service Untitled.

Anya Portnik shares The Sales Apprentice 2009: Sales training tips from the hit TV show, episode I posted at Gavin Ingham. Very good tips at the end!

I think this is a must-read for everyone...GP presents Such A Deal When you Love your Job posted at Manely Montana.

Providing excellent customer service requires self-discipline. That's why I chose to share this next post. Ralph Jean-Paul presents Building Self-Discipline posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, "The most disciplined business people are usually the most organized, efficient and successful. Learn to build self-discipline in your personal and professional life and see the difference it will make."

Here are good tips for the consumer! Eight Ways to Beat Bad Customer Service posted at Money Smart Life.

Customer Service Stories

This next post will make put a smile on your face! Banquet Manager presents That's a Complicated Order Sir... posted at So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager. Also, here's why it's important to have things stocked for your employees...Where's The Milk!

Adam Pieniazek presents Why You Shouldn't Order Business Cards After Midnight posted at Adam Pieniazek, saying, "Vistaprint recently provided me with unbelievable customer service." I love Vistaprint too!

The cafe experience is important for many people. If you're thinking about opening up a coffee shop, you should read Is Cafe in the coffee business? posted at GeekMBA360.

Steve C presents Do Hard Economic Times Justify Sleazy Sales Tactics? posted at MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. Many retailers will do anything to squeeze 5 cents from you!

Customer Service Tools

How do you know which marketing campaigns are working on your customers? Check out Develop a Split Test For Your Marketing Campaigns posted at Get800today.com.

I received 37 submissions for the carnivale, but as you can see, only a select few made it through the editorial process. Keep in mind that I only publish submissions that are customer service related, so to all of you spammers...Don't even waste your time ;)

Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Nowadays retailers have a plethora of tools and technology at their disposal. These resources allow salespeople to serve their customer in a more efficient manner. Perhaps many of you can remember when every sale or transaction had to be recorded manually. A customer database consisted of names and phone numbers jotted down by hand in a book or binder.

When I was at Nordstrom, one of the high points of my career was when the company implemented a new POS system. Before that, we had to keep customer's information in a little blue binder and whenever a customer paid with a credit card, we had to swipe their card using those old-fashioned mechanisms that used carbon paper to embed the numbers onto a sales slip. Remember those?

We don't give it much thought, but point of sale software is important in the process of serving customers. As I stated earlier, these tools provide a way to help customers quickly while capturing a customer's information and/or credit card securely. A point of sale system also helps keep track of inventory so a retailer knows which products need to be restocked. If a customer is looking for a particular item, a salesperson could easily check the system to see if it's available. We often take these things for granted, but if you remember the days when everything had to be processed manually, you understand the importance of having the right tools and technology!

One company you may want to check out if you're in the process of acquiring point of sale software is RunIt. This company offers great solutions for retailers - especially for businesses that are always on the go. You get internet-based access to your business and can conduct transactions virtually anywhere.

What are your thoughts on using technology to better serve customers?

Photo Credit: The Consumerist

"A sale is not something you pursue, it is something that happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer." -Unknown

If you truly love helping people and you're doing what you love, the money will indeed follow!

Have a favorite customer service quote to share?

I just realized that I never scheduled the upcoming editions of the Customer Service Carnivale! For some reason Blog Carnival automatically schedules one for me if I don't do it manually, so many of you may have thought that there was going to be a carnival posted on March 22.

I apologize!!

I got caught up in the excitement of my birthday and forgot about all of my business obligations ;)

The carnivale will resume on April 13 and the submission deadline is April 11. Click here to submit your blog post/article. If you previously submitted a post for March 22 carnivale, there's no need to resubmit.

If you'd like to host a future carnivale, let me know! Email: maria [at] people2peopleservice [dot] com.